History and Homosexuality: Tradition Is Older Than Your Prejudices

A different sexual orientation is not a 21st-century fad. The diversity of human sexuality appears in sources throughout history—only the labels and the lens have changed. The modern word “homosexuality” was coined only in the 19th century, while ancient societies tended to describe behavior rather than identity. In the text that follows, we’ll look at how same-sex intimate relationships were approached by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, as well as by Indigenous cultures of the Americas, which were not originally shaped by Western religions. Along the way, we’ll add context that often gets left out of standard overviews and show why historical sources can look so different—depending on place, time, and the genre of the source.

What we know today as the “basics”

• Sexual orientation is not a disorder. A long-standing consensus in psychology holds that a homosexual orientation in itself is not linked to mental illness and is not something that should or can be “cured.” ⁽¹⁾
• Same-sex behavior is also observed in nature. Research has described such behavior in multiple animal species, including mammals; hypotheses about its function vary (social bonding, stress reduction, etc.), but the phenomenon itself is not “unnatural.” ⁽²⁾

Ancient Egypt: iconic double portraits and many interpretations

Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep: two high officials in one tomb

At Saqqara, archaeologists found a shared tomb of two court officials from the 5th Dynasty—Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep. On the walls they are depicted “nose to nose,” embracing, and in offering scenes—motifs that in Egyptian art were typically reserved for married couples. Whether they were brothers, exceptionally close friends, or same-sex partners remains a matter of scholarly debate; official Egyptian heritage sources have tended to speak of “two brothers,” while other Egyptologists allow for an intimate interpretation. ⁽³⁾

The takeaway for Egypt: the texts and images themselves do not criminalize same-sex intimate behavior; rather, they suggest that social norms were not uniform and that a lot depended on context (privacy, cult, rank).

Ancient Greece: behavior, roles, and norms that are hard (for us) to compare

Relationships as “education” and social bonds

Greek city-states recognized a broad spectrum of intimate and emotional bonds between men. In some settings, paiderastia existed—a relationship between an older man (erastés) and a younger boy/youth (erómenos) that, alongside the erotic dimension, also had an educational and “civic” aspect. Views differed by polis; what Sparta tolerated as part of upbringing, Athens regulated and bounded by ethical norms. What matters is that these are phenomena not comparable to today’s ethics and law; modern societies protect minors precisely because such relationships entail an inherent power imbalance. ⁽⁴⁾

Sappho and the “lesbians” of Lesbos

When it comes to women, there are fewer sources, but Sappho from the island of Lesbos left behind poetry full of explicit affection for women. And that is where today’s term “lesbian” love comes from—although the ancient reality was more varied than any single word can capture. ⁽⁵⁾

Achilles and Patroclus: love, friendship, or both?

The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is among the most debated—Homer writes it as a deep bond; later traditions also read it as a romantic relationship. The texts offer no definitive “answer,” but they do show that the Greek imagination made room for such an interpretation. ⁽⁶⁾

The Roman world: patriarchal freedoms, religious festivals, and an imperial “icon”

Hadrian and Antinous

Emperor Hadrian (117–138) openly venerated the memory of his lover Antinous—after Antinous’ tragic death, he founded a cult, commissioned statues, and had cities named after him. The sources inevitably aestheticize the story, but the fact remains: the most powerful man in the empire made a male–male relationship visible on a scale history rarely records. ⁽⁷⁾

Bacchanalia: ritual, trance, and infamous “excesses”

The festivals of Bacchus/Dionysus (the Bacchanalia) had a celebratory ritual character with singing, dancing, and—in the eyes of moralists—pleasure that easily crossed the boundaries of convention. The Roman Senate ultimately restricted them through legal measures—not because of sexuality as such, but due to political and social fears of “secret gatherings.” ⁽⁸⁾

Indigenous peoples of the Americas: “two-spirit” as a distinctive social role

Many communities in North America recognized people who combined elements of the masculine and feminine principle as particularly spiritually gifted individuals—today the umbrella term two-spirit is often used. This is not a modern identity but rather Indigenous concepts with their own names and responsibilities (healers, ceremonies, crafts). Colonial interventions and missionary programs suppressed these roles, but in some communities they survived and are now being revived—with an emphasis on the fact that each community uses its own word and tradition. ⁽⁹⁾

