Ο ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ ΚΑΙ Ο ΠΥΛΑΔΗΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΤΙΦΛΙΔΑ

Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Τιφλίδας (Γεωργία)  

(φωτογραφίες: ΤΟ ΑΠΕΝΑΝΤΙ ΠΕΖΟΔΡΟΜΙΟ) 

The intense relationship between Pylades and Orestes was presented by some Greek writers as romantic or homoerotic. A dialogue entitled Erotes ("Affairs of the Heart") and attributed to Lucian compares the merits and advantages of heterosexuality and homoeroticism, and Orestes and Pylades are presented as the principal representatives of homoerotic friendship:

"Taking the love god as the mediator of their emotions for each other, they sailed together as it were on the same vessel of life...nor did they restrict their affectionate friendship to the limits of Hellas....as soon as they put a foot on the land of the Tauride, the Fury of matricides was there to welcome the strangers, and, when the natives stood around them, the one was struck to the ground by his usual madness and lay there, but Pylades 'did wipe away the foam and tend his frame and shelter him with a fine well-woven robe,' thus showing the feelings not merely of a lover, but also of a father. But when it had been decided that, while one remained to be killed, the other should depart for Mycenae to bear a letter, each wished to remain for the sake of the other, considering that he himself lived in the survival of his friend. But Orestes refused to take the letter, claiming Pylades was the fitter person to do so, and thus showed himself almost to be the lover rather than the beloved."

The wider context of these remarks, describing the physical intimacy open to male pairs, indicates that the love exemplified by Orestes and Pylades would not necessarily have excluded even more overt homoerotic or homosexual elements. In 1734, George Frederic Handel´s opera L'Oreste (based on Giangualberto Barlocci’s Roman libretto of 1723), was premiered in London's Covent Garden. The fame of Lucian's works in the 18th century, as well as the generally well-known tradition of Greco-Roman heroic homoeroticism, made it natural for theatre audiences of that period to have recognized an intense, romantic, if not positively homoerotic quality, to the relationship between Orestes and Pylades. (en.wikipedia.org) 

Το παραπάνω κείμενο προέρχεται, φυσικά (;), από την αγγλική έκδοση της Wikipedia, αφού η ελληνική έκδοση, όπως πάντα συμβαίνει σε ανάλογες περιπτώσεις, προτιμά να αποσιωπά ό,τι δεν είναι "βολικό".

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ΤΟ ΑΠΕΝΑΝΤΙ ΠΕΖΟΔΡΟΜΙΟ: Ο ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ ΚΑΙ Ο ΠΥΛΑΔΗΣ ΣΤΗ ΜΑΔΡΙΤΗ