INTERPRETING STRATON’S MOST FAMOUS POEM

BY GEORGE DOUGLAS

Straton of Sardis was much the most prolific author of the many poems devoted to the love of boys in the massive Greek Anthology. Most probably during the reign of Hadrian (AD 117-138), he wrote ninety-eight such epigrams himself, besides putting together the section of the Anthology called The Boyish Muse to house them and similar ones by others. Of all his epigrams, the one that has received the most attention seems to be XII 4, devoted to the question of what age of boys he, as a lover of boys, found most appealing. It is important and much discussed because it is the only ancient writing on this precise subject and, though it is of course only Straton’s personal take on it, there is little other evidence as to the age range of boys who ancient Greeks in general loved. Here is the most accurate English translation of the poem that I know of:[1]

I delight in the prime of a boy of twelve, but one of thirteen is much more desirable. He who is fourteen is a still sweeter flower of the Loves, and one who is just beginning his fifteenth year is yet more delightful. The sixteenth year is that of the gods, and as for the seventeenth it is not for me, but for Zeus, to seek it. But if one has a desire for those still older, he no longer plays, but now seeks “And answering him back.”

The observant reader will have noticed a contradiction here: a mixed use of cardinal and ordinal numbers resulting in repetition.[2] Whilst this has worried conscientious scholars, I do not think I should let it distract me from the much more important question I shall address. The Greeks would be as surprised as most historical people at the modern obsession with precise age; insufficient interest is why they wrote about it so little. It is the spirit of the poem that matters and language can be bent in its service. In any case, one can only ever make rough generalisations as to what boys are like at a particular age since they vary not a little in their individual development. Hence, having warned the reader that I mean ages to be taken as only approximate, I shall write further as if Straton wrote about boys of 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and “still older”.

Seeing that from twelve to fifteen at least, Straton says that each year of a boy’s life makes him more desirable, modern gay propagandists have sought to extend this into early manhood. Being only for the gods does not, according to this view, mean literally that, but is rather a poetic way of saying that older youths are even more superlatively attractive. Such a view is untenable because of the mountain of unambiguous evidence provided by Straton’s other poems (XII 16, 21, 176, 182, 186, 191, 195, 215, 220, 229, 242) showing it was παῖδες (boys) he longed for and that their physical transformation into men was what killed off their erotic appeal. Usually, the lethal development is spelt out as being the appearance of bodily or facial hair, though in one case (242) it is suggested the youth’s cock is overgrown. Other Greek literature is unilaterally supportive of Straton’s opinion.

I think one must therefore accept that Straton thought that at sixteen boys became not entirely suitable for pursuit by mortals, though fine for gods. Is there any contradiction between this and having said that up to fifteen boys become more and more desirable? I say not and now offer a view of the changing appeal of the boy from twelve onwards that goes well beyond what Straton actually explains himself, but which I believe makes good sense of it. I shall begin with the difference between twelve, his starting point, and fifteen, the most desirable age.

Twelve versus Fifteen

 

A child of twelve has reached an unsurpassable point of balance and bloom which makes him the masterpiece of creation. He is happy, sure of himself, confident in the surrounding universe, which seems to him perfectly ordered. His beauty of face and body at that age is such that all human beauty is only a more or less distant reflection of it. (Michel Tournier, The Elf-King)

He is the perfect androgynous creature, all-boyish and untainted by manliness. He is ready for love and the gifts Eros brings, indeed he could well have been introduced to it a couple of years earlier, but there has been no pressing need and nature has not yet forced its hand, as it soon will. He is on the cusp of exploding into the hottest and lustiest human imaginable, but the explosion will wreck increasing havoc.

You go with a family of friends to the nudist beach. Their 12-year-old son is along: attractive, vital, exuberant. His hair is white-blond, his voice – continuously shouting and laughing – is clear and high; he is in constant motion, running and hopping among the adults; he is merry, full of the joy of life. When you look at him or speak to him he smiles immediately. Physically, everything is grace and charm: the small appendage underneath his tummy, between his legs, calls little attention to itself and, since the boy is in the habit of going about naked, he is hardly self-conscious of this organ.

