>>> A VERBATIM RE-POSTING FROM HERE:
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Saints Polyeuct and Nearchos, 3rd Century Lovers and Martyrs.
The Roman soldiers, lovers and martyrs Sergius
and Bacchus are well known examples of early queer saints. Polyeuct and Nearchos
are not as familiar - but should be. John Boswell ("Same
Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe") names the two as one of the three primary
pairs of same-sex lovers in the early church, their martyrdom coming about half
a century after Felicity and Perpetua, and about another half century before Sergius & Bacchus .
Like the later pair, Polyeuct and Nearchos were
friends in the Roman army in Armenia. Nearchos was a Christian, Polyeuct was
not. Polyeuct was married, to a woman whose father was a Roman official. When
the father-in-law undertook as part of his duties to enforce a general
persecution of the local Christians, he realized that this would endanger
Polyeuct, whose close friendship with Nearchos could tempt him to side with the
Christians. The concern was fully justified: although Polyeuct was not himself
a Christian, he refused to prove his loyalty to Rome by sacrificing to pagan
gods. In terms of the regulations being enforced, this meant that he would
sacrifice his chances of promotion, but (as a non-Christian) not his life.
Christians who refused to sacrifice faced beheading. When Nearchos learned of
this, he was distraught, not at the prospect of death in itself, but because in
dying, he would enter Paradise without the company of his beloved Polyeuct. When
Polyeuct learned the reasons for his friends anguish, he decided to become a
Christian himself, so that he too could be killed, and enter eternity together
with Nearchos.
Up to this point, I have been careful to refer
to the two men as "friends", not as "lovers" - but this is an entry for queer
saints and martyrs. What was the truth of the relationship? As with any couple
so remote from the present, precise sexual details are unknown. However, there
are clues. Boswell notes that in the early biographies, the Greek words used to
describe their friendship are the ones commonly used in marriage ceremonies;
these biographies describe several instances of close bodily contact ("Polyeuct
leapt up and wrapped himself around Nearchos"); both were soldiers, with strong
associations in the Hellenistic world between the military and homoerotic
affections.
The most compelling evidence though is in the
story itself. Polyeuct embraced Christianity to enter eternity with Nearchos -
thereby choosing separation from his wife on earth. Even if we disregard the
other evidence, any man who chooses to die in the company of a male friend
rather than live with his wife cannot be seen as a conventional, red-blooded
heterosexual. This alone is enough to mark the pair as queer.
There are two further telling pieces, which
need to be assessed in the historical context. Before declaring his intention
to follow Christ, Polyeuct announced that he had seen Him in a vision, using a
word (translated as "youth") which had strong erotic overtones.
Polyeuct's vision of Christ as a "youth" - using a word common in other Greek sources for a young mn in his prime as a sexual object - might suggest , at least subliminally, a homoerotic ambience of the story.-Boswell, Same sex Unions
The near contemporaries of the two certainly
saw something remarkable in their friendship. As the church formalise liturgies
and rituals for blessing same-sex unions in church, their names were among many
paired saints who were invoked in many of these liturgies. In this, they should
be thought of today as possible patrons of gay marriage or civil unions in a
modern counterpart to the early rite of adelphopoesis.
Other sources are less certain that they were
lovers: the useful "God is
Wonderful in His Saints" Orthodox Resources website describes them simply as
"friends". Before dismissing Boswell's claim though, we should remember that
"friends" has sometimes served as a euphemism for "lovers", just as to "sleep
with" someone in modern English usually means more than to share a
snooze.
Note: Both the Calendar of LGBT Saints at
the LGBT Catholic Handbook, and the Orthodox Resources website, list January 9th
as the feast day of "Holy Martyr Polyeuctus" (Orthodox Resources), or
SS. and Nearchus, martyrs (LGBT Catholic Handbook). Other sources
give Feb 13th.
Recommended Books
Boswell, John, Same-Sex
Unions in Premodern Europe
O'Neill, Dennis: Passionate Holiness
Related
articles
- Symeon of Emessa and John, Desert Hermits, Saints and Lovers (Queer Saints and Martyrs)
- Sergius & Bacchus, Roman Soldiers, Lovers and Martyrs (Queer Saints and Martyrs)
- Was Jesus gay? Mark, and the Naked Young Man (Queering the Church)
- Nov 1st: All (Gay) Saints(Queering the Church)
- The Story of the "Queer Saints and Martyrs": Taking Shape(Queer Saints and Martyrs)
- Brothers by affection: Saints Polyeuct and Nearchus (Jesus in Love Blog)
- Boris and George, United in Love and Death) (Jesus in Love Blog)
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