고전기 아테네인의 성 규범과 태도

Abstract

This study is focused on analyzing the character and features of homosexuality, which the Athenian accepted as a innocent and natural feeling, and in cultural and historical aspect, shows the social problems and questions on legal standards of adultery, one of sexual desires that deviate from social organization and regulation. This study is helpful for considering the Athenian sexual attitude and rules, which were the most important parts of the Classical Athenian life style and culture. The term “paiderastia” used by the Classical Athenian meant the sex between a boy over than puberty and a adult. So paiderastia was considered as just one of the ways to express love, and any sex with a less pubertal boy was punished as a illegality. The Athenian did not take the homosexual relationship between a adult and a boy continually. Even a person who already had that relationship before became a husband of heterosexuality after marriage. Homosexuality was one step onto the necessary progress leading to mature him up to a heterosexual adult. These days, due to pluralism, the pre󰠏prohibited homosexual concept has more and more spreaded out as one of cultural trends by preference. While the distinct difference between homosexuality and heterosexuality was not meaningful for the Classical Athenian. Their love in boys seems to be a strange type to modern people, but that was culturally established one to promote the maturity of the old Athenian youngs. This Classical Athenian custom says they were but heterosexual people who had enjoyed homosexual relationship once of their life time, not natural homosexual ones. They led the boys’ intellectual ability to idealistic beauty by conversing with them, and the community spirit was discovered and sought by trying to touch with them as well. It is a so exceptive phenomenon that a patriarchal society such as Athens, accepted homosexuality positively. In addition, what is more important is the fact that Athens officially promoted it, not only what about the existence of homosexuality. Meanwhile, the Classical Athenian considered the other sexual cases as adulteries. The separation of their official or personal spaces played a role for the cultural ideal as a principle of the men’s honor or dishonor. They dealt a sexual case with a dichotomistic principle such as freedom or sin, and honor or dishonor. An adultery they thought was led to a severe punishment because of its frequent defeats with their idealistic moral rules. They comprehended that the adultery not only engrossed own wife’s mind, but also caused legal problems about own child. As a result, they considered that an adultery was much more heinous offense than a rape. In Classical Athens, as an adultery was considered to infringe the social morality, any husband who had a unfaithful wife had to put up with dishonor and disgrace following. An adultery was regarded as a code of dishonor and disgrace, and both of the adulterer and adulteress were blamed for defiling the lineage and the country, and finally were punished very badly. Even anyone who witnessed this serious sin, but did not report it out was also rigidly treated with a severe punishment. In conclusion, Athens officially regulated an adultery to preserve the social organization. Although adultery sin had the certain necessary personal dangerous challenge, it spreaded all over the Classical Athens, and this fact was issued as a big social problem. This social issue shows it itself has inconsistency between the moral regulation and cultural practice. In short, that fact shows two inconsistent aspects, the obedience and contravention to the moral and social regulation. The Classical Athenian sexual establishment could be explained as a gender concept not sex one. That is, it could be divided as normality or abnormality upon the given gender role. The Athenian accepted homosexuality naturally and customarily, but concerned any adultery as dishonor and disgrace. Therefore, their sexuality was applied by more and less inconsistent attitude and value through their own established morality.