Perverted Sexual Fetishes of The Ancient World

People in the ancient world didn’t even have a word we could translate to fetish or kink. Yes, there have always been things that are considered taboo, but the practices in this list are only considered fetishes by our modern standards.

The ancients did not define or think about their sexuality as we do.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inanna

Mesopotamians (think back to 4000 BC) worshipped their Goddess of sex, love, war, justice, and political power, the Queen of Heaven, Inanna. She, in turn, worshipped her own vagina. Note to self: I need to start worshipping my vagina.

In rituals characterized by pain and ecstasy, the ‘Queen of Heaven’ forced men to bow to her in submission, flogging them as they danced for her, enticing them into states of ecstasy.

By today’s standards, the Etruscans were the kinkiest of all ancient Mediterranean peoples. In my previous article, “Vanilla Is Sweet, But Kinky is Delicious”, I mentioned that there’s art that is evidence of the kinky sexual practices of the Etruscan civilization.

Ritual flagellation: In Pompeii's Villa of Mysteries, they even painted a fresco of a woman in a threesome getting penetrated from behind while practicing oral sex on another man, and they’re both spanking her.

Wife sharing: Sharing wives among men was common. This was practiced by families of low rank who wanted more prestigious offspring to ennoble their line; therefore, only men of distinction with desirable attributes were allowed to have sex with another man’s wife. The husband would send his wife to the chosen man’s house and stay there until she became pregnant (however long that took). The children would have considered the children of the woman’s husband only if the husband abstained from having sex while his wife lived with the other man.

Interestingly, a few centuries later, this practice would be considered cuckolding, which is inherently associated with humiliation and shame.

The Etruscan tombs at Tarquinia depict some of the sexual practices that were common in the Etruscan lifestyle:

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_the_Bullsv

The Tomb of the Bulls features frescoes of heterosexual and homosexual erotic imagery, including men having anal sex.

The Tomb of the Bigas includes chariot races and sex occurring in front of an audience.

In the Tomb of the Floggings, a woman bends over and holds a man's hips while a youth stands behind her with a whip ried in the air. Another scene portrays a woman embracing a man while being penetrated from behind.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Kamasutra (400 BC) isn’t all about sensual massages and breathwork. There are chapters about sex work, the effects of various intoxicants on sexual intercourse, sadomasochism, and more. The Kamasutra contains pictures and instructions for complex sexual positions, but that’s not its only purpose. It’s mostly poetic and philosophical and discusses what sparks desire and how to maintain it. The book makes a strong connection between sexuality and spirituality.

If you’re into BDSM or looking into it, you might benefit from reading the Kamasutra since it teaches respect for all partners and offers positions emphasizing dominance and submission.

It also provides a how-to-guide for nipple play. “When the nipple is seized by all five nails and pulled outwards, the nail marks around the breasts are known as the ‘peacock’s claw.’”

Maybe you’re looking for bare-handed spanking tips, “…striking is of four kinds: Striking with the back of your hand, striking with the fingers a little contracted, striking with the fist, striking with the open palm of the hand.”

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompey

Biting: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus or Pompey the Great (106 BC – 48 BC9 was a leading Roman general and statesman. One of his lovers, Flora, the courtesan, always enjoyed telling people about her intimacy with Pompey. She said she ever left his embraces without bearing the marks of his teeth.

Source: https://www.echinacities.com/expat-life/Ancient-Chinese-Sex-Advice

Ancient Chinese people practiced Taoism and were compelled to have sex (especially with beautiful virgins) but not to ejaculate. I suppose we could say they really enjoyed being edged. So much so that it was part of their sexual philosophy.

Taoism is centered on the belief that qi (or chi) is the life force within everything in existence. It divides qi into yin and yang (positive and negative energy). It is only possible to achieve spiritual harmony and physical well-being when the two forces are in balance.

You may be wondering what edging and ejaculation have to do with the balance between yin and yang. Taoists believe that the loss of yin, the essence that gives us life (aka semen), could cause illness and even death when it becomes totally expended.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_oil_Lamp_with_erotic_motif_05.jpg

Today, fellatio, the oral stimulation of a man’s penis, a blowjob, is not considered kinky by most people. But my great-grandmother would have certainly thought it was perverse. Considering my automatic spelling correction, maybe I’m just desensitized, and it’s still kinky and offensive to some.

The ancient Egyptian myth of the resurrection of Osiris says that after he was killed and scattered around the world by his brother, Isis, Orisis's sister-wife, collected all the pieces but could not find his penis. She made a penis for him out of clay and literally blew life back into Osiris.

I wonder if we’ll ever see a movie where a prince gets blown back into life instead of a princess getting kissed back into life.

The ancient Romans had a big issue with blowjobs and said people with bad breath must be fellators. Most Romans wouldn’t even dare have a known fellator over for dinner.

However, they weren’t opposed to bestiality. It is said that men and women were brought to the Coliseum and the Circus Maximus to be raped by animals and that women kept snakes for sexual purposes. That makes Japanese tentacle erotica seem normal.

Since Egyptian crocodile hunters supposedly had sex with female crocodiles before killing them, I’ll be researching and telling you more about sex in ancient Egypt soon.