In The Symposium, by Plato, sexual relationships between males were common and it seemed as no one had an issue with it- which is different from today’s age. In ancient Greece the most widespread and socially impactful same sex relationship was between an adult male and an adolescent boy. Marriages between men and women also revolved around age, men being in their thirties and women in their young teens. Sexual orientation was not used as a social identifier in ancient Greek as modern western societies have done. Gender did not play a role for sexual behavior that was determined by dominant and submissive social roles. The Dominant role was associated with masculinity, higher social status, and adulthood, while the passive role was associated with femininity, lower social status, and youth. In The Symposium, this was described as the relationship between the “lover” who is the older male and the “beloved” who would be the younger male. It was the job of the older male to teach, protect, love, and be a role model to the younger male.

     A sexual relationship between two adult males of the same social status was considered to be problematic, but they did exist. They were problematic because once a boy reached adulthood he was supposed to take the role as the dominant, but in a relationship between two adult males one would have to take the passive role. It was more of a problem for the adult male taking the passive role because they were considered to have made women of themselves. This exploration of sexuality was completely permissible during this era- whereas this sort of love was seen in superiority to the love between man and woman. Unlike today's society, where the homosexuality has suffered great oppression, this ancient Greek culture was seen as beautiful and ideal. Judging from The Symposium, the men seemed to have no shame of their sexuality and orientation because they were more focused on the beauty of knowledge.