Practically all the ancient deities, at one time or another, seem to have been invested with bisexual characters. Even Venus or Aphrodite was sometimes worshipped in the dual form. Frazer in his _Adonis_, etc., states that in Cyprus there was a bearded and masculine image of Venus in female attire, and that according to Philochorus, the deity thus represented was the moon. Sacrifices were offered to him or her by men clad as women, and by women clad as men. This bearded female deity is sometimes also referred to as Aphroditus, or as Venus Mylitta. While the worship of bearded goddesses was practiced principally in Cyprus and Syria, Egypt also had a representation of a bearded Isis, with the infant Horus in her lap. In the Orphic hymns, we find the following bisexual features and powers attributed to the deities: “Zeus was the first of all, Zeus last, the lord of the lightning; Zeus was the head, the middle, from him all things were created; Zeus was Man, and again Zeus was the Virgin Eternal.” In another passage, Adonis is addressed thus: “Hear me, who pray to thee, hear me, O many-named and best of deities, Thou, with thy gracious hair ... both maiden and youth, Adonis.” Boy-love is believed to have been introduced in Hellas by the Dorians, as in the pre-Doric period (Homer, for instance), the custom of homosexual practice had as yet no roots as an institution. In Greece, boy-love was the privilege of the elect only, being permitted to the free citizen, the knight. Slaves were forbidden to indulge in the practice, often under penalty of death. Strict rules were formulated for the regulation of the practice, which in time took on the aspect of a social institution, fostered and approved by the state. In Sparta the lovers were held to a strict accounting for their “companions” who became attached to them from their twelfth year; so that they, and not their young companions, were punished for any shameful act on the part of the latter. The choice of boy-lovers in Crete took the form of bridal theft. The lover advised the boy’s family of his intention of stealing the boy. If the family did not like the “match,” it tried to avoid the capture of the youth; but on the other hand if the alliance was considered a desirable one, the “romance” was encouraged. The higher the lover’s social position the greater was the honor felt by the boy and the family. Afterwards, the chosen one was sent home bearing gifts. So established was the practice upon the rock of social convention that it was considered a shame for a boy to possess no knightly lover. It was a great honor, on the other hand, for a youth to be coveted by numerous lovers. Repelling a wooing knight was considered ignominious--a blot on one’s honor.