Introduction Homosexuality has always played a role in the writings of Thomas Mann. He wrote of it in a very subtle manner which has received considerable attention from recent literary experts such as Anthony Heilbut. Heilbut holds that homoerotic passion is the main driver of Mann’s life and works from beginning to end (Robertson 95). Mann handles homosexuality as an object of sublimation. But he does not express it directly but rather through recursive persistent ways that give it the element of real passion. Death in Venice (1912) by Thomas Mann has been recognized in social terms, as a classic of Greek homoeroticism. Mann, in his book, is balanced in its judgment of homosexual passion. It does not seem to make a direct plea nor does it cause a public scandal. In fact, the book has been made into a film and an opera all of which work towards an acceptance of homosexuality into the common culture. The book is based on a real life incident. While staying in Venice with his wife and brother between 26 May and 2 June 1911, Thomas Mann, like his fictional Aschenbach, was fascinated by a handsome Polish boy whom he watched playing on the beach (Aldrich 1). This ‘personal and lyrical experience’, as Mann later described it in a much quoted confessional letter, prompted the story Death in Venice. (Robertson, 95). Thesis Statement: The homoerotic, or homosexual, nature of the plot in ‘Death in Venice’ by Thomas Mann is a fair representation of classical Greek homoeroticism and how homosexuality was viewed in a very conservative manner during the days before ‘gay liberation’. Short plot of “The Death in Venice“ Mann has revealed in his letter to Carl Maria Weber (4 July 1920) that Death in Venice is a text that at once sublimates and pathologizes ‘forbidden love’ (Aldrich 1). Though the book does strive to present homosexual passion as a natural force, it however seems to indicate that it’s a problem that can be resolved only through death. The narrative thus imposes a sort of sacrifice upon itself as compensation for what it has released (Robertson 95). Mann exhibits a lot of restraint in discussing homosexuality in “Death in Venice” and does not take it beyond the passing phase of first love. He sees Tadzio in the beach soon after his arrival in Venice and is instantly lovestruck. Aschenbach both lusts after him and worships him from afar, not daring to thrust himself upon the young man. He follows Tadzio, dreams about him in the restaurant and tries to find reasons to speak to him or his mother. In fact, Aschenbach admits to using the pretext of misdirected luggage to stay longer in Venice when actually, he wants to remain near Tadzio. Even though he is near to Tadzio, he is not able to express his feelings to him. Due to this inability, he decides to idealize his passion and imagines a competition between classical divinities; as ‘at such times it was not Tadzio whom he saw, but Hyacinthus, doomed to die because two gods were rivals for his love’. All of this bears a shade of Greek homoeroticism. However, in ‘Death in Venice’ it is not Tadzio who is doomed but Aschenbach. The writer, who is unable to give vent to his homosexual attraction towards Tadzio, tries to rejuvenate himself by having his hair dyed and his face made up. This focus on the ph