History 2181A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Missionary Position, Courtly Love, Hetaira
23 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Religion dictated sexuality up until the 18th century. Classical period ancient greece (prior to christian era: 800 bce 500 ce, a patriarchal culture, men were recognized as having very strong sexual urges, this was seen as completely normal. The priority was the man"s sexual pleasure, at any means, the sexual needs of women were generally ignored. Men had a lot of sexual freedom: monogamy was the official rule, but in reality married men engaged in sex regularly and freely with other women mostly slaves, prostitutes, and mistresses. Hetaerae (hetaera) - high class, influential, single women often taken on as mistresses. Symposium - party/orgy that were attended by single and married men, there were hetaerae and younger boys that men would have sex with. In the military), provided intellectual stimulation, and a way for women not to gain too much power. Early marriage was encouraged for women so they wouldn"t have sex prior to marriage and not cause trouble in society.
