Four queer couples from history to celebrate this Valentine’s Day...
Almost 3000 years ago, the Iliad told the story of the Greek heroes ACHILLES and PATROCLUS in the Trojan war. Since then, the two have often been understood as a couple. According to myth, they were buried together, with their ashes combined in a single urn.
Lead singer of Queen FREDDIE MERCURY and his partner JIM HUTTON were together for seven years. Although gay marriage was illegal in Britain at the time, they exchanged rings to symbolise their commitment to each other.
In the 1st-century BCE two formerly enslaved women, FONTEIA ELEUSIS and FONTEIA HELENA, chose to be buried with a grave relief showing them clasping their right hands - a traditional Roman symbol of marriage.
NADINE HWANG and NELLY MOUSSET-VOS met and fell in love in Ravensbrück concentration camp, where Nelly was imprisoned for resistance activity. After liberation, they were reunited, moved to Venezuela, and spent the rest of their lives together.
Click the links to check out podcasts on all these people!
