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Bisexuality has a universal history. People in most known societies have exhibited varying degrees of bisexuality, and most of what is called homosexuality in previous cultures is in fact bisexuality (it should be noted, however, that the terms heterosexuality and bisexuality, and particularly homosexuality, may not be appropriate in the historical context. In most ancient societies, behaviour was considered homosexual while people were not labeled using such terms. Similarly, heterosexuality and bisexuality are also relatively modern concepts).
For example, in Ancient Greece Quick Summary:
Quick Summary not found for this subjectAncient Greece men often engaged in same-sex relationships, yet most also had wives. Ancient Rome, Arab countries up to and including the present, China and Japan, all exhibit patterns of bisexual behaviour. Perhaps the most famous and militaristic example is Alexander the Great Quick Summary:
King of Macedon; conqueror of Greece and Egypt and Persia; founder of Alexandria (356-323 BC)Alexander the Great who had many wives, but also a sexual relationship with his close friend Hephaestion Quick Summary:
Quick Summary not found for this subjectHephaestion, but the same could be said of almost all the Roman emperors, the shoguns of Japan, the Chinese emperors, and others in every country and every age.
Ancient Sparta Quick Summary:
An ancient Greek city famous for military prowess; the dominant city of the Peloponnesus prior to the 4th century BCSparta also tolerated same-sex relationships among their troops so long as the men also had wives and produced children. The Spartans thought that physical relationships between older and younger soldiers would solidify combat loyalty and encourage heroic tactics as men vied to impress their lovers. Once the younger soldier passed a certain age, the relationship was supposed to become non-sexual, but it is not clear how strictly this was followed.
In the modern Arab Quick Summary:
A member of a Semitic people originally from the Arabian peninsula and surrounding territories who speaks Arabic and who inhabits much of the Middle East and northern AfricaArab world, same-sex sexual behavior between men is very common; some sources describe it as near-ubiquitous. This is despite prohibitions against homosexual behavior in the Quran Quick Summary:
The sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and MedinaQur'an and severe penalties for offenders in some nations, including the death penalty. While among Arabs bisexual behaviour is known to be very common, and men are not given much trouble about these behaviors so long as they marry and raise families and fulfill other societal duties, it is something which remains very covert, and an open declaration of homosexual preference would be unacceptable. In this way, bisexuality in the Arab world is somewhat similar to the DL (:
A metric unit of volume equal to one tenth of a literDL culture prevalent in some African-American communities.)