A wall painting from the Tomb of the Diver in Paestum, dated to 470 BCE, depicts a pederastic couple sharing a couch. The figure on the right appears to seek a kiss from the figure on the left. This image captures the social acknowledgment of relationships between an older male and a younger male during his teens. Scholars have standardized terms for these roles since Kenneth Dover published Greek Homosexuality in 1978. The older partner is called the erastês, while the younger is known as the erômenos. These words derive from the Greek verb meaning "to love." Dover described the erastês as the active or dominant participant, with the suffix -tês denoting agency. The erômenos was viewed by Dover as the passive or subordinate sexual participant. He could also be referred to as pais, which means child. Art portrayed this youth with respect rather than as an inferior object of gratification. Modern age estimates for the erômenos range from thirteen to twenty years old, though some sources suggest up to thirty. Most evidence indicates eligibility began when an aristocrat started formal military training, typically between fifteen and seventeen. Physical maturity varied; sometimes the younger man stood taller than his lover and had developed facial hair. Another word used for the younger participant was paidika, treated syntactically as masculine singular.
Origins And Rituals
A brass plaque from Crete dating between 650 and 625 BC stands as the oldest surviving representation of pederastic custom. Such images appear across Greece within the following century. Cretan pederasty seems grounded in initiation rituals involving abduction. A man selected a youth and enlisted friends to help carry him off to an andreion, a men's club or meeting hall. The youth received gifts while the philetor and friends took him into the countryside for two months. They hunted and feasted together during this period. Upon return, the philetor presented three contractually required gifts: military attire, an ox, and a drinking cup. Other costly gifts followed subsequently. The initiate sacrificed the ox to Zeus before joining friends at a feast. He received special clothing marking him as kleinos, meaning famous or renowned. This initiate was called parastatheis, translating to he who stands beside. Perhaps like Ganymede the cup-bearer of Zeus, he stood at the side of the philetor during meals. In this interpretation, the formal custom reflects myth and ritual. Robert B. Koehl constructed this summary based on Strabo quoting Ephoros. Some scholars reject the initiation theory entirely, arguing it denies homosexuality as natural or innate.