Ancient societies codified their regulations on sex, in both formal laws and in social practices. Hammurabi, ruler of Old Babylonia, gave his people a law code in c.1700 BCE; the Mosaic Law code for the ancient Hebrews followed in c.1200 BCE. Though the ancient Greek philosopher Plato’s The Symposium (c.385 BCE) does not put forth legal restrictions on sex, its dialogue does attempt to define love. These documents illustrate how each civilization viewed sex. This paper explores sexual relations that were good for the community in three ancient societies: Old Babylonia, the nomadic Hebrews, and Greece. By using the Code of Hammurabi, the Biblical books of Exodus and Deuteronomy, and The Symposium, each society’s concept of communally-beneficial sex can be determined.
In Old Babylonia, the idea of sex that was good for the community extended to the economy: sex could be a means of commerce. A woman with children received “half of the field, orchard and goods” if a man decided to “put away his concubine who has borne him children or his wife.” While the law states that a woman received financial support if she had given a man children, it also demonstrates that the society had and condoned concubines, women who received compensation for sexual services. Furthermore, the law indicates that being a concubine could be a profitable business; not only did she likely receive payment for her services, but she also received restitution comparable to a man’s wife if he chose to end the relationship once she had given birth. Given the position of the concubine in the law code, she was likely not ostracized, meaning that her money could be spent in the community.
Additionally, the Code of Hammurabi stresses the importance of havi...
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...hts a theme present in the sexual relations discussed in The Symposium: the ancient Greek view of beneficial sexual relations centered around individual triumphs—in love, friendship, and intellect. The community as a whole benefited through the collective sum of all these individual gains.
Despite the punitive function of the law codes and the philosophical nature of The Symposium, these documents illustrate ancient views of sex as beneficial to the community. The imminently practical population and economical gains seen in the Code of Hammurabi mirror the equally purposeful property-based benefits in the Hebraic texts of Exodus and Deuteronomy. These views contrast with the sometimes theoretical and individual benefits of sex as seen by ancient Greeks, making it apparent that each ancient society had its own view of what constituted communally-beneficial sex.
The first chapter begins with an exploration of love and marriage in many ancient and current cultures. Surprisingly many cultures either avoid the discussion of love in marriage or spit on the idea completely. China and other societies believed that love was simply a product of marriage and shouldn’t get too out of hand, while a few Greek and Roman philosophers shunned excessive
Symposium is set during a festival for Dionysus, the goddess of fertility; this setting emphasizes the sexual expectations of society that Alcibiades must confront. During fertility festivals, "the Athenians would carry phalluses around the city in ribald celebration" (Rudall 5);1 the phallus in Athens was a symbol of both fertility and eroticism. The Athenians, concerned with the potential extinction of the human race, performed rituals during these festivals that celebrated the phallus as the means of the reproduction of human life. Thus, heterosexual relationships were justified by the creation of children, and the focus of the celebration of the phallus was its productive nature. This focus on productivity created a social expectation that sexual relationships should be productive.
In classical Greek literature the subject of love is commonly a prominent theme. However, throughout these varied texts the subject of Love becomes a multi-faceted being. From this common occurrence in literature we can assume that this subject had a large impact on day-to-day life. One text that explores the many faces of love in everyday life is Plato’s Symposium. In this text we hear a number of views on the subject of love and what the true nature of love is. This essay will focus on a speech by Pausanius. Pausanius’s speech concentrates on the goddess Aphrodite. In particular he looks at her two forms, as a promoter of “Celestial Love” as well as “Common Love.” This idea of “Common Love” can be seen in a real life context in the tragedy “Hippolytus” by Euripides. This brings the philosophical views made by Pausanius into a real-life context.
This paper will discuss the well published work of, Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken, 1975. Print. Sarah B. Pomerory uses this book to educate others about the role women have played throughout ancient history. Pomerory uses a timeline to go through each role, starting with mythological women, who were called Goddesses. She then talks about some common roles, the whores, wives, and slaves during this time. Pomerory enlightens the audience on the topic of women, who were seen as nothing at the time. Men were seen as the only crucial part in history; however, Pomerory’s focus on women portrays the era in a new light.
Aristophanes thinks that a human’s love is clearly “a lack” – a lack of one’s other half- and having no meant to satisfy themselves they begin to die. Zeus, having failed to foresee this difficulty repairs the damage by inventing sexual reproduction (191 b-c). Any “embracements” of men with men or of women with women would of course be sterile – though the participants would at least “have some satiety of their union and a relief,” (191 c) and therefore would be able to carry on the work of the world. Sex, therefore, is at this stage a drive, and the object is defined only as human. Sexual preferences are to emerge only as the human gains experience, enabling them to discover what their “original form” had been.
The first century morality was not unlike our twenty-first century morality. Premarital and extra-marital affairs exist in both. Prostitution is common in both centuries. The speed in which sexual perverseness can occur in today’s society can occur at a much more rapid rate due to the Internet, however, with the same outcome as it was then, the defiling of one’s body, a body that belongs to God. God forgives us as Christians, as King David wa...
