Polyamory in mythology and literature

fastlymagic

New member
Kinda something I'm wondering here, and I figured someone on this board would know a little more than me. Anyone know of characters in ancient mythology, classic or modern literature, who are or exhibit characteristics of polyamory? It's just that I realized that...I can't! You can find homosexuals in these arenas, or other nontraditional types, but polys are nowhere to be found!
 
One not listed and its possible its because of how minute it is within the context of the story. The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo has a married women, her husband and boyfriend in the book.

It is a very small part of the total story though
 
Diana Gabaldon touches on it in her Oulander series.

There is more obvious senario with one girl and two men. I don't think it appears until the 3rd of 4th book (each over 900 pages), but it is mentioned over the course of a couple more books. A girl falls in love with twin brothers.

She spends much more time developing the relationship of a homosexual military officer and the main character, who is VERY straight. It shows thier friendship and love develop even with no sex and how the main character's wife deals with the knowledge of the officers feelings toward her husband.
 
Well, of course many ancient gods and heroes had multiple wives/concubines, and some goddesses had husbands along with other lovers/consorts as well. You can find poly love in Jewish, Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian and Hindu mythology.

There is a popular contemporary book called The Red Tent, that is based on the story of Dinah, Jacob's daughter, from the Old Testament. The interplay of the multiple wives and concubines of one man is very interesting.

These ancient stories don't specifically relate to modern (a la Heinlein) polyamory, but do bear some similarities.
 
How 'bout the Greeks' Zeus (Jupiter to the Romans)? He certainly SHOULD have been up front with Hera (Juno) about all those other women/goddesses/woodland creatures . . . ;)

Or to look at a different cultural tradition: the Old Testament of the Bible is chock full of polygyny. No polyandry that I can think of, though.
 
Check out Hinduism...it has some polyandrous concepts in there somewhere if I remember my religious mythology
 
One not listed and its possible its because of how minute it is within the context of the story. The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo has a married women, her husband and boyfriend in the book.

It is a very small part of the total story though

I was wondering myself if this book had something in it that delt with polyamory cause when did a keyword search on polyamory in my library database it did pull up that book as one it listed.
 
Diana Gabaldon touches on it in her Oulander series.

There is more obvious senario with one girl and two men. I don't think it appears until the 3rd of 4th book (each over 900 pages), but it is mentioned over the course of a couple more books. A girl falls in love with twin brothers.

She spends much more time developing the relationship of a homosexual military officer and the main character, who is VERY straight. It shows thier friendship and love develop even with no sex and how the main character's wife deals with the knowledge of the officers feelings toward her husband.

I LOVE that series! I've read them all! Can't wait for the next!!!
 
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