Antiikin spartassa homoseksuaalisuus ja pedofiilia kuului normaalina osana poikien kasvuun ja kehitykseen, ja silti heistä kehittyi maailman parasta jalkaväkeä. Onko ihminen sittenkään pohjimmiltaan heteroseksuaali:
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/he ads/outtakes/spartans2.html
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Marriage by capture
At the age of seven, boys would be sent away to the agoge – the tough, uncompromising Spartan system where they would be schooled in the art of war. Male bonding wasn't just encouraged; it was compulsory. At the age of 12, a boy was paired with an older man, usually one of the unmarried warriors, aged between 20 and 30.
This man would have been responsible not only for the conduct of the boy, but also for providing for him materially. He was a surrogate mother, father, teacher and mentor. But he was also a lover, for institutionalised pederasty was a part and parcel of life for the Spartan warriors. These intimate relationships seem to have had lasting psychological and emotional effects on the men.
When the time came for them to get married, it must have been a difficult adjustment to make. But the pragmatic Spartans came up with an unusual way to help them through their wedding night. They practised a custom called 'marriage by capture'. On her wedding night, a bride would have her head shaved, like a small boy in the agoge. She would be dressed in a man's cloak and sandals and left alone in a dark room.
Meanwhile, her husband would quietly leave the common mess, come to her, lay her down on a straw palette, have sex with her and then slip back to sleep with his comrades as usual. This wasn't just a quaint wedding-night ritual. It could carry on for months or even years.
There has been much debate about the significance of this bizarre ritual. However, it seems obvious that it was a piece of sexual theatre, designed to acclimatise men to the presence of women when, until then, their only experience of sex had been with other men.
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/he ads/outtakes/spartans2.html
__________________________________________________
Marriage by capture
At the age of seven, boys would be sent away to the agoge – the tough, uncompromising Spartan system where they would be schooled in the art of war. Male bonding wasn't just encouraged; it was compulsory. At the age of 12, a boy was paired with an older man, usually one of the unmarried warriors, aged between 20 and 30.
This man would have been responsible not only for the conduct of the boy, but also for providing for him materially. He was a surrogate mother, father, teacher and mentor. But he was also a lover, for institutionalised pederasty was a part and parcel of life for the Spartan warriors. These intimate relationships seem to have had lasting psychological and emotional effects on the men.
When the time came for them to get married, it must have been a difficult adjustment to make. But the pragmatic Spartans came up with an unusual way to help them through their wedding night. They practised a custom called 'marriage by capture'. On her wedding night, a bride would have her head shaved, like a small boy in the agoge. She would be dressed in a man's cloak and sandals and left alone in a dark room.
Meanwhile, her husband would quietly leave the common mess, come to her, lay her down on a straw palette, have sex with her and then slip back to sleep with his comrades as usual. This wasn't just a quaint wedding-night ritual. It could carry on for months or even years.
There has been much debate about the significance of this bizarre ritual. However, it seems obvious that it was a piece of sexual theatre, designed to acclimatise men to the presence of women when, until then, their only experience of sex had been with other men.