Re: Nothing amiss with boylove being ephemeral

I totally agree. Though I wouldn't underestimate the power and value of the love that was usually built following marriage, especially when a vow to love and cherish for life had been made at the time. And then there are the emotional results of struggling together for decades for common interests such as children and property. I would guess that falling in love has played a greater role in the formation of pederastic relationships than in marriage, because children and inheritance aren't involved with the former, and boys tended to be given greater autonomy than girls in societies sympathetic to pederasty. However, even with boys I wouldn't ignore the presence of many of the practical considerations that led a girl (or her father) to accept a suitor's hand. There's a fine passage in Dover's Greek Homosexuality where he lists the practical considerations that might go into a boy's decision to accept a lover or his father's decision to tolerate it. These ranged from the lover's ability and determination to help the boy spiritually to things like his having the social standing and financial means to set the boy up in society. And I would think it naive to assume one can disentangle such considerations from others in the formation of what is felt to be love. www.amazon.com/dp/1481222112