Homoerotic Unions Make Up for Unsatisfying Marriages Essay

Homoerotic Unions Make Up for Unsatisfying Marriages Marriage is undeniably effective for some things such as procreation and rearing those produced children.Ê Biologically, all creatures need heterosexual union of some kind to continue their species, but this union need not be a required social construct.Ê In ancient and classical Greece, as well as in much of the world today, marriage is a social expectation.Ê Elders encourage young men to choose their even younger wives at the expected time and to create a respectable typical household.Ê But is marriage actually necessary or even what people desire?Ê Hellenic marriage seems to be constructed in such a way as to leave many Greeks unsatisfied and discontent.Ê Why else†¦show more content†¦says Aristophanes.Ê Thus, men who were attached to men seek men, women who were attached to women seek women, and those attached to the opposite gender seek the opposite gender.Ê Interestingly, Aristophanes suggests that it is from this last group that adulterers and adulteresses come (Plato 191d).Ê This implies that no one is satisfied in their marriage.Ê Either one desires someone of the same sex, or one desires someone who is not their spouse.Ê Also, according to the math in the cartwheel story, two thirds of humans must be homosexual.Ê Granted, this is an exaggeration.Ê Some marriages where husband and wife desire each other do exist, but these seem rare.Ê Nevertheless, marriages exclude the desires of many people, so they must act upon these desires in other forms of union. ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊHomoerotic desire, longing, and love in Greek texts are depicted as equally strong or stronger than the heterosexual equivalents.Ê Plato?s philosophers argue over who receives the privilege of sharing a couch with the handsomest of them.Ê Agathon and Pausanius are shown to be affectionate and loyal to each other.Ê Some of the strongest expressions of desire are found in Sappho?s lyric poetry.Ê She speaks of a certain woman as being what she most desires, claiming, ?I?d rather see her comely step, the shining luster of her face than the Lydians? chariots and infantry in armor (16 L-P linesShow MoreRelatedMarriage and Twelfth Night1541 Words   |  7 Pagesseparate roles, and the mixing of them would have been comedic, but in need of resolving. To a contemporary audience, this perhaps would not matter as much, and it could be argued that they are more concerned with the happiness felt by the characters. Marriage is ever-present in the resolution of Shakespeare’s comedies, and it is no different in Twelfth Night. The love triangle involving Viola, Olivia and Orsino is made clear by Viola: ‘My master loves her dearly;/And I, poor monster, fond as much on him;/