In Greek mythology,
Ganymede, a mortal shepherd boy so beautiful that the god Zeus spirited
him away to Olympus, served as the god's cupbearer and lover. In
17th and 18th Century France and England, "Ganymede" came to
be used for the boyish lovers of older men, and eventually for any male
willing to be penetrated during anal intercourse.
In 17th Century England,
men who buggered Ganymedes were not stigmatized as effeminate, but an
adult man who played the Ganymede was despised as weak and womanly,
even in the most libertine society. In France,
"pederast" replaced the words Ganymede and sodomite during the
18th Century, while in England the
word fell into disuse when all sex between males came to signify whorish
effeminacy, no matter who was on top.
