Sophocles
Sophocles (497 - 406 BCE) was one of three great Greek
tragic poets. He came from wealth, and moved easily in society.
Over his productive life of over sixty years he wrote over 123
plays, of which only seven remain.
The young Sophocles was beautiful, and a man named Lampros
had taught him dancing and music when he was a boy. After the
sea fight at Salamis (480 BCE) Sophocles danced around the victory monument
playing the lyre, nude and rubbed with olive oil though
according to others he was clad. When he produced his Thamyris
he played himself the cythara, and when he staged Nausicaa he
excelled in the ball game. (1)
The historian Athenaios reported that Sophocles loved boys like
Euripides loved women. The poet Ion of Chios relates:
I met Sophocles in Chios when he was as a strategist
on his way to Lesbos. He was an adroit man who liked to make
merry at the symposium. Hermesilaos was his friend and the official
host of the Athenians. The boy who poured the wine stood at the
fireplace, beautiful and blushing. Sophocles, visibly touched,
asked him: Do you want me to drink with delight?
He nodded. So take your time when you give me the bowl
and take it away. The boy blushed more strongly. Sophocles
remarked to the guest who lay beside him: How beautiful
is the line of Phrynichos: Shining on purple cheeks the
light of love.
His neighbour, who was a schoolmaster of Eretria answered
him: You are doubtless a sage poet, Sophocles, but
Phrynichos did not express himself well in calling the cheeks
of a beautiful boy purple, because, if a Persian had painted
them with purple colour, the boy would appear no longer beautiful.
Therefore one must not compare the beautiful to the obviously
not beautiful.
Sophocles laughed and said: So
you also wont like the verse of Simonides that the
Greeks appreciate so much: From purple lips the
girl let flow her voice, and what the poet says
of Apollos golden hair, because, if a painter had
painted the gods hair golden instead of black, the
painting would be worse. Likewise the poetic rose-fingered,
since, if anyone should dip their fingers into rose-red paint,
they would get hands like a dyer but not like a beautiful woman.
The other guests laughed, and the man
from Eretria was struck dumb with the rebuke, while Sophocles
turned towards the boy again. This one was just trying to remove
a speck from the bowl with his little finger. Sophocles asked
him whether he could see the straw distinctly. He affirmed it,
and Sophocles continued: So blow it away, lest your
finger should become wet. While the boy approached
his lips to the vessel, Sophocles brought it nearer to his mouth,
so that their heads approached each other. When the boy was near
him, Sophocles put his arm around him, drew him even closer and
kissed him. All applauded and cheered him for having outfoxed
the boy so nicely. Sophocles replied: Gentlemen,
Im practising strategy, because Pericles said that
I understood poetry but not strategy. Now, don,t you think my
stratagem turned out quite well?' (2)
Of course, Sophocles's strategies did not always turn out to
his advantage. He was reputed to have had amorous trysts with
pretty boys all life long; Plato swore to it. His pederasty is
similarly reported by Euripides, and by Athenaios. The latter,
who liked gathering anecdotes about the lives of the great men
of antiquity, relates one of Sophocles's misadventures: One
day, Sophocles (who was around 65 years of age at the time) led
beyond the walls of the city a beautiful youth in order to enjoy
him. The lad spread his rough himation (a cheap coat) on the
grass and the two covered themselves with the elegant chlanis
of the poet. When the thing was done, the boy snatched the chlanis,
leaving the himation for Sophocles. Naturally word of this got
around, and as soon as Euripides found out he made great fun
of it. (3)
After Athenaios and Ion of Chios, Deipnosophistai I, 20, and XIII, 603-604
CITATION: If you cite this Web page, please use the following form of citation:
Editorial Board, World History of Male Love, "Famous Homosexuals", Sophocles, 2000 <http://www.gay-art-history.org/gay-history/gay-literature/famous-homosexuals/sophocles-gay/sophocles-gay.html>
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