Achillean refers to a man or man-aligned individual who is attracted to other men and man-aligned people.[1][2][3][note 1] It is similar to and sometimes known as men loving men (MLM).[1][2]
Achillean describes all sexual orientations in which a man or a non-binary person who identifies with manhood is attracted to men or men-aligned people, whether or not their attractions are exclusively to men. It serves as a unifying or umbrella term for gay men and men or men-aligned people who are pansexual, bisexual, queer, or other sexualities that include attraction to men.[1][2][3] Achillean is also an adjective used to describe things related to men who have sex with men, such as achillean literature or achillean relations.[3]
The complementary, or female-to-female equivalent of achillean, is sapphic.[1][3]
Etymology[]
The term "achillean" refers to the Greek hero Achilles. Its 21st century use to describe sexualities is modelled after the term "sapphic", which is used to describe all women who are attracted to women.[1]
Achilles is a famous figure in Greek mythology whose relationship with another male hero, Patroclus, is said to have romantic connotations. In Homer's Iliad, in which their relationship plays a crucial part in the story, Achilles described Patroclus as being the "man I loved beyond all other comrades, loved as my own life." After Homer's iteration, the relationship between the two men was depicted as a love affair.[4]
Theocritus' Idyll XXIX, a love poem from a man to a boy, includes a phrase addressing their future: "ἀλλάλοισι πελώμεθ' Ἀχιλλέιοι φίλοι" (alláloisi pelómeth' Achilléioi fíloi). It has received loose poetic translations from the Aeolic Greek dialect into English, such as "we'll be Achilles and his friend,"[5] "we may be to one another as Achilles and his friend" with the meaning noted as "such friends as were Achilles and Patroclus,"[6] and "be friends to each other like Achilles and Patroclus;" however, the literal translation is "be Achillean friends to each other."[7]
An early use of the term "Achillean" in English to describe sexuality was in John Addington Symonds's 1883 book A Problem in Greek Ethics (chapters III and X). Symonds (1840 – 1893), an English author and advocate of male love, spoke about the "Achilleian friendship" as an ideal of manly love, devoid of effeminacy, emphasizing that the love between Achilles and Patroclus had, as its most important aspects, loyalty and mutual goodwill. The "Achilleian friendship", which for him was synonymous with Greek heroism and Greek love (heroic male-male love), would have ended with the defeat of the hitherto invincible Sacred Band of Thebes, which was composed of 150 pairs of male lovers, against the army of Philip II of Macedon. However, Philip's young son and heir Alexander the Great sought to revive it when he and his lover Hephaestion ran naked around the joint tomb of Achilles and Patroclus in Troy to honor their heroes:[8]
"At Chaeronea, Greek liberty, Greek heroism, and Greek love, properly so-called, expired. It is not unworthy of notice that the son of the conqueror, young Alexander, endeavoured to revive the tradition of Achilleian friendship. [...] Homer was his invariable companion upon his marches; in the Troad he paid special honour to the tomb of Achilles, running naked races round the barrow in honour of the hero [...]. The historians of his life relate that, while he was indifferent to women, he was madly given to the love of males. This the story of his sorrow for Hephaistion sufficiently confirms."[8]
See also A.C. Hamilton's 1959 article titled, "Spenser's Treatment of Myth":
"Guyon subdues these Achillean affections through his own power; but they break out again as Cymochles lapses into lust and Pyrochles burns in the idle lake."[9]
On June 13, 2016, the following was posted on Tumblr by Matty (@asculan, later @semituring):
suggested words for mlm so far:
- achillean (in honor of Achilles)
- ganymedic (in honor of Ganymede)
- patroclean (in honor of Patroclus)
- sivanic (in honor of Troye Sivan)
- tomic (in honor of Tom of Finland)
- vincic (in honor of Leonardo da Vinci
if you have any input, just… send them to me, i guess?? i’d like to here what people are calling themselves/opinions on these.
Matty (@asculan), Tumblr post[10]
In the resulting thread, @gbptboys linked to an informal "term for mlm?"[note 2] poll.[11] The poll's respondents favor achillean.[12]
Community[]
Flag[]
In ancient Rome and late 19th century England, the color green was associated with homosexuality.[13] Victorian men would often pin a green carnation on their lapel, as popularized by author Oscar Wilde.[14]
Achillean Flag uploaded by @pridenpositivity (with upscaling by @achilleanking)
On June 23, 2016, a post by Tumblr user @pridenpositivity included an uncredited repost of a sapphic flag design,[note 3] along with a second image and text with the heading "Achillean Flag". This flag design has three horizontal stripes, with light blue (#9AC6EB) at the top and bottom and a green-tinted near-white (#FAFDEA) central stripe with a centered illustration of a light green flower; the flower's artist is not identified. The text indicates that blue represents joy and states of the flower: "Carnations - Worn by victorian men on their lapels, popularized by Oscar Wilde. Green indicating gay affiliations."[16]
On October 5, 2016, the DeviantArt account Pride-Flags posted a revision of that design in collaboration with Mod Face of @ask-pride-color-schemes. It replaced the carnation with a simplified version.[17]
Distinction[]
Gay[]
- Main article: Gay men
The word "achillean" is often confused for gay (as in gay men) or is wrongly perceived to have the same meaning. However, gay describes a sexuality with attraction solely or primarily to people of the same gender; in this case, for men.[18] Achillean encompasses all men who are attracted to other men, including men who are also attracted to other genders in addition to men, such as men who may be bisexual, pansexual, queer, or other sexualities.[1][3]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Gender identity is a personal experience, so defining "man-aligned" may lead to different answers depending on whom you ask, but it generally refers to a non-binary person who is partially aligned or identifies with being male, with masculinity, and/or with manhood. They may or may not individually identify with this term, and their identity may be fluid between others. Its use here attempts to encapsulate multiple identities without listing each possibility.
- ↑ "MLM" = "men loving men".
- ↑ The "Sapphic Flag" image and accompanying text were in actuality created by Cayla (@gemderflux/@lesbeux/@lesbeux-moved), who posted "Sapphic / WLW / SGA Women Flag" on August 14, 2015.[15] For more on that flag design, see Sapphic#Flag. Considering how Cayla's design was reposted without credit, it is unclear if the Achillean Flag portion similarly originated with another person, despite later sources crediting @pridenpositivity based upon this post.
References[]
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