Talk:Cretan pederasty

Minoan or not
According to Percy (p. 22), it's not clear at all that the Minoans established pederasty. There are conflicting theories as to the origin, and this article does a poor job at discussing them, and instead just embraces one of them. A more recent summary. Pcap ping  19:08, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

interpretation of evidence
Although I'm in favor of presenting passages from primary sources, and don't think any of that should be deleted from the article, I'm concerned that the number of secondary sources is too limited to be balanced. In particular, the interpretation of the dedicatory statuary is presented as if it were uncontested; I have my doubts that all scholars take the same view of it. Cynwolfe (talk) 16:18, 24 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Actually, I remembered that I have a copy of Koehl's article — “The Chieftain Cup and a Minoan Rite of Passage,” Journal of Hellenic Studies 106 (1986) — which I've just reviewed. It's a meticulous and sober piece of scholarship, and should be used more extensively to construct this article. He deals with Minoan origins, Cretan rites of passage, the Strabo passage on the erotic aspect, and how the Ganymede myth can be viewed as expressing the social custom. As well as offering an amusingly lengthy and illustrated treatment of Cretan hairstyles for men. Cynwolfe (talk) 16:40, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 12:25, 29 April 2016 (UTC)