There is, outside the Greek city of Thebes, an ancient burial ground. In it are contained the remains of 300 men who died fighting the invading army of Phillip of Macedon. If you don’t know Phillip, you know his son, Alexander (as in “the Great”). Alexander was tutored by Aristotle and succeeded in unifying the entire known world under his empire. Hence Alexandria in Egypt and elsewhere. But before there was Alexander, there was Phillip. Phillip united (read “conquered”) all of Greece.
Including Thebes, where he encountered stiff resistance from the city’s Sacred Guard despite the fact that they were obviously out matched by the Macedonian army. That the Sacred Guard had sworn to defend Thebes to the death is not surprising. What is surprising, at least perhaps to us, is that each member of the Guard was more fully motivated by his desire not to appear “base” or unheroic before his beloved. The members of the Sacred Guard were all gay couples, fighting beside each other. Upon learning of the oaths of these soldiers, Phillip wept and said, “Perish any man who suspects that these men either did or suffered anything that was base.” He had a special monument built and laid all the soldiers to rest in the arms of their lovers.