![]() The novel follows their relationship through the Peloponnesian War, the surrender of Athens, the establishment of the Thirty Tyrants rule over Athens, the democratic rebellion of Thrasybulus and shortly after. (See Athenian pederasty.)Īs an ephebe (adolescent male), Alexias falls in love with Lysis, a man in his 20s – a champion wrestler and a student of Socrates. However, the father also warns the son not to become involved with women as he is much too young. The father imparts to the son the traits he should seek in a lover – qualities like honour, loyalty and courage. The novel suggests that young male Athenians were treated almost like modern debutantes and wooed by older men seeking to be their lovers in fact, in a memorable passage, Alexias' father, Myron, himself a former beauty and champion athlete, writes to his son before leaving Athens for the Sicilian Expedition. The novel is narrated by Alexias, a noble Athenian youth, who becomes a noted beauty in the city and a champion runner. The book is a portrait of Athens at the close of the Golden Age and the end of the Peloponnesian War with Sparta, and includes Socrates as a character. It was a bestseller within the gay community. ![]() The novel was published in 1956 and is the second of her works to feature male homosexuality as a major theme. ![]() The Last of the Wine is Mary Renault's first novel set in ancient Greece, the setting that would become her most important arena. ![]()
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