"I'm a dick and you suck otherwise one has nothing to do with the other"[1] - lyrics from 'not alike' by Eminem ft. RoyceDa 5'9" 

This article is going to focus on the view point of homosexuality in both a modern and ancient context and to compare these vastly different cultural attitudes towards masculinity through the lens of homosexuality. It is important to point out that this article is specifically looking at the perceived effect suggested homosexuality has on one's masculinity. Therefore, we are focusing purely on the sexual interactions between two men, and we are not discussing the emotional, intellectual or spiritual connections that makes up a romantic homosexual relationship or the level of tolerance that these cultures had for diverse sexuality (despite circumstantial insinuation).

The argument I am making in this blog post focuses around the idea that during the fourth century, the excepted social philosophy was that it wasn't shameful to be the receiver of homosexual intimacy, however to be the passive partner in the relationship - the giver or in modern fetish terminology a submissive or 'bottom' partner in a homosexual interaction was shameful as you were allowing yourself to be penetrated and there for violated by another man and thus reducing yourself to the station of a woman - which in ancient Greece was below the class of men. 

In order to make this argument I will be focusing a lot of my evidence around the famous oratory piece entitled ‘Against Timarchus' - a speech written against a supposed sexual deviant who as a young boy, and into his adult life embodied what the Athenians believed to be unacceptable conduct. I will be looking at this piece specifically because in the way that I have interpreted the text this case focuses around the argument as to why specifically the relationships in Timarchus' life were wrongful in the eyes of the ancient Greeks - a community of which (primarily in Athens) practiced pederasty; which in that context was seen as a mentoring styled relationship, and often had a sexual component.

Within the classical era of Ancient Greece, homosexuality was not the taboo subject that it was today, with romantic relationships in general being a wide topic of conversation among orators, play writes and philosophers alike. However, Ancient Greece also wasn’t the accepting or openly promiscuous environment many pictures; for hetro or homosexual people.

Going back to the quote at the beginning of this article, the artist Eminem performs this line within a rap - a genre of music which carries with it a rich culture and its own social circle. Rap emerged through the hip hop movement which was "an oppositional cultural realm rooted in the socio-political and historical experiences and consciousness of the economically disadvantaged urban youth of the late 20th century”[2]. As a result, it became "a reactionary response to mainstream culture – an oppositional force"[3]. Now it is clear that Eminem is not a member of the African American community racially speaking, however he did spend "his formative years in a largely black lower-middle class Detroit neighbourhood"[4] and so as the influential magazine Rolling stone described "Eminem is a white boy in a black medium"[5] and has been extremely successful.

This art form conveyed a "broader argumentation on moral, social and political grounds"[6] - reflecting various moral, social and political viewpoints of the time period - as does that of the case of Timarchus. 'Against Timarchus', written by Aeschines in approx. BCE 346, was a speech that was 'performed' in front of an Athenian jury; therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume that the viewpoints presented in this text reflects that of general Athenian society. The reason that these two pieces are so easy to compare is because they both reflect on the historical social perspectives within their individual cultures.

Moving to the specific quotations themselves it is clear from the introductory quote of Eminem's rap, that the homosexual act of oral sex performed by a man on another man is the subject that is being ridiculed here. Therefore, following his line of argument Eminem, making himself the 'dick' in this portion of his song, makes him the dominant character and the masculine participant in this exchange. By describing the anonymous recipient of this insult as the one who 'sucks' makes this character the passive participant and the ridicule comes from the implication that this anonymous recipient is a male, however, is performing the act which, in a heterosexual relationship, the female would perform for obvious biological reasons.

The law from Ancient Greece that reflects this sentiment, repeated by Aeschines in his speech is that: "If any Athenian shall have prostituted his person, he shall not be permitted to become one of the nine archons, nor to discharge the office of priest, nor to act as an advocate for the state, nor shall he hold any office whatsoever, at home or abroad, whether filled by lot or by election; he shall not be sent as a herald; he shall not take part in debate, nor be present at the public sacrifices; when the citizens are wearing garlands, he shall wear none; and he shall not enter within the limits of the place that has been purified for the assembling of the people. If any man who has been convicted of prostitution act contrary to these prohibitions, he shall be put to death"[7].

In her article Adriaan Lanni also surmises that 'it has been pointed out that Aeschines insinuates throughout his speech that Timarchus' homosexual lifestyle is disgusting and feminine'[8] - which is similar in sentiment to the argument that I am attempting to convey about classical Athenian attitudes and how this concept is still alive in modern culture. But it is important to note that it is not the homosexuality of the defendant here that is being questioned, not even discussed in a negative light - these laws did not and were not designed to punish homosexuality or make it illegal, but they were created to prevent those, who engaged in homoerotic activities as a passive participant and whom you could prove to have prostituted themselves in these situations, from taking an active part in the political society in Athens. Lanni explains that the Athenian laws in place during these times were 'more likely aimed at curbing what was perceived to be the most harmful aspect of pederasty without going so far as to ban all those who had engaged in this longstanding elite practice from political leadership,'[9].

As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post this does boil down to the security of masculinity within these societies. Unlike modern men, and arguably the rest of the ancient world in the fourth century (made evident by the fact that the trial of Timarchus came about from the accusations made against Aeschines and his support of Macedonia's forceful expansion into Greece), Athenian masculinity rested upon their ability to manoeuvre political society; as it was this social circle at the centre of Athens which provided power and station - attributes which make or break a man's sense of masculinity. It is the accumulation of power and station that connect these two antithetical cultures to one another. 

