PAWPAW'S MESSAGES TO MY GRANDSONS 70 - The Sacred Band of Thebes

PAWPAW'S  MESSAGES TO MY GRANDSONS 70 

Pawpaw loves Connor, Bryson and Archer!

I miss you guys so much. I hope you find these messages some day. I want you to know that I love you. I never left you. I was no longer allowed to visit you. I hope these messages help you know your Pawpaw and your family better. All my love forever, Pawpaw

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I have been thinking about writing an ode about The Sacred Band. Prior to Christianity, in the Greek era, the Greeks were divided by city states. They united against foes but fought between themselves often too.

Everyone knows of the mighty Spartan warriors who have always been referred to as the mightiest of Greek warriors. You may have seen the movie THE 300.

It has finally been confirmed that the city state of Thebes had a world renowned army called The Sacred Band of Thebes. It was an elite special forces unit of 150 gay couples! In this era, homosexuality and bisexuality were as normal as heterosexuality.

The Sacred Band of Thebes faced off against the invading Spartans and the gays kicked their asses and sent them retreating back to Sparta. Later Phillip of Macedonia (Alexander the Great's father) invaded with an army or tens of thousands. The Sacred Band was outnumbered and slaughtered BUT Phillip remarked that they were the bravest fighters he had ever encountered and he built a monument to them (his enemies) to show his respect. He even had them buried with their armor and weapons. This was unheard of. Weapons were always taken. He even had them buried with their lovers, side by side and sometimes holding hands.

Why don't we know about this? Because Muslims and Christians had the monument torn down and buried because it promoted homosexuality. Later, archaeologists literally erased written records of The Sacred Band or skipped over them in history records.

Luckily, an archaeologist with integrity found the burial site and the monument. he photographed the lovers buried with their weapons holding hands in addition to often-hidden written historical documents verified the truth of The Sacred Band.

So, I want to write The Ode of the Sacred Band.

Hugs,

Pawpaw

Another reason this is important to me is because Pawpaw has many friends who were drafted into the US military and served heroically. Like me, they were gay. Some were bisexual. Because of bigoted laws at the time, they would have been prosecuted, jailed or worse if anyone discovered their sexuality. Some of the bravest men I know in the military were the gay and bisexuals who served.