In the first part of the article we covered the background to the society and sex of ancient Greece.
Here we will see more about what sex and sexual positions looked like. The Greeks (as were many ancient societies) were extremely liberal, and sex in antiquity was certainly very different from our current view of sex.
For the man in ancient Greece, considering that he was not a slave, but a citizen or free man, his sexual choice would be with his wife (doubtful, as will be seen later), domestic slaves, professional prostitutes or young men. Children.
The ancient Greek man, like today, was basically bisexual, with a preference for pedophilia.
The role of the wife
The wives of Greek men had to do three things exclusively. They had to have legitimate children, take care of the home and cook.
They were not allowed to leave the house unsupervised, ever.
According to our knowledge of the past, Greek men married them between the ages of 14 and 15, and sex with them often took place in rear-entry standing positions.
Sex in bed wasn’t unheard of, but beds weren’t like they are today, and oftentimes an older man on top of a young girl in a bed would be inconvenient. Young wives were totally inexperienced and were mostly raped by their older husbands and often sated.
An ancient Greek writer mentions a man sodomizing his wife and being severely punished after being caught.
Sex in Greek everyday life
The houses of the ancient Greeks were full of people.
There were the wives and children, the slaves, the children of the slaves, and some free servants.
The Greek man could do whatever he wanted with his slaves.
The pottery always depicts the wives of Greek men fully clothed, even when having sex, while the slaves are always naked.
Preferred sexual positions were standing rear-entry, sodomized reading-entry, and sex on chairs or capes.
Although fellatio was a theoretical taboo, it was widely practiced. Slaves and prostitutes were often beaten first to make them more obedient.
The third choice for Greek men were hetaera (or groomed, educated prostitutes). They joined the men at their symposiums, entertained, argued, and then slept with the highest paying client.
Her upbringing included the pleasures of the bedroom as well, and the positions used seem to have been varied and inventive. Variant doggy-style positions and some face-to-face sexual positions on chairs were featured. Sodomy was an option included in the sexual repertoire.
Another variant of the prostitute was the temple prostitutes, and it appears that all of their positions were variants of standing positions, both front and rear entry.
The last variant of the prostitute was the chamotype (or dirty).
They were the girls from the street, and there were no rooms or furniture for the couple. What was done was in the street (on earth). Conventional doggy style seems to be her specialty, both vaginal and sodomized. Fallatio was also her specialty, and we know it wasn’t necessary to hit them before.
bi-sexuality
The most important variant for the Greek man was the young man, always under 17 years of age. The eldest was the erostes (lover) and the young the eromenoi, or beloved.
The older man would be responsible for the young man’s education and financial support.
They appeared in public, especially in the gymnasium (literally, place to be naked), and the fallatio of the younger over the older was considered an honor.
The Greeks believed that the semen contained the wisdom and strength of the man, and the young man would necessarily take this from the older man.
Plato’s works are full of pederastic implications and principles and, in general, this form of homosexuality was a completely accepted norm.
It was also practiced by rich freed women, with young girls. The preferred sexual position was standing rear-entry sodomy.
A comparison
We tend to think that today we live in a society where most sexual preferences are accepted and many speak of a breakdown of moral values, but this is not true compared to the ancient Greeks!