A brief detour: ancient Mesopotamia was not uniform

Legal tablets from Assyrian contexts show that penalties for male–male intercourse did exist—and in some cases castration is mentioned as well. At the same time, other texts (e.g., omen collections) assess the same behavior pragmatically or even favorably depending on the context of “honor” and social status. Interpretation depends on the specific passage, period, and text type; there is no single “Mesopotamian doctrine.” ⁽¹⁰⁾

More parallels worth mentioning

The “cut sleeve” in China

Chinese culture preserved the tender motif of the “passion of the cut sleeve”—the story of Emperor Ai of Han and his lover Dong Xian gave rise to an idiom for male–male affection. This was not an exception but a sign of a courtly tradition that, across different periods, fluctuated between normalcy and taboo. ⁽¹¹⁾

Japanese nanshoku and wakashudō

In early modern Japan there are rich literary and visual sources on nanshoku (male–male love), from monastic settings to the samurai class. A well-known collection of stories is Nanshoku Ōkagami (1687) by Ihara Saikaku, which captures the norms of the time, ideals of fidelity, and power imbalances—again, a very different world from today’s. ⁽¹²⁾

What to watch for when reading the history of sexuality

• Words are not neutral. Ancient texts describe acts and roles (active/passive, older/younger), not a stable identity in the way we understand it today. ⁽⁴⁾
• Ethics doesn’t перенос across time. For example, pederasty is today unacceptable and illegal primarily because of the protection of minors and power asymmetry; describing the past is not a defense of it.
• Sources differ by genre. Inscriptions, myths, court records, or poetry pursue different aims and must be read in context.

Watch on the topic (video)

Who are “Two-Spirit” people? A brief explanation from a museum and PBS (in English):
https://pbswisconsin.org/article/wisconsin-pride-two-spirit/ ⁽¹³⁾

Sappho and the origin of the word “lesbian” (TED-Ed):

Summary

If we step back from modern labels, history shows many ways societies have made sense of affection, sexuality, and roles. From Egyptian double portraits through Greek paiderastia, Roman imperial romances, to Indigenous two-spirit concepts—everywhere we see local logics, not a black-and-white line from “tolerance” to “repression.” The key point for today is simple: diversity is a historical reality, not a fashionable exception, and scientific consensus says that sexuality in itself is not a disorder. ⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

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Sources

1. American Psychological Association – Understanding sexual orientation and homosexuality – https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/orientation
2. Monk et al., Nature Ecology & Evolution (2019) – Same-sex sexual behaviour in animals – https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-0909-0
3. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities – Tomb of the Two Brothers (Niankh-Khnum & Khnumhotep) – https://egymonuments.gov.eg/en/monuments/tomb-of-the-two-brothers-niankh-khnum-and-khnumhotep/
4. Encyclopaedia Britannica – Homosexuality (overview and ancient contexts) – https://www.britannica.com/topic/homosexuality
5. Encyclopaedia Britannica – Sappho – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sappho
6. Encyclopaedia Britannica – Patroclus – https://www.britannica.com/topic/Patroclus-Greek-mythology
7. Encyclopaedia Britannica – Hadrian – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hadrian
8. Encyclopaedia Britannica – Bacchanalia – https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bacchanalia
9. Encyclopaedia Britannica – Two-Spirit (North American Indian) – https://www.britannica.com/topic/Two-Spirit
10. (JSTOR) Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research – Visualities of Gendered Identities… (link to passages on castration in the Middle Assyrian Laws) – https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.376.0121.pdf
11. Hinsch, B. – Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male Homosexual Tradition in China (UC Press; library record) – https://archive.org/details/passionsofcutsle0000hins
12. Encyclopaedia Britannica – Ihara Saikaku (and reference to Nanshoku Ōkagami) – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ihara-Saikaku
13. PBS Wisconsin – Two-Spirit (video/article) – https://pbswisconsin.org/article/wisconsin-pride-two-spirit/
14. TED-Ed – The surprising origins of the word “lesbian” (video) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFcftfqpxK4