Aoibhín Murphy
Staff Writer
When thinking of ancient Greek and Roman sex and sexuality, the modern-day mind is immediately drawn to popular modern-day depictions of Greek and Roman sexual-life in films and television such as “Troy”, Alexander” and “Spartacus-Of Blood and Sand”. In these renditions men and women are presented as itching to remove their tunics in an attempt to draw in a sexually frustrated, modern-day teenage audience. This impression gives one the sense that living in the Ancient World was a lot like being in a soft-porn film, but with lower sanitation. It is true to say that the Greek world was filled with sex; everywhere in sight was filled with images and portrayals of sex. However, it has changed a lot in recent years since sex is different from what it was in the Ancient World. In recent years nowadays we seem to live in a more sexually open society with fetishes such as discipline play, BDSM, and other sexual activity becoming more popular.
From simply reading an ancient publication on the Symposium, an ancient drinking party, one can see that the people of Ancient Greece were constantly surrounded by sex. These parties were mainly drinking celebrations, quite like some of the merrymakings that Trinity revels in during the infamous “Freshers Week”, but with even more nudity. Many Attic vases delight in the showing of sexually explicit scenes, usually occurring at the end of the symposia when spirits and alcohol levels are high – much like the tradition of the post-midnight “Shift and Drift” at nightclubs in modern times. These sexual scenes at the symposium were both homosexual and heterosexual, often depicting group scenes, depicting the ancient Greek approach to sex as not solely focused on sexual orientation. On a 6th century Kylix or drinking cup depicting “Symposiastic Orgies”, the extent of the vast sexual life in Ancient Greece is brought to life. Nudity was a widely accepted aspect of ancient Greek life. Whilst nowadays it would be almost appalling to imagine an Olympic gymnast in his “Birthday-Suit” swinging around a gymnastics pole, the word “Gymnasium” comes from the Ancient Greek term gymnós meaning “naked“. Athletes in the gymnasium competed in the nude, a practice said to encourage aesthetic appreciation of the male body and a tribute to the gods. This appreciation was mirrored in Ancient Grecian art and Architecture, where nudity was normality in depicting the human form. This was not the case in female depictions, in which women were almost always clothed. The opposite can be seen today as modern day women are often seen as symbols of sex and lust, and the modern-day norm is to see page-three models bearing all whilst having your morning coffee. Rape was also a prominent theme in Greek mythology and was seen in an entirely different light in Ancient Times than it is now. Rape stories could be stories of love, glorification of warriors or just horrific stories of victimization. Some very popular rape stories include the story of Zeus and Callisto, Apollo and Cassandra and The Rape of Europa. While nowadays the rapist would be the only part to blame in such an attack, in Ancient times the victim was often blamed and usually suffered horrific consequences.
Homosexuality in ancient times was vastly more recognized than it is today. It is amazing to think that in the 6th Century B.C, more than 2000 years ago, people were more open and accepting towards homosexuality than they are now. Homosexual love was regarded as one of the purest forms of love and was openly recognized in ancient times. In Xenophon’s work called “The Symposium”, a party hosted by one of Athens’ most prolific patrons, Callias, took place in his house in the Piraeus to honour his beautiful boyfriend Autocolycus. Xenophon’s writings on the subject explored the nature of love in the context of homosexuality, heterosexuality and philosophy. During the battle of Chaeronea (378B.C), the Macedonian and Greek army made love as well as war, with the establishment of 150 homosexual couples who fought against each other by day and made love together by night. This indicates that “The well-known principle of Greek erotic life that desire was not defined by love object, but the erotic aim”-Paul Cartledge, (Ancient Greece, Cambridge Illustrated). This contrasts with modern times, when after years of the idea of homosexuality either being ignored or feeling the brunt of discrimination, homosexuality was only legalized in 1993 in Ireland. Even now, while the attitudes towards homosexuality are gradually becoming more accepting and open, discrimination and the idea of homosexuality being “wrong” in a sense is still widespread.
