AGEAN FANTASY: A gay affirmation

	The smile on his face was mischievous
	and the gods favoured us tonight.
	When he winked there was little question –
	we would feast near Arta
	where Mercury's Rod offered light:

	Anointing my body with oil
	as a lyre stood at our feet
	I ignored other handsome servants
	and slid a dark grape
	down his Scythian sheath.

	Sighing with arrant ecstasy
	while loosening my robe
	he touched my sword while pondering,
	"Were the Olympians themselves more bold?"

	Approaching his fiery pillars
	I prayed to Hercules for strength
	then entering his quiet harbour
	I dropped anchor
	and to the gods
	offered thanks.

Cantara: Many LGBT folks consider the ancient Greeks as enlightened role models.

Miok:    Well, there was nothing enlightened about their system of slavery, in which 
         servants were often required to have sex.

Cantara: True – but at least they weren't so homophobic.

Tim:     (laughing) Wasn't that one reason Socrates was persecuted? In almost every 
         society, currents of acceptance coexist with currents that isolate or reject 
         people. The reasons for problematising a given behaviour varies from culture 
         to culture, but the process is often the same.

=====================================================================================
from Heart Scenes: Emotional Landscapes via Art, Poetry, & Prose by T Newfields
Summary: An image, poem, and conversation about sexuality, slavery and ancient Greece.
Keywords: gay poetry, sexuality and slavery, ancient Greece

Author: T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955 - ?)
Begun: 1994 in Shizuoka, Japan ☆ Finished: 2019 in Yokohama, Japan
Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted

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