Xenophon (Lac. Pol. 2.13), for example, insisted that the older males in the army were specifically not to engage in physical relations with their younger warrior-pages (paidika).
Yet in the story of Xenophon’s Retreat there is the miention of an old man, referred to as a boy lover, saving a young man from being killed just so he could have the boy as a lover. It was not considered normal or else why would it have been mentioned.
(perhaps less than 2-3% of the Boiotian army)
Boiotia. Didn’t the other Greek states consider this state to be the equivalent of country bumpkin hillbillies? Much like Arkansas.
Nikos Vrissimtzis, the author of Love, Sex and Marriage - a Guide to the Private Life of the Ancient Greeks, said in a BBC report:
“Contrary to popular opinion, that world was not a paradise for homosexuals, and paedaracy was held in such contempt that it was very heavily punished... Homosexuals were not, as many believed, openly accepted by society. They were marginalised and punished by law,” Vrissimtzis says. “For example, they could not enter the ancient Agora [the business and government center of a Greek city] or participate in ranks and rituals involving the state.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/428798.stm