Sexuality in the Ancient Mediterranean

Laws give us a glimpse into the world of sexuality in early cultures. As the first Western civilizations were established, cities began to grow and people began living together in larger and larger groups. Cities require a more formal way of structuring social life, and so the first codes of law began to develop. Codes of law and other legal sources, however, tend to tell us only about what was forbidden.

From writings and art we know a bit about ancient accounts of sexually transmitted infections (some ancient medical texts discuss cures), menstruation (there were a vari­ety of laws surrounding menstruation), circumcision (which was first performed in Egypt and possibly other parts of Africa), and contraception (Egyptian women inserted sponges or other objects in the vagina). Because a great value was put on having as many children as possible—especially sons, for inheritance—abortion was usually forbidden. Prostitution was common, and temple prostitutes often greeted worshippers. Egypt was the first civilization to eliminate sexual intercourse and prostitution as part of temple worship, though prostitution was not uncommon in the cities and towns.

It is important to remember that throughout history men dominated public life and women’s voices were effectively silenced; we know far more about what men thought, how men lived, and even how men loved than we do about the lives and thoughts of women. In fact, it was only relatively recently in human history that women’s voices have begun to be heard on a par with men’s in literature, politics, art, and other parts of public life.

It may seem that ancient civilizations were very different from ours, yet some soci­eties had surprisingly modern attitudes about sex. Though the Egyptians condemned adultery, especially among women, there is evidence that it was still fairly common. A woman in Egypt had the right to divorce her husband, a privilege, as we will see, that was not allowed to Hebrew women. Egyptians seem to have invented male circumcision, and Egyptian workers left behind thousands of pictures, carvings, and even cartoons of erotic scenes. All told, ancient Egyptians had sexual lives that do not seem all that dif­ferent from the way humans engage in sex throughout the world today.

Of all the ancient civilizations, modern Western society owes the most to the inter­action of three ancient cultures: Hebraic, Hellenistic (Greek), and Roman. Each made a contribution to our views of sexuality, so it is worthwhile to examine each culture briefly.

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ReviewQuestion What sources provide information on sexuality in early cultures?
bestiality The act of having intercourse with an animal.
pederasty Sexual contact between adult men and (usually) postpubescent boys.
homoerotic Artistic or literary works that focus on the sex­ual or love relations between members of the same sex.
Timeline: Television 1965 1969 1975 1983 1987 1987
I Dream of Jeannie airs from 1965 to 1970. Jeannie’s harem costume is controversial for exposing too much flesh. Bellybutton is filled in with flesh — colored putty plug.		Playtex shows first television commercials with live models wearing bras and underwear.	StarTrek introduces alien race named "Ferengi" who require females to be naked and subservient to males.
The Brady Bunch airs, inspired by the growing statistics of blended families with children from previous marriages.
Hulton Archive/Getty

ual love for another man was seen as the ideal love, superior to the sexual love of women. Plato discussed such an ideal love, and so we have come to call friendships with­out a sexual element platonic.

Question: I’ve heard that the Greeks believed that sex between men and boys was a "natural" form of human sexuality. Couldn’t they see that it was perverted?

One society’s perversion is another society’s normal sexual practice. Every culture sees its own forms of sexuality as natural and obvious— including ours. Not too long ago in our own society, it seemed "obvi­ous" to most people that things like oral sex and anal sex were perversions (they are still technically illegal in many states) and that masturbation was a serious disease that could lead to mental illness. Now most people see these acts as part of healthy sexual life. Sexual beliefs and practices change over time and are different in various cultures.

Pederasty was only a small part of Greek sexual life. In the great stories of Homer, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey, we find descriptions of deep heterosexual love, of car­ing marriages, of tenderness for children, and of conjugal and maternal affections (Flaceliere, 1962). Coupled with the obvious admiration Greeks had of the feminine form—such as the Venus de Milo—it is a mistake to see Greek pederasty as the basic form of Greek sexuality.

Contemporary historians of sexuality, following the work of philosopher Michel Foucault (1978, 1987, 1988), have been writing about sexuality in society as a reflec­tion of social power. In the ancient Greek city of Athens, for example, only a small group of men were considered “citizens,” and they held all the political and social power. Sex became a symbol of that power, and it was therefore acceptable for citizens to have sex with any of the other, less powerful groups in society—women, slaves, for­eigners, or children. In other words, a powerful male, wielding the symbol of masculine power (the penis), could penetrate any one of his social inferiors, thus reinforcing his place in the social order.