THE DESIRE TO CLASSIFY

Somewhere between ancient Athens and 1913 something happened—the need to categorize: homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, monogamous, polygamous, etc. Perhaps this polarization came about because of the rise of the Judeo-Christian church and its desire to make things black or white, good or bad.

To the ancient Athenian, there was no good or bad. A person (man) in power had absolute power; he could do no wrong. So, his sexual exploits were above reproach and simply fulfilling his sexual whims: not good or bad, not homosexual or heterosexual, just his desires fulfilled.

By 1913, the need to classify and categorize had pervaded society. Sexuality had gone “in the closet”. Religious values declared that sex was for procreation and blurred the classical distinction between sex and sexuality as Halperin described. By blurring this line between the act and the motivation, society could easily make a classification—if you had same-sex relations you were homosexual.

Durham is typical of the classical Athenian. His attraction to Maurice was what it was for a time: an attraction and a sexual relationship. Durham was later to make the distinction between sex (with Maurice) and his sexuality, the love between the young men notwithstanding.

Maybe the reason for that the novel Maurice was so controversial was that it un-blurred that distinction. A man could separate his sex from his sexuality; a difficult concept for the post-Puritan society of the early 20th century. However, a concept that the Athenian, whether citizen or non-citizen, accepted because that was their “norm”.