Chapter 5, Homosexuality and the Laurel Leaf - No Connection Summary and Analysis

There are two men who captivated the love of gods. Narcissus and Hyacinth were renowned for their beauty. It was a known fact that there were some men, as well as many women who fell in love with each man. In the case of Hyacinth, the normally heterosexual god Apollo fell in love with him. Heracles, the hero, turns out to have been noticeably bisexual. He had wives and lovers who were women, and had sexually intimate involvements with more than one man as well during the course of his adult life. These variants on standard heterosexual practices are not elucidated.

Where Apollo is the Sun, Artemis is the Moon. In this pantheon, the two are viewed as siblings. From our current perspective, it would...