Modern discourse on homosexuality in Classical Athens has been dominated by the discussion of pederasty, a homoerotic relationship between a younger boy and an older man. Scholars base their work on a huge body of ancient evidence, especially vase imagery and textual sources. Little has been said about how Athenians viewed non-pederastic erotic relationships between adult male peers. I have considered this question, attempting to set aside the pederastic framework which scholars have used almost exclusively. To narrow the range of ancient evidence, I have looked closely at the development of two pairs – Achilles and Patroclus and Harmodius and Aristogeiton – through images and texts from the Archaic and Classical periods in Greece. I propose that the stories of these mythohistorical characters possibly reflect a tolerance for adult male homosexuality in Classical Athens
