Greek Homosociality Analysis

Ancient Greece seems to be, on many fronts, a long experiment into the homosociality of 
a society. From the moment it departed from the Minoan matriarchal civilization of its historical 
foundation and turned to the celebration of male prowess as documented in Homeric epics,1 the 
various Greek cultures, by large, devoted themselves to exploring the depths and possibilities of 
man, and by that, of course, the focus was near-exclusively directed towards men. The 
dominance of the Sacred Band -- and through it, Thebes -- was the ultimate expression of 
Grecian society, as it utilized the ultimate ends of homosociality the Greek states had spent 
centuries developing by reaching its social significance homosexuality; combined the best 
aspects

The Band was made up of 150 male lovers, generally composed of an older erastes
(lover) and younger eromenos (beloved).5 This harkened back to a practice that existed before 
the city-state organization of Greece; it was a common in the original Island tribes of the 
Mediterranean, such of those in Crete, for same-sex relationships in the form of this paiderastia
(boy love) to be encouraged and fostered as rites of passage.6 As the city-state developed, the 
practice continued as cultural model and social mainstay that was seen as important to the 
cohesion of civil life and philosophical endeavors, as well as vital to military

The fact that same-sex relationships had been conducted openly alongside those of 
heterosexual ones -- and were seen as beneficial to both parties and society at large -- is a 
reflection of the Greek way of life, which had placed constant emphasis on the importance and 
use of logic on all things, and made such a thing possible. Had the main devotion instead been 
directed towards divine reasoning instead of the humanitarian-focused approach of the Greeks, it 
is doubtful that the Sacred Band, as Thebes knew them, would have been possible, never mind 
all other discovery that had taken place in academic and creative pursuits of the time. As it has 
been shown in the millennia since, the flourishing of homosexuality is very much tied to 
militaristic bonds, as it is a situation where classes can interact without social barriers, and 
during the period that the Sacred Band existed, the Boeotian army functioned as the hotbed of 
change, be it political or