Marriage and Sexuality Marriage is a ritually recognized union in our society and in some cases a legal contract between spouses. The ultimate definition of marriage defers according to culture but principally it is a universal institution that consists of a bilateral decent system. According to the Webster’s dictionary, sexuality is an organism’s preparedness for engaging in sexual activity in other words, a human’s readiness to begin having sex or exploring sex. The nature of marriage and sexuality has had a solid influence on different cultures round the world even from pre-historic times. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the nature, taboos, requirements and social impact of marriage and sexuality within the Dobe Ju/’hoansi and the
Love, in classical Greek literature, is commonly considered a prominent theme. Love, in present days, always appears in the categories of books, movies, music, etc. Interpreted differently by different people, Love turns into a multi-faceted being. In Plato’s work Symposium, Phaedrus, Pausania, Eryximachus, Aristophane and Agathon, each of them presents a speech to either praise or definite Love. Phaedrus first points out that Love is the primordial god; Pausanias brings the theme of “virtue” into the discussion and categorizes Love into “good” one or “bad” one; Eryximachus introduces the thought of “moderation’ and thinks that Love governs such fields as medicine and music; Aristophanes draws attention to the origin and purposes of Love; Agathon enunciates that the correct way to present an eulogy is first to praise its nature and gifts.
In ancient Greek society women lived hard lives on account of men's patriarch built communities. Women were treated as property. Until about a girl’s teens she was "owned" by her father or lived with her family. Once the girl got married she was possessed by her husband along with all her belongings. An ancient Greece teenage girl would marry about a 30-year-old man that she probably never met before. Many men perceived women as being not being human but creatures that were created to produce children, please men, and to fulfill their household duties. A bride would not even be considered a member of the family until she produced her first child. In addition to having a child, which is a hard and painful task for a teenage girl in ancient civilization to do, the husband gets to decide if he wants the baby. A baby would be left outside to die if the husband was not satisfied with it; usually this would happen because the child was unhealthy, different looking, or a girl.
The first two slides were used for background information of the epic and the controversy that surrounds a certain relationship. Following the background info, I introduced the question whether the two heroes’ relationship could be seen as homosocial or homoerotic. For the actual research portion of my presentation, I discussed the nature and treatment of same sex relations in ancient times, broke down key events in the epic regarding Gilgamesh and Enkidu and examined the significance of the erotic language (from Gilgamesh’s dreams about Enkidu through Enkidu’s death), and the parallels between the stories of David and Jonathan and Achilles and Patroclus, As for my concluding thoughts, I concluded that while erotic language plays a significant role in the epic and should not be discarded, but it does not automatically mean that the two characters were in a homoerotic relationship. The relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu went beyond In addition, I also included a class survey at the end to see how my research influenced the audience’s perspectives on Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s
In the article “An Anthropological Look at Human Sexuality” the authors, Patrick Gray and Linda Wolfe speak about how societies look at human sexuality. The core concept of anthology is the idea of culture, the systems of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors people acquire as a member of society. The authors give an in depth analysis on how human sexuality is looked at in all different situations.
To continue, women were expected to be modest and quiet. This is the opposite of what is expected of them at the Thesmophoria. It is noted that, “ritual obscenity marks a complete reversal of the model of the modesty and silence expected of Athenian wives.” In the Thesmophoria women were loud, making jokes and being what was considered very inappropriate in that time. Women were for a short amount of time allowed the freedom to relax and not worry about being judged by their actions. When the Thesmophoria is over every year women must return to being quiet and modest. Therefore, cultic practice and social life is inseparable in ancient Greece because cultic practice dictated how women should not act.
Sex is described as “the primitive task for women” (Epic of Gilgamesh 63). The definition of sex in the Epic of Gilgamesh is a way to show that a main role of women in ancient Mesopotamia times was to provide pleasure for men, but to also provide children (Grandfield). The temple prostitute, Shamat, was not in the story to portray mankind’s sin of lust, but to demonstrate the need for women so a society can survive.
The idea of sexuality as constructed by Ancient Romans is wholly complex as was most of Roman society. An interesting way to look at Roman sexuality is through the lens of Roman society. Ancient Roman sexuality was not uniform throughout society and different societal classes created different types of sexualities. Three authors examine sexuality from three different social realms, the realm of the prostitute, the realm of Roman patricians in terms of contraception, and the realm of Vestal Virgins. Prostitutes in Rebecca Flemming's article, "Quae Corpore Quaestum Facit: The Sexual Economy of Female Prostitution in the Roman Empire" are a representation of lower class sexuality. Mary Beard's article, "The Sexual Status of Vestal Virgins" examines a form of deviant sexuality based around religious values. Lastly, Keith Hopkins' article," Contraception in the Roman Empire" examines the sexual practices of upper class Romans using contraception and abortifacents, vital conclusions about Ancient Roman society and sexuality can be determined.
The purpose of this paper is to compare the teaching on marriage from the book of I Corinthians and Ephesians. The Bible tells us, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (Gen. 2:18). In the beginning, God saw that it was not good for His creation to be alone; therefore He created a helper suitable for Adam, a wife to be his companion and counterpart. From the book of Proverbs, we are also told that God designed marriage and sex not only as a means for bringing children into this world, but also as God's appointed means for a man to find pleasure in his wife.