Catamite: Difference between revisions
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A '''catamite''' is the younger partner in a [[Pederasty|pederastic]] relationship between two males, which was a popular arrangement in many areas of the ancient world. |
A '''catamite''' is the younger partner in a [[Pederasty|pederastic]] relationship between two males, which was a popular arrangement in many areas of the ancient world. |
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The word is also used to describe the practise in early [[Japan]], where monks would have sexual relationships with younger monks; [[samurai]] with [[ |
The word is also used to describe the practise in early [[Japan]], where monks would have sexual relationships with younger monks; [[samurai]] with [[Page (servant)|pages]]; and noblemen with younger members of the [[aristocracy]]. |
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The word ''catamite'' is derived from the [[Latin]] ''catamitus'', itself borrowed from the [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] ''catmite'', a corruption of the [[Greek language|Greek]] [[Ganymede (mythology)|''Ganymedes'']], the boy who was seduced by [[Zeus]] and became his beloved and [[cup-bearer]] in [[Greek mythology]]. |
The word ''catamite'' is derived from the [[Latin]] ''catamitus'', itself borrowed from the [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] ''catmite'', a corruption of the [[Greek language|Greek]] [[Ganymede (mythology)|''Ganymedes'']], the boy who was seduced by [[Zeus]] and became his beloved and [[cup-bearer]] in [[Greek mythology]]. |
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Revision as of 19:38, 13 May 2008
A catamite is the younger partner in a pederastic relationship between two males, which was a popular arrangement in many areas of the ancient world.
The word is also used to describe the practise in early Japan, where monks would have sexual relationships with younger monks; samurai with pages; and noblemen with younger members of the aristocracy.
The word catamite is derived from the Latin catamitus, itself borrowed from the Etruscan catmite, a corruption of the Greek Ganymedes, the boy who was seduced by Zeus and became his beloved and cup-bearer in Greek mythology.
In Literature
Anthony Burgess starts his novel Earthly Powers with the sentence:
It was the afternoon of my eighty-first birthday, and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali announced that the archbishop had come to see me.
In Cormac McCarthy's depiction of survival in a post-apocalyptic society in The Road, where many have reverted to cannibalism, the protagonists encounter, while hiding from a distance, people that were enslaved and that are referred to as "catamites", along with pregnant women and carriage-pulling slaves.
See also
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