Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Plato as Queer Theorist?

Somebody must have already written on this, but I was wondering yesterday if Plato wasn't a queer theory and "Western civilization" as conservatives know it isn't rooted in queer theory.

The crux would be whether Plato's concept of the Idea is connected to homoerotic ideas concerning the beauty of young teenage boys.

Homosexuality as a powerful ideal during Plato's time as reflected in his own comments in the Republic and military models like "The Sacred Band of Thebes." The Sacred Band of Thebes was a military unit made up of pairs of male lovers that was the core of Thebes' military prowess during the period of Theban military ascendancy in the 370's.

Conversely, Plato's rejection of "family" is thoroughgoing. Plato certainly dispenses with the "family" model of the Olympian gods. In The Republic, Plato also imagines a city where Guardian children aren't raised in families. Indeed, families aren't allowed to be created in Plato's ideal city at all and love in viewed as the ultimate source of tyranny.

Perhaps he started with the contemplation of boys as he worked out his alternative view of the contemplation of the Ideal.

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