>>14134174Some people had something equivalent to a sexual identity as pederasts, as Aristophanes says in the Symposium:
>But all who are male slices pursue the males; and while they are boys—because they are cutlets of the male—they are friendly to men and enjoy lying down together with and embracing men; and these are the best of boys and lads, because they are naturally the manliest. Some, to be sure, assert that such boys are shameless, but they lie. For it is not out of shamelessness that they do this but out of boldness, manliness, and masculinity, feeling affection for what is like to themselves. And there is a great proof of this, for once they have reached maturity, only men of this kind go off to political affairs. When they are fully grown men, they are pederasts and naturally pay no attention to marriage and procreation, but are compelled to do so by the law; whereas they would be content to live unmarried with one another. —Aristophanes' speech in the Symposium, 191e-192b
Aristotle also describes lifelong pairings:
>But when the beloved’s youthful beauty fades sometimes the friendship too fades. For now the lover does not find the boy pleasing to look at, and the boy receives no attention. But many couples continue the relationship, if, as a result of spending time together, they come to love each other’s character, because they are of similar character.Agathon and Pausanias, described in Plato, seem to be an example.
—Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 8.4.1–2
As for age, the beloved wasn't necessarily prepubescent, I believe they were generally at least pubescent. Young teens to late teens. Sometimes beloveds are described as being boys/young men who had 'attained full height'. Pic related, the lovers Harmodius and Aristogeiton. It also seems difficult to believe that the Sacred Band was half composed of little boys. Same for the Classical Greeks thinking that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers.
