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| [[Erastes (dictionary)]]
| | #REDIRECT [[Erastes]] |
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| [[File:702px-Pederastic courtship Louvre CA3096.jpg|thumb|340px|right|Pederastic courtship scene; 6th c. Attic black-figure kylix. [[Louvre]], Paris.]]
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| [[File:Tomb of the Diver symposium.jpg|thumb|right|250px|<center>''Erastes'' and ''eromenos'' in a [[symposium]] scene from the [[Tomb of the Diver]] in [[Paestum]] (North wall - detail)</center>]]
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| In [[ancient Greece]], the '''''erastes''''' ({{Polytonic|ἐραστής}}, "lover") (pl.: ''erastae)'' was an adult male involved in a [[Pederasty in ancient Greece|pederastic relationship]] with an adolescent boy called the ''[[eromenos]]''. ''Erastes'' was in particular an [[Ancient Athens|Athenian]] term for this role. Other terms were, in [[History of Sparta|Sparta]], ''eispnelas,'' "inspirer," and in [[History of Crete|Crete]], ''philetor,'' "befriender."
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| The word was also used as a general term for any male admirer courting a particular boy, even if he had not been accepted by the boy as a bona fide lover.
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| ==Characteristics of the role==
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| Iconographic representations of pederastic couples usually–but not always–depict the ''erastes'' as bearded, while the ''eromenos'' is always beardless. However, the ''erastes'' was typically not yet of marriageable age, roughly between twenty and thirty. Wide differences in age were considered an obstacle to such relationships, as evidenced by Aristotle's assertion that [[Solon]] could not have been the ''erastes'' of [[Peisistratos (Athens)|Pisistratus]] as the difference in age between the two was too great (ca. 31 years).<ref>"It is evident from this that the story is mere gossip which states that Pisistratus was the youthful favourite of Solon and commanded in the war against Megara for the recovery of Salamis. It will not harmonize with their respective ages, as any one may see who will reckon up the years of the life of each of them, and the dates at which they died." Aristotle, ''The Athenian Constitution'' Tr. Sir Frederic G. Kenyon</ref>
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| When the relationship had a sexual aspect, the ''erastes'' was the active partner, and the love-making is usually depicted as frontal, standing up, and [[Intercrural sex|between the thighs]]. In [[Greek mythology|mythology]] the ''erastes'' was exemplified by deities such as [[Zeus]] and [[Apollo]] and heroes such as [[Hercules]] and [[Orpheus]].
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| A number of ancient sources, such as [[Plato]]'s ''[[Phaedrus (Plato)|Phaedrus]]'' and [[Aeschines]]' ''[[Against Timarchos]]'' indicate that the ideal ''erastes'' was restrained in his relations with his beloved, and his love was an expression of his generosity and sympathy. He is contrasted to the man who hires boys for his pleasure and "behaves grossly" with them, the mark of an abusive and uneducated person.<ref>Aeschines, ''Against Timarchos'' tr. Nick Fisher (2001) p.103</ref> Xenophon also comments, incidentally, on one of the characteristics of the ideal ''erastes'', indicating that such a man would hide nothing concerning the boy from the father of that youth.<ref>Xenophon, ''Symposium;'' VIII.11</ref>
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| In some states he was the one who initiated the love affair by courting or ritually kidnapping the boy, while in others, such as Sparta, it was the youth who requested the relationship. While the practice of pedagogic pederasty was encouraged and valorized, it seems to have been optional for the adult in all cities save Sparta, where it was mandated by law.
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| ''Erastai'' are often described as exerting a great deal of effort to attract the attention and the sympathy of an ''eromenos''. This task often led to street fights with other suitors, family arguments, outrageous behavior like sleeping on the boy's stoop, writing of love poems, bestowing of gifts, and at times outright coercion.
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| Among the typical gifts given by an ''erastes'' to an ''eromenos'' are pets such as birds. Of these
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| [[Aristophanes]] asserts: "Lovers give noble birds to their beloveds."<ref>''Suda,'' a643 [http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?db=REAL&search_method=QUERY&login=guest&enlogin=guest&user_list=LIST&page_num=1&num_per_page=100&searchstr=sexuality]</ref>
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| ===Responsibilities===
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| The function of the ''erastes'' was to love and educate — or see to the education of — the youth. The nature of that education varied with the culture of their respective polis, but generally was grounded in the physical culture of the [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|gymnasium]], which included athletics and military training as well as philosophical and musical studies. ''Erastes'' would often make a contract or promise to present to their intended(s)'s parents the exact limits and terms of the relationship.
