Halperin-Maurice Sexuality

I do not know why that Halperin addresses the sexual lifestyle of the Athenians and not the Spartans. The Athenians and the Spartans both did not address the issue of homosexuality even though it occurred. The Athenian citizens were dominant over the young boys, while in the barracks the men were very comfortable with each other. Each separate polis had a different reason why there existed homosexuality. According to Halperin's article, "Dio asserts that even respectable women are so easy to seduce nowadays, that men will soon tire of them and will turn their attention to boys instead" (421). In addition, Halperin discusses the issue of "satryriasis," or "a state of abnormally elevated sexual desire" (422). In Sparta, the men were together in barracks because of training for war while the women were seen rarely and only for procreation. It was also interesting in Maurice that one of the gay characters Clive wants to go to Greece and visits Greece. I think he wanted to go to Greece after reading Phaedrus and Symposium by Plato and learns that his way of living is not an issue as it is in their society. Clive wanted to go to a place where he thought he would fit in. Their society instead is concentrated on the Bible and what it says which in turn says that homosexuality is wrong. Maurice even searched the scriptures for the support and instead found that the Bible was against him (70). He also mentions Sodom of Sodom and Gnmorrah on pg. 69 because his desires were sins. In Sodom men were sleeping with prostitutes and other men if I remember correctly. In addition, "[Clive's] sincere mind, with its keen sense of right and wrong, had brought him the belief that he was damned instead" (69)(73). Halperin and Maurcie both address sexuality and homosexuality in different ways.
Halperin addresses the sexuality of the Athenians and also addresses "soft" men along with Forster. According to Halperin, "soft" men are unmasculine, and "these men willingly adopt the dress, gait, and other characteristics of women, thereby confirming that they suffer not from a bodily disease but from a mental (or moral) defect" (422). He also describes those men as passive instead of the dominators because they take the "feminine role in sexual intercourse" (422). Halperin describes "soft" men similar to the way Forster describes his characters. The fact that Maurice grew up with his mother and sisters and no father figure could be a part of why he is gay. On page 19, Forster portrays Maurice as a wimp, or feminine man because he is afraid of his room and the shadow which is stereotypical of a gay man. When Forster described Risley it was stereotypical of a gay man. Risley "made an exaggerated gesture when introduced, and when he spoke...he used strong yet unmanly superlatives" (31). Forster and Halperin addresss the stereotypical homosexual man in similar ways.
It is interesting how Forster never outright mentions homosexuality in his book. Forster only hints to it. He uses words like "friendship" between Maurice and Clive. And in the beginning of the book he emphasizes the idea of a man and a woman together for the survival of mankind. That is how it is supposed to be. On page 51 "Omit: a reference to the unspeakable vice of the Greeks." And in the novel, Clive "was glad to know that there were more of his sort about" (71). Because homosexuality is shunned in their society, Maurice and his fellow "friends" never outright mention it. They have to keep it a secret or else society will turn against them. Even though "Mr. Cornwallis always suspected such friendships" (79). Maurice describes himself and Clive as "outlaws" (127) because they do not want to be with women. Forster's novel, Maurice, brings up good reasons why he does not mention homosexuality but instead implies it. Halperin's article and Forster's novel come together to address sexuality and homosexuality in various ways.