Pederastic relationships between men and young boys were also very popular in Ancient Greece. Men and young boys often engaged in courtship and lovemaking. This could be compared to the scandal of the church’s involvement in pedophilia that was widespread in the 1970s and 1980s; however, the pederasty of ancient times was not seen to be sinister in any way and was simply accepted as a social norm. In Sparta, adults and boys belonged to “Syskania” or masses, small groups of men meeting and dining communally which saw institutionalized pederasty beginning from the age of thirteen. However, this was seen as a social tradition or rite of passage for the young men, as the older men were seen to be initiating these boys into society as men via a mentoring system of sorts. It is up to personal opinion to decide whether this is detrimental or not. However, these rituals of bringing a boy from boyhood to manhood can still be seen in modern times, just without the sexual aspect. The vase of Pethinos, dating from around 510BC, shows the courtship of young boys by older men on one side and the courtship of women by men on the other side. This indicates that pederastic relationships were as common and accepted as heterosexual relationships. The myth of Zeus and Ganymede, a mythological rendition of Zeus’ love for a young Greek boy could be attributed to this. It can be argued whether or not this was a healthy phenomenon in instigating an open attitude towards sexuality in children from a young age, which could ultimately diminish certain taboos associated with homosexuality.
In the Ancient Greek world, women were seen as chaste, virgin creatures that held full responsibility for any lustful outbursts. This is a popular theme in Greek and Roman mythology with Artemis, the Greek Goddess of the hunt and her “Six Daughters of Okeanos”, all of whom were virgins and devoted their lives to chastity. Chastity is a foreign concept to most modern-day teenagers, with the average age to loose one’s virginity at 16 – just below the Irish age of consent. An Ancient Grecian woman’s sexuality was seen to belong to their husbands alone, much like the Catholic Church’s take on marriage in modern times. For women, sex was primarily an act of procreation, whereas men were allowed to indulge their sexual appetites as much as they pleased, this is seen in the depictions of the Symposium where respectable females were uninvited and male sexuality was free to flourish. Female sexuality was far more reserved in Ancient Greece. This can be seen in Greek Art and Sculptures known as Korai (girl) and kouroi (boy) dating from about c.530B.C. A Kore is a sculpture of a woman who was always clothed with a Chiton (equivalent of a modern-day maxi-dress). However, a Kouros or male statue was nearly always designed to be naked. Nowadays, the opposite could be said about teenage girls who are often asked “Is there a skirt to go with that belt?”, in regards to their shrinking skirts by their fathers before a night out.
Pornography is and was an integral part of sexual life today and in Ancient Times. However, porn was not as closeted in Ancient Greece and Rome as it is now. One only had to look around at the ancient art and architecture in order to gain insight into the sexual world of Greece. Carved phalli can be seen in places of worship such as the temple of Dionysus on Delos, while a common Greek artistic feature was the herm, a statue consisting of a male head on a solid cube with a prominent phallus on the front. The Greeks also created the first well-known instance of lesbian eroticism in the West, with Sappho‘s Hymn to Aphrodite and other homoerotic works. The main difference between the pornographic culture nowadays and the pornographic culture of the Ancient World is the nature of the art that portrayed these pornographic images. The porn of the Ancient World is seen as being more tasteful and respectful towards sex than the modern-day pornography you’d find on the internet. Another difference is that modern-day, online pornography depicts women as objects of lust and desire whereas women hardly ever featured in pornography in the Ancient World.
Through the years, the history of sexuality has gone through a cycle. The Ancient Greeks adopted an attitude towards sex and sexuality that was open and was influenced little by taboos or restrictions, while we in Ireland went through a period of sexual dormancy up until recent years when we are now developing our ideas of sex to adapt to a new, changing world. Could we now be going back to the basics of sexuality and adopting the Greeks’ attitude towards sex? If so, when will history finally repeat itself and where does one draw the line?
