You are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

lawfag123 ago

I'm not sure. Seems like people quote Goethe all the time. Would the email be spooky without the Goethe reference?

AreWeSure ago

It's possible to be knowledgeable about Goethe without knowing at all about his sexuality. He considered one of the greatest writers Germany ever produced. I read some selections of Faust in a literature class in College and knew of his artistic reputation, but I never before today would have associated him with pedophilia.

Also today Pederasty is almost exclusively to mean Adult Male with a boy, that was not always the case. Historically it has also been used as a synonym for male homesexuality. It both quotes from wikipedia, where he uses boy/girls and pederasty, he could be talking about adult love. Goethe had relations with women including a long relation with an older woman, but at least one recent biography have claimed that despite these he was homosexual citing his letters to an adult male philospher.

Googling Goethe and pedophile doesn't come up with very much at all about his personal life.

popezandy ago

You wouldn't defend regular adult love, nobody is fighting to see it extinguished... Also, if you don't have sound reasoning as to what reason Goethe is relevant in this context, then you have to accept it's unusual. Unless this girl just has an obsession with Goethe, a theory which holds a little less water at the moment...

veritas_vincit ago

The 21st century is not the only period in history. Homosexuality has not always been socially acceptable. In fact, we are the exception and not the rule. If Goethe had been homosexual (though this is quite dubious to be perfectly honest), he could not have been so publicly.

AreWeSure ago

I think adult love between two men would need defending. I don't know if you include that in "regular adult love."

I have no idea why she quotes Goethe. I do know he's known for being Germany's national poet, not as some pedophile signalling.

popezandy ago

I don't think Goethe would defend homosexuality in those terms. I don't know what Germany's national poet means in terms of Cuban sanctions, but I'm sure there's only one answer to that question.