As I have mentioned above, to the Athenians it was the social interactions within the Athenian political arena that defined one's masculine capability. This is important, as in order to explore the security of a culture's masculine expectations you first need to know what it is that that particular society judges one’s masculinity on. This rap was written and released in 2018, at this point in time, especially in the impoverished African American community’s masculinity was accumulated through one’s ability to, in anyway shape or form, fulfil the traditional male role as a provider; as Ken McLeod states 'traditionally boys and young men have been understood to construct their masculinity based on a patriarchal opposition to femininity"[10]. This ideology crops up in the world of ancient Greece as Mark Masterson also points out, 'the man whose manhood is defective can be assimilated to slaves and women"[11].

The ideal man within Ancient Greek society is what is referred to as a ‘hoplite’ who are most commonly known for their distinct military presence in the fifth and fourth centuries which shows the value of traditional male qualities in Ancient Greece which comes from the idea of “military virtue (which) ultimately harkened back to the Iliadic Warriors”[12] who Mark pinpoints to be “the defining model for Ancient men”[13]. However, for anyone who hasn't read the Iliad, trust me when I say that it is made very obvious that even these pillars of social standing had flaws. Agenorie is a Greek word meaning “excessive manliness”[14] or as we would refer to in modern terminology; toxic masculinity. The ancient world offers a good example environment for explaining these different states of masculinity - being a world of men and war and patriarchy - we can use traditional examples of male roles, of which we see many in the Iliad, to describe what a ‘manly man’ is and isn't. In modern culture it is the pop stars and actors that we see in the media that our society idealises and from whom we set our social expectations; including the male/female defining qualities.

However, it isn't always that straightforward; there is also the grey area of male relationships and homosexuality that we have explored above. In contrast to the Greek ideals of the hoplites there was the “scare image”[15] of the ‘Kinaidos’. The kinaidos represented the ‘feminine man’ or as Masterson describes as someone “who couldn’t control his appetites, who wanted to be sexually dominated and penetrated by other men''[16]. This dichotomy of the hoplite versus the kinaidos embodies the conflict within Classical Greek society that surrounds not just individual masculinity but also group masculinity; and this is where pederasty became dangerous within the fourth century.

As Adriaan Lanni explains the "Law’s expressive function is not limited to binary statements of approval or disapproval"[17] but rather can enforce social boundaries in order to prevent certain lines being crossed without having to abandon culture, tradition or confidence from the upper classes. "A law can encourage or discourage a practice by manipulating the practice’s social meaning - resulting in social and cognitive pressures to alter behaviour"[18], and this is exactly the effect the Ancient Greek laws such as the one above, had on the institution of pederasty in the fourth century. This meant for the young boys who still found themselves within the social circles where pederasty was accepted and practised, if you were seen to materially gain from this whether financially or even "living with (and thus off of) one’s lover"[19] could put you in danger of being prosecuted against these new laws. With these laws in place the practices within these institutions changed - there needs to be a clear exchange of mentorship between the older and younger man and it is even suggested that some erastes and eromenos partnerships engaged exclusively in intercrural sex; that is a form of non-penetrative sex, in which a male partner places his penis between the thighs of his sexual partner, and reaches orgasm through the friction created between the thighs. Because there is no penetration, this form of sexual contact couldn't be regarded as demining to either party. As Masterson rather indelicately describes it “as regards being penetrated, there is scope for manoeuvring”[20].

Arguably, modern attitudes towards masculinity are much simpler, however this idea of boundaries around what constitutes acceptable levels of masculinity are still in place but are somewhat blurred among different social circles. What I am attempting to argue here is that this ancient social and cognitive pressure to maintain one's state of manliness is still present and so despite the ideological development around homosexuality and the appropriateness of expressing this outside the norms of one’s gender, there are still social circles that ridicule homosexuality for its feminine connotations today. 

In order to understand the euphemism in Eminem's rap we need to consider the context in which these lyrics were written. As I had mentioned previously Eminem grew up in a predominantly African American community which tends to be very close knit as well as oppressive in the values that the community share. African Americans tend to be very traditional in their values, that is following Christian values (this being the predominant religion throughout America). These teachings communicate to their followers for the most part, and especially within the African American community, that homosexuality is a sin, and something to be extremely ashamed of. African American men take the matter of their masculinity very seriously and so to be accused of being a homosexual in this community would be extremely upsetting to said individual. “Staples attributes the problems which African American men face, (are due) to the blocked opportunities to express their masculinity as breadwinners for their families”[21], this is yet another hurdle African Americans face due to inherent racism and stereotyping that lives throughout most cultures and societies due to the slave trade. However, this article is not about racism or the issues the black community face. However, this history of servitude within the Black community does factor into why black men are so protective of their masculinity. 

The defence of their masculinity paired with the Christian values that the African American community is rife with against homosexuality and is connotations of weakness creates the meat behind the introductory statement above. Eminem, as a man who grow up in a predominantly African American community would have grown up surrounded by these ideals and social teachings and it is this social anxiety of men in this community being accused of homosexuality and the connotations of weakness or femininity being forced upon them that leads to Eminem's vulgar play on words.

As you can see from this slightly drawn-out blog post is that both Aeschines and Eminem use the social anxiety within their culture of being considered weak or feminine or violated, against the person they are addressing in order to undermine them and their masculinity.