Three years later you make the same outing with the same family, and their son agrees to come along, too. His hair is now considerably darker, his voice is deep. He is much quieter, walks beside the adults and enters into their conversation. You see his nice smile much less frequently now, for he’s more serious. His body is big and strong, the musculature setting it off beautifully. On his chest the dark nipples stand out in profile. And between his thighs, where coarse hairs have appeared, nature has done everything in the past three years to make his sex conspicuous: the dark bush of hair on the lower abdomen points to it; penis and scrotum, more darkly pigmented than the rest of the body, have grown so big that they dangle of their own weight and, as he walks, take up an independent motion. Perhaps the glans, with its alluring, deep purple shine, protrudes a little from the foreskin. The boy is now quite conscious that, naked, he is displaying himself as a sexual being, that he carries his maleness in front of him almost as an advertisement. Depending upon the set of his mind, this will make him proud or shy. (Edward Brongersma, Loving Boys)

With a boy of fifteen, the man who introduced a boy to love at the ideal time (by twelve), can now rest on his laurels. The boy has already benefitted tremendously from years of his mentorship and can fully engage with him intellectually as well as emotionally and erotically.[3] His beauty is now tempered heavily with the spice of manliness. It is no longer pristine, but it is not yet spoiled and can still be fully relished without any misgivings, while the consequent increase in his sexiness is so overt and powerful as to make a sensitive man drunk with desire. The boy of fifteen is at the peak of his sexual vigour, he has honed his erotic skills and, if he was introduced to sex young enough, he will have no inhibitions in bed. In it as well as out of it, he will be the perfect mate for a man open to loving boys and their love-making will be of the highest quality imaginable. Their affair is in full flower in every sense. Nothing better can be hoped for.

Sixteen

The sixteen-year-old still has boyish traits, so it’s understandable if you desire him, especially if you are already his lover, in which case your feelings for each other will be heavily influenced by your past together and the consequent enduring rapport. Many Greek men loved boys who were his age, as is made clear by the many images on vases of beloved youths who had attained full height while remaining smooth-limbed and beardless. Straton understood this enduring love:

I caught fire when Theudis shone among the other boys, like the sun that rises on the stars. Therefore I am still burning now, when the down of night overtakes him, for though he be setting, yet he is still the sun. (XII 178)

And yet questions about his boyishness are arising. The lethally erotocidal hairs show signs of spreading and coarsening into something uncharacteristic of either pubescence or femininity. In shape and feel and smell, his virility is fast overcoming his androgyny. He is also sufficiently adult-minded that he no longer needs or relishes your guidance and protection the way he did. If you are not already his lover, is it not perhaps time to respect his virility? Remember that he is ready in all his senses to play the man himself. Might it not be hubristic to expect him to play the boy? You would of course do as you liked with him if you were a god; gods don’t have to worry about committing hubris and can easily treat him as a boy. But you are not one and so a little hesitation is in order that was not necessary before.

Seventeen

What was hinted at when the boy was sixteen is obvious once he is a youth of seventeen.

It is not simply a question of youths this age being doubtfully desirable. There is an ethical dimension too, which should impel your reluctance to ask him to begin playing the boy when so mature. Not only would you disgrace yourself with doubtful good taste, but you would disgrace him twice as much by inducing him to play a role that is unseemly for his age:

That an immature boy should do despite to his insensible age carries more disgrace to the friend who tempts him than to himself, and for a grown-up youth to submit to sodomy, his season for which is past, is twice as disgraceful to him who consents as it is to his tempter. (XII 228)

Only a super-being, a king of the gods, should presume to make a boy of one. For anyone else, it is outrageous effrontery.

Still Older

One could see enough residue of the boy in him when he was seventeen to understand how he could appeal to Zeus, but if you yearn for him once he is older still, you are yearning, consciously or not, for him to play the man with you and seeking for a very different kind of love.