Sex in Ancient Greece
 Relationships
 
 Some authors argue that the Greeks understood sex in terms of phallic pleasure, regardless of the gender of the partner. Greek society was sexually polarized; men had the majority of power.
 
 Same sex relationships were often more acceptable among the upper class than among the lower class. Sexual relationships between men were reflected though art, philosophy, and sports. Herodotus makes the comment that the Persians borrowed from the Greeks such “unnatural vices” meaning homosexuality and pederasty (Hdt.1.135).
 
 Oscar Wilde spoke of “the love that dares not speak its name” or the love between an elder and a younger man. Pederasty was institutionalized in Athens. Boys were attractive before their beard started to grow (Philostr.13.15). Boys with long hair were considered very attractive (Philostr.16). “Decorous boys” were the most sought after and often received costly presents (Strabo, Geography,10.4.20-21). A “lover” (erastes) held a spiritual and intellectual force while the “beloved” (eromenos) possessed the freshness of life.
 
 Pederastic behavior may have been used as an initiation where the youth was seen as being prepared for the social adult life ahead; however, as Eva C. Keuls emphasizes, the pederastic rituals condoned were male homosexuality and male prostitution (Keuls 277). Young male prostitutes were accepted as part of nature, as natural as water, fire, or the stars (Philostr.19). The sexual approach between a man and a boy was frontal and took place between the thighs  (intercrural sex) (Keuls 282). The erastes would caress the eromenos' chin with one hand and touch his genitals with the other. Some of the red-figure vases show older men in sexual courtship with very young prepubescent boys. These paintings suggest again the broader relationship between the lover and the beloved; it was not only about sex, but about initiation, affection, and bonding. These accepted social rules belong solely to the Archaic period and Keuls has argued that they changed drastically in the Classical period (Keuls 299).
 
 Women were excluded from public life. Marriage was considered a duty both to society and to the gods and women would have been obligated to procreate and take care of domestic issues within the confinement of their homes (Katz 72). There was a death penalty for married women who showed up at the Olympic Games. In the Hellenistic period women started to have greater freedoms. They could travel alone, have access to education, and generally became more independent.