Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

Private Life 173
regarded as having a corrupting influence, or if it was so regarded
by some individuals, there is no surviving discussion devoted to
the subject. Occasionally it even attained the status of high art. One
of the most striking sculptural depictions of scantily clad women
undergoing sexual abuse is the battle between the Lapiths and centaurs
that is depicted on the west pediment of the temple of Zeus
at Olympia (470–57 b.c.e. ). To the right of the figure of Apollo, who
stands in the center of the composition, we see the centaur Eurytion
intent on raping the bride Deidameia. To the left of Apollo, another
centaur is about to kick in the groin a Lapith woman who is scratching
his cheek.
In vase painting, scenes of lovemaking were commonplace.
Images of naked bathing women appear on the interior of redfigure
cups as early as the late sixth century b.c.e. —far earlier
incidentally than the first sculptural images of naked women. The
bather was revealed as the (male) drinker drained the cup, thereby
lending a certain air of comic prurience. Pornographic literature
existed in the Hellenistic Period but seems to have been limited to
sex manuals that enumerated the positions of heterosexual intercourse.
There was no genre devoted to sexual fantasy, although
fantasy is not absent from the Greek novel. A prime example is
Longus’s Daphnis and Chloe, which carries strong undertones of
sexual violence.
Conclusions
Although there were no doubt many husbands who were faithful
to their wives, the fact remains that it was not only socially acceptable
but even expected that they would have sexual relations with
a variety of partners, including prostitutes, slaves, and other males.
What was not acceptable was having sexual relations with another
man’s wife. Society’s tolerance of the male sexual drive came at a
heavy price—one that was paid by the other half of the population,
who did not enjoy such privileges themselves and who were evidently
expected to turn the proverbial blind eye. One wonders how
much Odysseus said about his sexual escapades to his wife Penelope
when he returned home after his 20-year absence, if indeed he felt
obligated to say anything at all. It is a deep irony running through
The Odyssey that Penelope is required to remain unwaveringly faithful
to her husband when being persistently bullied into doing otherwise,
whereas Odysseus’s return is delayed some eight years by his
cohabiting with the nymph Kalypso and the witch Kirke.