Kinaidoi
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Kinaidoi:
Ancient Greek term for adult gay men.
They were the targets of ridicule by the other's, especially writers. Aristophanes (c.445-c.380) shows them dressed like women and calls them euryprôktoi, "wide arses".
It is assumed that this practice spread to the Greek mainland. In the soldiers' city Sparta, it was not uncommon when a warrior took care of a recruit and stood next to him on the battlefield, where the two men fought for each other.
In aristocratic circles, it is believed to have been common.
There are many pictures of boys courting boys, and adult men having intercourse. Yet, the latter was not spoken about, because the passive partner (pathikos) was often subject to ridicule.
Homosexual love for boys was not an aristocratic phenomenon. Vase paintings change when, in 507 BCE, democracy was introduced in Athens. There is a significant increase of homosexual representations.
see also
Homosexuality in ancient Greece
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