The Fine Line of Friendship

Abstract

The developing European idea that homoerotic relationships occurred between men of similar ages found representation in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Apollo et Hyacinthus, an early Classical opera, written for a graduation celebration hosted by the local Roman Catholic school, Salzburg University. From Greek antiquity until the early Renaissance, the myth of Hyacinth was often used synonymously with the myth of Ganymede to evoke homoeroticism. In the early Renaissance, the myth of Hyacinth (as well as Ganymede) took on more pederastic overtones, but gradually the myth of Hyacinth began to be differentiated from that of Ganymede: Hyacinth began to be used to evoke equitable male homoerotic relationships. The opera reflects this use and served to instruct students of Salzburg University on how to deal with homoerotic and sexual feelings.