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The Myths of Sex Position and Pornography in Ancient Greece

Published onDec 01, 2022
The Myths of Sex Position and Pornography in Ancient Greece

To begin with, the definition of pornography varies from century to century and different disciplines have nuances in the definitions. Pornography has been used in the middle of the nineteenth century and it derives from the Greek word pornography (writing about prostitutes). However, in ancient Greek, all ages of women and young men consisted of prostitutes and most of them served men, which indicates that women and young men were subordinate to men. According to Prof. Sarah Levin-Richardson from the University of Washington, “Prostitution was an acceptable and licit way for men to exercise their sexual urges without committing legal adultery,”1 showing that it is legal and reasonable for Greek men to have adultery and to fulfill their desire. “Pornography is the graphic sexually explicit subordination of women……”2 The word “ is” demonstrates the relationship between the pornography and subordination of women, and shows that women possessed pornography.3

The definition of pornography in OEC (Oxford English Dictionary) varies. In the 2022 version of OEC, “The explicit description or exhibition of sexual subjects or activity in literature, painting, films, etc., in a manner intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic feelings; printed or visual material containing this.”4, contains basically the element that we could think about. Additionally, there has added on a new definition which is “descriptions of prostitutes or of prostitutions, as a matter of public hygiene.5” “Public hygiene” reflects people in that period realized that unprotected sex and prostitution will have the chance of getting STDs and they will be transmitted via intercourse. Since the early seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the rate of STDs had boosted and caused a lot of harm not only to the level of individuals, but also the society.

The brothels had been started during the Greek Archaic Period (c. 800-479 BC), and it has thousands of years. The brothels are the only way that women can have legal jobs since they were supervised either by their husbands or male relatives. There were no political rights and freedom for a woman in ancient Greek. Due to the development of brothels, they have certain effects on women, physically and mentally. Pornography was derived from that period as frescos and writing records showed their existence.

The women in ancient Greece have categorized by their roles and there are four roles: Pornai, Hetairai, Pallakai, and Gunai.6 Pornai is the term called ordinary prostitutes, usually, they are slaves. Hetarirai is also engaged in sexual activity, but they might have a stable arrangement with one or two men. (However, it is not legal to marry a Greek citizen). They are hired as an entertainer or accompany the client and get paid, usually in short term. Pallakai was also working as an accompaniment, but usually in long term, or as a concubine. None of these three roles or statuses were considered as legal citizens in ancient Greece. Gunai was the name for a legal woman citizen, whose role was to be a wife and she has to reproduce for the country. The custom is that married couple should have their babies, but when they are having sex, they did not enjoy it. Reproducing was the priority. If the husband wanted to have sex, he could go to brothels to enjoy.

The roles of elite men in ancient Greece have some influences on sex. There are usually five stages. The first stage was the boy before fifteen, and they were growing up. Then from fifteen to eighteen were considered as junior and then from eighteen to thirty as a senior. In both stages, their fathers would go to the elders and they would teach their children proper manners, social knowledge, and knowledge that were appropriate for their social status. When the elders were teaching, anal sex was involved. However, anal sex did not affect their sexuality because, in their thirties, they were still married to a woman and have their own child. The last stage is becoming old and assuming no sexual activities were involved.

The background information of Greek women and men affects the meaning of sex position and how they perceived pornography as well as the sex position.

Figure1: A kylix contains sex scene that a man and a woman is having a rear-entry sex/Side C: Courtship of Men and Boys Photograph by Maria Daniels, Courtesy of the University Museums, University of Mississippi, May 1991,” accessed November 15, 2022, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/image?img=Perseus:image:1991.01.0790.

In Figure 1, the kylix has shown one man and one woman having sex, particularly in the rear-entry position, but whether it is vaginal or anal is nonclear. Sometimes the prostitute requires to have anal sex to avoid pregnancy. As shown in Figure 1, the rear-entry position did require her to be the receiver or be passive and the distance between the man and woman is far, which created an emotional distance that eliminated two of them from talking face to face. Fewer communications were involved. Moreover, the man was in full control as kylix has represented. His hands could do whatever he wanted to do, while the woman’s hands were supporting to guarantee the whole intercourse could be done, and her hands were not free to do whatever she wants.

The rear-entry position fits the majority of people's thoughts about sex, usually, the man is initiative, and the woman is submissive. Most modern heterosexual pornography depicted women are in control by men rather than they are the initiators. According to research done by the National Library of Medicine, the rape scene is around 6% of pornography. There are more subtle forms of aggression, for example, unequal sexual relations, and spanking which is around 5%-75%.7 Due to the full control, man has more power compared to woman under this circumstance. The missionary position is a position for sexual intercourse in which a woman lies underneath a man, facing him.8 Underneath implies the power dynamics, the woman’s power now has gone and it’s the man in charge of the whole actions. It is not only implied in humans but in animals. According to The Second Sex, “In almost all animals, the male is mounted on the female. “and “ Although the female plays a fundamentally active role in reproduction, she still has to endure coitus, which alienates her through intrusion and internal fertilization.”9

Figure 2: A kylix depicts intercrural sex scene/ Side C: Courtship of Men and Boys Photograph by Maria Daniels, Courtesy of the University Museums, University of Mississippi, May 1991,” accessed November 15, 2022

There is another sex position depicted by the kylix: intercrural sex, referring to a man (usually the elder) stooping to ejaculate between the boy’s thighs.10 This is the way depicted pederastic and doing so is because penetration or anal sex would dishonor the younger boy. The elder, who is bending on his knees as shown in figure 2, and his hands are wrapped around his waist, showing that he is taking the actions in this scene, while the boy, who is on the left, seems to be passive and receiving the actions.

The depictions of an intercrural sex scene on the vases started in the early black-figure period and reaches height after 550. It is interesting to find that the initiators have become younger, which sometimes could be pubescent boys. While the receiver could be a beardless young man.

The position of sex does reflect the power and control over one person for the past centuries but with more movements of feminists, women start to become the initiators in the role of sex and have control. With the rise of female consciousness, women are gradually taking the initiative from gender relations and even sex. This shift also allows women to gain more equality as well as power.

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