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The Mockers in a Theater to Frighten Superstitious Pursuers

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The Mockers in a Theater to Frighten Superstitious Pursuers the various patterns of homosexual love that existed in the clas- against thebackdrop of the Peloponnesian Wars, is described sical world. She notices one type of relationship for which there by Renault as going through a series of stages, starting with is no genuine heterosexual equivalent: the long-term homosex- ual bond that is non-monogamous, that may even involve fe- the honeymoon stage in which all is perfect; the gradual dis- male partners for fun and procreation. the fact that Alexander tancing for no apparent reason; reconciliation which restores participated in such a relationship has given rise to the assump- the former closeness but not the passion; the challenges, over- come, to mindset and emotion of other women along the way tion that he was “bisexual”—as Gore vidal asserted and as Re- and attractions—never acted on—for other men and boys. nault herself let slip in her biography of Alexander. But i would they do not grow old together—i cannot reveal why, you must still call this is a homosexual relationship, because it’s clear that read the master herself for that—yet their relationship pro- the primary emotional bond is between the long-term male part- gresses through all the stages of seasoning and maturation, and ners. indeed there’s astrongstrain in Greek culture, famously though it ends tragically, it ends beautifully as well. expressed in Plato’s Symposium,thatlovebetweenamananda woman, because of their inherent inequality, isnecessarilyin- the bond between lovers in ancient Greece was cemented by a ferior to the love between men, whom the gods have made su- concept of virtue whereby each partner vowed never to shame perior in character to women. the other through ignoble conduct. Again, we have acontrast in The Last of the Wine,Renault’stwenty-year-oldprotag- with heterosexual love in aChristianmarriage, where onist Alexias wonders anxiously if his friend Xenophon (based monogamy is essential to the bond. on the real historical figure) has the capacity to love another man. the implication is that there’s something lacking in a man it WoulD Be DiFFiCult to impress upon a non-gay reader who cannot love an equal. For its exploration of a homosexual the importance of Renault’s works in the closeted context of the relationship, The Last of the Wine surpasses even The Persian 1950s and ’60s, when positive representations of gay people Boy.inpartthisisbecausethetwocentralcharacters,Alexias were virtually nonexistent. Renault offered not just passing ref- and lysis, young citizens of Athens, are more conventional, far erences butcomplete portraits ofhomosexualrelationshipsof less exotic, than Alexander and his retinue, so it’s possible for various kinds. And by attaching these relationships to a Homeric their relationship to take its own course without having to be or Platonic concept of personal virtue, she was daring to suggest reconciled with the spectacular accomplishments of Alexander. that they were superior to heterosexual relationships! What one finds in this relationship is a pattern that is perhaps fa- Renault is especially adept at filling in historical detail and miliar to all great loves, yet unique to the homosexual experi- making it seem vividly real. in The Praise Singer,forinstance, ence because of the accommodations it must make to other the poet Simonides is horrified to discover his pupil writing sexual liaisons, including marriage to a woman. Alexias is about down the lyrics to apoemhe’s composing.Here, in this dra- eight years lysis’ junior, and their relationship initially follows matic but amusing scene, perfectly rendered, Renault is re- the pattern of asomewhatolder man setting astandardof be- minding the reader that Western verse originated as oral havior for a youth. Alexias’ father writes him that he approves performance (probably sung or chanted), and that transcription the union and admonishes his son to follow the elder’s example was at first regarded as a vulgarization. in The Mask of Apollo, and advice. the destiny the two lovers over the next years, set one learns much about ancient stagecraft, and there’s awon- derful scene, perhaps the most dramatic in the book, in which the hero and his companion (a woman!) escape the sack of Syra- cuse in the reign of Dion by using the sound and stage effects The Mockers in a theater to frighten superstitious pursuers. in The Bull from the Sea,anovelabout the youthful theseus, Renault sensibly What rich glass bottle held the picture of renders her bull-riders as slight and lithe rather than heavily our music teacher, name I can’t recall. muscled—for how else could they perform the gymnastic ac- IonlyknowIhadatwistedlove robatics required by the riders (who were recruited by lot in for her, that she was strange, alone, and tall. Athens and sent to Crete) in the bull ring? We took the bottle to the field out back, Alexander the Great’s last known remarks were uttered as he lay dying from pneumonia in Babylon (he was 32). the Greeks my childhood friend and I, and dug a grave. believed that certain men who had excelled in courage became Whatever crazy words we said, I lack gods upon their death. (Alexander was even regarded as a god in them now. Or did we sing or laugh, I crave his own lifetime.) When asked at what times divine honors should this memory, our kneeling on the ground be paid to him after his death, he replied, “When you are happy.” one afternoon to place Miss X in earth. Mary Renault wrote with grace and fluency, a master of both Istrainmymindwithhopetohearasound, characterization and narrative technique. Her novels re-imag- even a bird, or leaves in wind, what birth ine an ancient Greece that is noble and seems wholly credible. of folly or regret was brewing then, She provides numerous images of what human beings can be- what digging up could bring her back again. come if they strive to make it happen, and she has brought forth portrayals of homosexual love that are at once realistic and ide- alized. Her representations of love reflect specific features of MARY MERIAM the Greek ethos and invoke what is most difficult, most intense, and most admirable within each of us. 30 The Gay & lesbian review / wOrlDwiDe.
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