In classical Athens, homosexuality was not banned, but it was generally considered dishonourable.

Democracy and morality: 

ancient and modern

by Paul Eidelberg

Although democracy had its origin in classical Athens--what could be more democratic than an assembly whose members are chosen by lot?--the Athenian attitude toward sexuality in those days was very different from that which prevails in democracies today.

In his book Law, Sexuality, and Society: The Enforcement of Morals in Classical Athens, David Cohen reminds us that in classical Athens "a wide variety of [sexual] offenses brought some degree or another of loss of civic rights (atimia: literally: the state of being without honor)." An honorable reputation was of fundamental political importance in Athenian democracy.

Demosthenes, Athens' great orator, went so far as to say: "Of all forms of government, the most antagonistic to men of shameful habits is that in which it is possible for anyone to make known their shame. And what form of government is that? Democracy."

Not that Athenians lacked a strong sense of the private domain. But they were far more civic-minded than citizens of contemporary democracy. The polis was not the impersonal mass society of our time but a face-to-face political community where considerations of honor and shame were of decisive importance in politics. In such a community men's private vices were tolerated so long as they did not intrude into the public domain and corrupt public morality.

To take a hypothetical example: Athenian law might tolerate pornography in the home but not in a public theater. Similarly, the law would not prohibit "private" homosexuality, but it would not legalize it or dignify it as morally acceptable.

In fact, one Athenian statute partially disenfranchised any citizen who engaged in homosexuality for gain, whether as a boy or an adult. Such a citizen lost the right to address the Assembly and to participate in other important areas of civic life. The law even prescribed the death penalty for those who sought to take homoerotic advantage of schoolboys.

"Athenian law," according to Professor Cohen, "did not punish immoral behavior as such, rather only immoral behavior which either harmed those unable to protect themselves or directly transgressed against the clearly demarcated public sphere." For example, Athenian men who prostituted themselves were not tried and punished unless they engaged in political activities from which the law debarred them.

Athenian democrats therefore distinguished between moral and immoral behavior, and the distinction had the support of law.

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