Tug your toga to these 12 homoerotic ancient epics
Scream and Booksmart heartthrob Mason Gooding recently proclaimed his love for The Song of Achilles, and now we can’t help but dream cast Gooding in the gay Greek epic.For those of you unfamiliar, The Song of Achilles is a retelling of Homer’s The Iliad, focusing on the romance between warriors Patroculs and Achilles, set against the backdrop of the Trojan War.
The book, originally released in 2011, has been a word of mouth hit, and fans have been patiently waiting for a film adaptation — could Gooding follow in Brad Pitt’s footsteps and play (a gayer) version of Achilles?Subscribe to our daily newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.Not just Troy, but sword and sandal Hollywood epics have been popular with gay men since the dawn of cinema — and it’s not hard to see why.
The stories of barely clad men oiled up, ready for battle have always had homoeroticism baked into it.As we wait for The Song of Achilles movie to become a reality, here are some homoerotic ancient epics that have already been adapted for the small and big screen…The 2011 film has been called “the most homoerotic Roman movie ever,” with Magic Mike star Channing Tatum trading his dancing shoes for battle armor as he plays Marcus Flavius Aquila, a Roman soldier who sets out in search of a bronze eagle that once belonged to his father’s army.
But Marcus doesn’t go on the search alone, he enlists his “body slave,” Esca (Jamie Bell) to help. The two men set out on their quest, and an epic love story — or um, bromance — is born.
