[Conservative Coulter Fan]

Last but not least, it is a frequent misconception that Spartan society was also blatantly homosexual. Curiously, no contemporary source and no archaeological evidence supports this widespread assumption. The best ancient source on Sparta, Xenophon, explicitly denies the already common rumors about widespread pederasty. Aristotle noted that the power of women in Sparta was typical of all militaristic and warlike societies without a strong emphasis on male homosexuality—arguing that in Sparta this "positive" moderating factor on the role of women in society was absent. There is no Spartan/Laconian pottery with explicitly homosexual motifs—as there is from Athens and Corinth and other cities. The first recorded heterosexual love poem was written by a Spartan poet for Spartan maidens. The very fact that Spartan men tended to marry young by ancient Greek standards (in their early to mid-twenties) suggests they had less time for the homosexual love affairs that characterized early manhood in the rest of Greece. Certainly the state considered bachelorhood a disgrace, and a citizen who did not marry and produce future citizens enjoyed less status than a man who had fathered children. In no other ancient Greek city were women so well integrated into society. All this speaks against a society in which homosexuality was exceptionally common.

Sparta Reconsidered

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

See Post 38

[curmudgeonII]

The unfortunate thing is that virtually every thing that we know about Sparta has been written by its enemies; and, consequently [at least in my opinion] highly suspect.

[Jaysun]

Sparta teaches us this: reject the idea of an all powerful state and embrace patriarchy.

[Alexander Rubin]

Right on. It wasn't blatantly homosexual, but unfortunately pederasty was an accepted practice. However, it probably wasn't as common as it was in, say, Athens.