Uncommon relationships
Weakening of marital institution in Sparta was partly caused by the power of pederasty. Barracks were more important than a family. The main relationship was friendship among fighters, who were recruited together. A unique relationship was also between commissioner and recruit. We saw where this led. It might have been the relic from archaic period, relatively recent, from pre-homer matriarchy, where the woman was much more independent. The fact is that the rest of Greek criticized shameful Spartian women from childhood led to freedom.
In Sparta the girls took part in competitions naked as boys. What concerns the virginity, they were reluctant as other greek women, although other Greeks used to say that anal sex was not against their taste. According to some propagators of anal sex between heterosexuals /today known as Greek sex/ were also Teseus and Helena, who was kidnapped as a child.
These versions are from the authors of later period, from the time of Lukian, apulei and others, when the esteem even to the most honored figures was lost and when antic ideals and ethic values were damaged.
In other parts of Greece, the customs changed from the customs of Athens. Teopompor, the author from the 4th century says: By Tyrrehens, the women were common. They took care of their body and often excercised with men. They did not think it was shameful to show up naked. They did not eat only with husbands, but in the presence of any man who was thirsty. They liked drinking and they were very nice. They brought up their children often without the information who was the father. When they grew up, they lived the same as those who brought them up. They drank too much and they met with all women they knew. Tyrhenes did not see anything bad in the relationship with boys, either actively or passively, because pederastia was a common phenomenon. In sexual matters, they were so liberal, that if the landlord was with his wife and somebody was looking for him, he was calmly said that he was doing this and that, so they openly named any, even a shameful activity. In the company of friends and relatives, the custom was: if they went to bed after drinking, the servants would bring the prostitutes or prostitute men. They praised making love, sometimes watched others making love, but they usually closed the curtains around the bed. They liked the women, but they felt better with men and boys. They were very nice, because they took care of themselves and got rid of any extra hair. Tyrrhenes had a lot of equipment for depilation with trained staff, something like a barbershops. People entered them and were served at any part of the body, not taking care of passersby.
In this point Benavente y Barreda notes that Tyrhenes were Etrhusks, barbar, not Greek nation. After all, talking of Teopomp is nor reliable, because the history of greek-latin antique are another literary genre and historians usually make up events and traditions."
We have already seen, that putting a woman into overshadow, sentenced to her private world, got her into situation, that they started to have relationship with other women. On the other hand, a woman closed in four walls of her home and isolated from education, could not hold the conversation at the high level and she was not informed about anything that was needed for performing her duties of a landlady. She was thus sentenced to ignorance. Women did not have opportunity to talk with men and if they had had it, they might not have found a topic, that they would know in average. They lived in the segregated world. The social life of wealthy class excluded women, so men turned to those, who were the most similar to them, to boys and they as the future men had the access to education. It is natural, that with the time, the friendship and love of men was praised more than heterosexual love.