Ancient Greek Philosophers=Preppy British College Boys

The social gathering depicted in Plato’s Symposium greatly resembles a get-together that would transpire in Forster’s Maurice. In Symposium, scholarly males are coming together to engage in philosophical discussions, all while indulging in the nectar of the Gods! Replace the wine with scotch and you have got a typical night at Cambridge. There is even the humorous comment Pausanias makes about being in a “bad way” after the heavy drinking her partook in the night before. Doesn’t this seem like a whinny college boy lamenting about being hung-over and kicking himself for letting his buddies convince him to do just one more keg-stand?
The exclusive male-only nature of the gathering in Symposium mirrors one which would take place in Maurice’s day. When Eryximachus summons the flute girl out of the room, one has to wonder, Is it because he doesn’t want any auditory noise distracting from their deep discussions? Or, could his order to make this musician leave the room have greatly to do with her gender? The closeness the men share is Symposium also reminded me of the cuddly relationship of Maurice and Clive when they were school boys. The part were Agathon tells Socrates to lie down near him so that he can gain wisdom by touching him reminds me of something cute and flirty Maurice may have said to Clive.
The men’s thoughts on love are all very different and interesting. The intense love affair of the gods, Achilles and Patroclus, that they speak of, obviously doesn’t resemble that of Maurice and Clive in the least. However, at times I was concluding that maybe Maurice could fantasize about the idea of his relationship with Clive being so strong and surviving all odds, like that of Gods.
The slavery aspect of certain relationships talked about in Symposium sort of reminded me of a marriage. Two individuals take a legal step to be together. This union did strike me as a little one-sided; it is almost as though the lovers in the union would start to fill the roles of “parent” and “child”. I mean this in the sense that one individual would hold a superior dominating position and teach the other to be “wise” and “good”, much like a father would raise his son. I could definitely see Maurice taking on the role of slave, perhaps this is because of Forster’s portrayal of him being a little lost/confused puppy.
I feel Forster ties in Greek literature/culture throughout Maurice to show a society in which homosexuality was not only accepted but at times encouraged. From Symposium, one can see that the acceptance of bi-sexuality and homosexuality is deeply rooted in Greek Mythology. The idea of there once being a third race, that was androgynous, constitutes that ambiguity is natural. Even the idea that men being with men sexually is more natural because it is normal to feel the love of someone who resembles your own self, both physically and mentally, is touched on. No wonder Maurice and Clive sought comfort in the writing of the Greeks. Funny, how two cultures so similar in terms of elitism and male superiority can differ entirely about the idiosyncrasies of sexuality.