What does Eromenos mean in Greek?
What does Eromenos mean in Greek?
Terminology. erômenos (ἐρώμενος) means ‘one who is sexually desired’ in Greek language and is the past participle of the verb eramai, to have sexual desire.
What is a Pederastic relationship?
Pederasty in ancient Greece was the name given to a sexual relationship between an adult male and young boy, usually in his teens.
What is an Erastes?
Erastes (Ancient Greece), an adult male in a relationship with a younger male, also known as the philetor.
What are erastes and eromenos?
The ideal pederastic relationship in ancient Greece involved an erastes (an older male, usually in his mid- to late-20s) and an eromenos (a younger male who has passed puberty, usually no older than 18) (Dover, I. 4.: 16).
What is the meaning of eromenos in Greek?
Though in many contexts the young man is also called pais, ‘boy’, the word can also be used for child, girl, son, daughter and slave, and therefore eromenos would be more specific and can “avoid the cumbrousness and…imprecision of ‘boy’”. It is in contrast to the masculine active participle erάn (‘be in love with…’, ‘have a passionate desire for’).
What is an eromenos (lover)?
The word erastes (lover), however, can be adapted to a married man’s role in both heterosexual and homosexual relationship. In vase paintings and other artworks, the eromenos is often depicted as a beautiful young adult. His relatively smaller stature suggests his passive role in the relationship and younger age as well as social status.
Is eromenos a fixed term?
Therefore, we can conclude that eromenos is not a fixed term, as it is only a stage in the development of young Greek men. After they grow up, their relationship with the erastes could end and they could get married or start another relationship.
Where does the eromenos stand behind the erastes?
The first phase is similar to Beazley’s alpha group, while in the second phase the eromenos stands behind the erastes with his penis between his thighs, somehow similar to the gamma group. This vase (Brygos Painter) depicts a classical scene of an erastes courting an eromenos.