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The phrase, Greek Love, has its origin in the social mores of Classical Greece which idealised the relationship of an older man (erastes) with an adolescent boy (eromenos). The term has been corrupted in modern times to refer to androphile homosexuality, a behaviour which in ancient times would not have been socially accepted. The Ancient Greeks may have inherited the cult of pederasty from Crete as early as the 7th century B.C. Both in Sparta and Athens, the bonding of adult men and adolescent boys was an established cultural and social phenomenon, being associated with educational practice and the instilling of high civic and philosophical ideals. Apart from the literature - the Socratic dialogues of Plato, for example - there is the evidence of Greek vases where the intimate association of men with young boys is represented in a range of emotive and expressive guises. The relationships however often transcended the merely sexual, the adult being invested with responsibility for the moral and spiritual welfare of the boy: abuse or exploitation of the younger partner was not tolerated. The spiritual and educational aspects were the focus of what came to be known as 'Platonic love'.

Intergenerational relationships of the kind portrayed by the Greek Love ideal were increasingly disallowed within the Judaeo-Christian traditions of Western society, though there is more tolerance within Asian cultures until recent times. The Pashtun culture of modern-era Afghanistan is sometimes cited as a society where man-boy relationships - in many respects after the pattern of Greek Love - were practised openly in the pre-Taliban days. The severe sanctions against pederasty in the modern world have driven it underground, though male-oriented institutions within society e.g. boy scouts, sporting groups and other youth-oriented activities, and indeed teaching and care of adolescents, attract adult male leaders with the capacity to relate to boys – and vice-versa – in a way not so far removed from the (Platonic) ideals of the ancients.

There are many examples of distinguished literary figures throughout history who have written about their personal experiences and understanding of pederastic love and its capacity for good viz: Goethe, Lord Byron, André Gide , Stefan George, to name but a few. The following publications provide recent scholarship and reference material:

• Pedagogy and Pederasty in Archaic Greece by William Armstrong Percy III (University of Illinois Press 1996)
• Greek Homosexuality by K J Dover (Harvard University Press 1978/89)
• Sexual Experience between Men and Boys by Parker Rossman (Association Press, New York 1976)