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| Another responsibility often consisted in managing the financial affairs of the youth, especially if, as often happened, he was fatherless, when the ''erastes'' would often have control of the estate until the youth came of age. At times this led to abuses and accusations of mismanagement and outright theft, as in the case of [[Demosthenes#Accusations concerning personal life|Demosthenes]] and his ''eromenos'' Aristarchus.<ref>Aeschines, op.cit.</ref> The ''erastes'' was generally an influential citizen, involved in the social and political life of his ''[[polis]]'', often married and a ''[[pater familias]]'', and enjoying a certain financial ease.
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| Taking on the responsibilities of a pederastic relationship was not inexpensive, in particular at the time of the festivities which were mandated by tradition. In [[Cretan pederasty|Crete]] this entailed a banquet and a number of ritual gifts: an ox, to sacrifice to [[Zeus]]; a military outfit, signifying the attainment of warrior status by the ''eromenos''; and a chalice symbolizing the youth's empowerment to attend symposia — as well as possible religious and ritual roles. It was not uncommon for friends of the ''erastes'' to contribute to the expenses, the celebration uniting the friends of both partners, much like a modern major family event.
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| While the ideal pederastic bond was constructed as an act of generosity by the lover towards the beloved, the lover's cultivation of arete seems to have benefited himself as well as his young charge. According to Xenophon, it is self-evident that "any man, within the sight of his ''eromenos'', excels himself and avoids doing or saying things which are base or cowardly so that he may not be seen by him."<ref>Xenophon, ''Cynegeticus;'' 12:20</ref>
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| ==Political metaphor==
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| The figure of the ''erastes'' as benefactor of his ''eromenos'' was entrenched in the minds of the Athenians to such an extent that political leaders made use of the role of the ideal ''erastes'' vis-a-vis his ''eromenos'' to symbolize the ideal relationship between a citizen and the polis. That figure of speech occurs in two separate instances. ''Erastes'' would on many occasions make a contract or promise with his intended or intendeds parents setting the limits and terms of the relationship.
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| [[Pericles]], a man who seems to have abstained from relationships with boys and loved women deeply, used the model of the ''erastes'' as an example for Athenians to follow in their relationship with their own city. In a funeral speech ascribed to him by [[Thucydides]] he exhorts the Athenians to "gaze day after day on the power of the city and become her ''erastai''," interpreted to mean that "citizen-soldiers" should behave towards Athens like boyfriends, ''erastai'': i.e. love the city without calculation, more than life itself.<ref>James Davidson, "Mr and Mr and Mrs and Mrs" in ''London Review of Books'' June 2, 2005[http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n11/davi02_.html] accessed Oct 1, 2007</ref>
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| In another instance, presented as a parody of the first and explored as such by [[Aristophanes]] in ''[[The Knights]]'', the politician [[Cleon]] also styles himself as ''erastes'' to the ''demos''. The reversal, in which only the orator casts himself in the role of ''erastes'', is played for its full comic potential when, later in the play, the character Demos, representing the people, is chided for being overeager for Cleo's love, and for being naive as the lover, "in return, cheated and left."<ref>Aristophanes, ''The Knights'' 1340-44</ref><ref>Sara Monoson, ''Plato's Democratic Entanglements: Athenian Politics and the Practice of Philosophy''p.87</ref>
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| ==Notes==
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| {{reflist}}
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| ==See also==
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| *[[Eromenos]]
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| *[[Mentoring]]
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| *[[Pederasty in ancient Greece]]
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| ==External links==
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| *[http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0090-5917%28199405%2922%3A2%3C253%3ACAEEIA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage Sara Monoson, "Citizen as Erastes: Erotic Imagery and the Idea of Reciprocity in the Periclean Funeral Oration"]
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| [[Category:Ancient Greece]]
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| [[fr:Éraste]]
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