Saints Sergius and Bacchus

The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus. While historians are not in consensus as to whether or not The Passion may be evoked as an example of homoerotic medieval literature, certain amongst them, such as historian and professor John Boswell, believe that Sergius and Bacchus, two fourth-century Christian soldiers tortured and executed by the Greek King Antiochus, shared a romantic relationship. Indeed, the relationship of the two men described in The Passion emerges as one of unusual closeness. After Bacchus's death at the hands of King Antiochus, "Sergius, deeply distressed and heartsick over the loss of Bacchus, [weeps] and [cries] out, "[Bacchus has] been unyoked from me and gone up to heaven, leaving me alone on earth, bereft, without comfort." After he utters this lament, Bacchus's spirit is said to appear before Sergius, with "a face as radiant as an angel's," and asks "why do you grieve and mourn, brother? If I have been taken up from you in body, I am still with you in the bond of union … Hurry up then, yourself, brother, through beautiful and perfect confession to pursue and obtain me, when finishing the course. For the crown of justice for me is with you." The relationship shared between Sergius and Bacchus could have been merely one of close friendship and brotherhood; however, the tender language the two men use with one another does perhaps indicate that the relationship was one of romance. Although this argument of The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus might simply…