MYTH SIX: The Hellenes were open homosexuals
A particularly thorny issue today is whether or not the Hellenes were truly openly homosexual. It has long been held to be fact, especially by those who use history as means of pushing a political agenda, but modern scholarship has recently begun to call this belief into question. In truth we simply don't know what the real answer to this issue is, but what has been commonly agreed upon is this: That Hellenic homosexuality more often then not took the form of pederasty, that is a relationship between a older man and a young boy (usually about 16). In turn this practice was for the most part confined to the wealthy upper classes of Hellenic society. The common people disdained the practice, and used it as ammunition to criticize the wealthy. To make things even more confusing this was not even true for all of the Hellenic states. For example in Thebes pederasty was openly encouraged by all, while in Sparta all forms of homosexuality were held in high contempt.
MYTH SEVEN: The Sacred Band
Leading on from the former misconception are those that are held in regards to the Sacred Band of Thebes. The confusion arises from the fact that Thebes had fielded several units known as the Sacred Band since the Bronze Age, and solidly since Plataea. However the only Sacred Band that was formed by pederastic couples was the unit formed by Pelopidas, which incidentally was also the last unit to bare that name.