Indeed, it’s very likely that bisexuality was the assumed default in the ancient Mediterranean world. While the ethics and practical arrangements of sexual relationships could be very different from what they are today, it’s pretty evident that a sort of bisexuality was a cultural norm, at least among men. Sadly, we seem to know far less about women of that era.

I’ve sometimes wondered about men in Greek city-states like Sparta and Athens where among the elite same-sex relationships were almost socially obligatory. I wonder how men felt if they really were pretty highly polarized in their attractions. What if they had a hard time mustering up same-sex attraction?

For a highborn Athenian or Spartan, that would have been a social handicap. NOT being bisexual would have been a problem, at least until they were into their 30s when social expectations lessened.

It’s kind of ironic that today we can think of bisexuality as being rare, when we know of other societies where it was the default.