Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 60

David and Jonathan

The story of David and Jonathan is told in the Bible.  Jonathan was the son of Saul, King of Israel.  Israel was fighting the Philistines.  David fought the Philistine giant Goliath and killed him by hurling a stone from a sling.

Above, Donatello's statue of David with the head of Goliath, c. 1440.  His hat, his long hair, his slender build and his pose make him look remarkably swishy to modern eyes.

Michelangelo's famous statue of David c. 1501 looks much hunkier.

The Biblical story continues.  David, holding Goliath's severed head, was brought to King Saul.  Jonathan saw David, and the two made a covenant because Jonathan "loved him as his own soul." (1 Samuel 18:1).

As David became more popular, King Saul hated him.  He offered his daughter to David in marriage on the condition that David had to kill 100 Philistines and bring Saul their foreskins.  Saul hoped that David would be killed in the process.  Instead, David killed 200 Philistines, and brought 200 foreskins to Saul (1 Samuel 18:25-27).  Who knew the Bible was so kinky?

Later, Jonathan was killed at the battle of Mt. Gilboa, and David exclaimed "thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women."  Above, David and Jonathan after the battle of Mount Gilboa, a photo by David Clifton-Strawn.

The official Church position is that they were just friends.  Above, David and Jonathan by Malcolm Lidbury, 2015.

But the idea that they were lovers is so widespread that the phrase "David and Jonathan" became a euphemism for a homosexual relationship.  Artists have embraced the interpretation that they were lovers.  Above, David and Jonathan by Pierre et Gilles, 2005.

David and Jonathan by Filippo Dobrilla, 2017, in Fiesole, Italy.

David and Jonathan by Tetiana Cherevan, 2021.

We end with David and Jonathan by Alex Gordenkov & Alex Evanov, Madeira, Portugal.  Just friends?  I don't think so.