Worms, Ants, and Greek Love: Benedict Friedländer's "Homosexual Instinct"

Abstract

T h e o c e a n ’ s wa T e r wa s c l e a r a n d s T i l l . It was the early morning of 28 October 1897, and Pacific spring skies stretched over the island of Samoa. Around 4:00 a.m., the Samoan men sitting in va‘as (canoes) over the coral reef sprang into frantic motion. The water also began swirling: long, wispy tendrils began moving to the surface in circuitous motion. Within minutes, countless numbers of these creatures appeared, some dark blue and some light brown. Soon they covered the face of the water, and the Samoan men leaned over quickly, pulled them out, and stored them in special containers. The bearded German man who was sitting in one of these va‘as looked on in restrained awe. His name was Doctor Benedict Friedländer (1866–1908), a zoologist and sociologist from Berlin who had arrived alone in Samoa several weeks earlier. As occurred every year during the Pacific spring, the residents of Samoa gorged themselves on these sea worms, which they called palolo (Palola viridis). Friedländer himself also tried the dish, claiming its taste was reminiscent of caviar—especially when raw.1 He wasn’t the first European to witness the “palolo dance”; the phenomenon had been reported on by several British and German researchers.2 But in the following days, he began investigating the worms’ bodies and was surprised to discover that they in fact had no heads. It soon became apparent to Friedländer that the creatures who made such a sudden appearance were not the worms at all but rather their genitalia.