SOCC26H3 Lecture 3: Week 3 Lecture Note
March 15th 2011
Roman Sex
Private and public spaces where Romans had sex:
•Usually done between husbands and wives at home. As it was a private space.
•Done in Brothels, where you can pay for sex.
•Parties, because they’re sexy and fun. Most of the time, party-goers were drunk
and happy.
•Free people had sex with slaves. Slaves were “purchased” as “sex toys” to be used by
their masters. Its understandable.
•Men had sex with women. (obviously)
•Men had sex with boys.
Martial
•Also talks about “epigrams” (to write something on something) ex. a small poem
written on a statue.
•Writes about parties, politics, constellations, poetry, his friends, jeering poems, and
social issues.
•Intersection of sex and power.
•There is an active and a passive member when it comes to sex. A “do-er” and a
“done-to”
•I.e. Men have to be dominant when it comes to sex (man on top).
•This is why there were no man/man relationships, only man/boy and man/woman
relationships.
•Fourplay was not something people talked about. Only genital penetration.
Readings
•Some poems are sexy (flowery and sweet), and some are harsh and dirty.
•Ganymede is a sexy poem, Dick is in a harsh poem
•20% poems, another 20% is romantic, and the rest are about social gain etc.
• The reason for such harsh poems is to demonstrate “how the world works” i.e. the
reality of sex.
www.notesolution.com
•Poem 1: lots of love and flattery for caesar
•Poem 2: treats mistress better than friends? Uses a harsh word for penis and
vagina.
•Poem 3: about caesar
•Poem 4: about sex
•
www.notesolution.com
