MAIN Society Sex History of Sex

Mother Nature has always provided the anatomical equipment, along with a strong chemical and hormonal desire to procreate. However, it is the inherited social and cultural framework of human sexuality that make it all the more intriguing.

Sex and mating have been a biological fact of life since humans first evolved from the apes some 100,000 years ago.

Since then, Adam and Eve have remained the role models for most of the cultural taboos of sex in Western Judeo-Christian society. But it is the Greeks and Roman that we look to for a peek inside sexual desire unfettered by biblical interpretations of the sinfulness of sex.

Party on, ye Greeks and Romans

Modern social taboos such as nymphomania, prostitution, lesbianism, bisexuality and homosexuality were all common practices in ancient Greece. which, at one point, was driven to legislating marriage and children merely in order to maintain the population.

Stepping back for a moment to examine the origins of the primordial human libido, the reason was best explained by Eros, the ancient Greek god of lust, love, and intercourse - who bestowing mixed blessings of desire and sexual pleasure - while simultaneoulsy driving most people mad.

Eros' Roman counterpart was Cupid, also known as Amor or "love", inspired love at first sight, or couples thunderstruck by romantic love, than with pure unadulatered lust. Of course, another Roman god, Bacchus, was more famously known to inspire more purient behavior and even lawlessness with copious consumption of wine and rampant sexual couplings during the Bacchanalian festivals which today historians point to as the basis for modern day Mardi Gras and Carnival celebrations.

The party's over: sex and the Middle Ages

Following Rome's fall, however, a dwindling population caused by endless wars of empire and diseases like the plague did little to promote sex as a social pleasure. It was also a time when the Catholic Church arose as the main influence on sexual coupling, or the lack thereof. Sins of of the flesh were percieved as part of Adam and Eve's fall into sin, with a revolutionary new Christian teaching that didn't even allow for Jesus himself to have been conceived by normal means but by Immaculate Conception.

In a complete turnaround from the freewheeling Greeks and Romans, sex in the Middle Ages would have been unrecognizable to the ancients, as sex became a necessary evil not be enjoyed but merely for procreation. Sex outside marriage was considered heresey, as was homosexuality or masturbation. Even contraception was viewed as promoting lust and sex.

A more modern view of sex

As Western civilization got a firmer footing, however, and as as cities grew and governments became more stable, the Renaissance reversed course on sexual restrictions. Renaissance artwork and sculpture resulted in an orgy of human nakedness best seen in the Sistine Chapel (of all places) that would never have been allowed during the medieval age. Following Martin Luther's Protestant revolution, and Henry VIII's battle against the old teachings on marriage and divorce, the Enlightment later ushered in a more adult look at sex in all its variations, most titilatingly seen in the novels of the Marquis de Sade.

While it was apparent that the old repressive days in regard to sex had come and gone, the 19th century surprisingly ushered in an another about-face. In an era that can best be described as confused, the new age of psychiatry and science had suddenly become the ultimate authorities, resulting in some strange ideas about sex during the Victorian era that regarded masturbation, homosexuality, sex outside marriage or any other "deviant" behavior not so much as a sin as a mental illness.

Today, the Victorian age is looked upon with dread not only for its proper and repressive rules of societal etiquette, but for the apparent hypocrisy of a society that saw love starved housewives desolve into "hysteria", while an explosion of brothels resulted in the high levels of venereal disease among the male population.

While Victorian attitudes still echoed well into the 20th century, a new sexual revolution appeared in the 1960's that proved to be a watershed decade as the birth control pill allowed women much more sexual freedom. The lifestyle of Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n Roll preached by the hippie movement also promoted more liberal attitudes and social tolerance that gave rise to the gay pride movement.

However, with the advent of a worldwide AIDS epidemic (for which there is still no known cure) as well as other sexually transmitted diseases the revolution was over a short two decades later.

also see -> Same Sex Marriage

More about the history of sex around the Web:

Sex in History - Lively, entertaining read on the sexual piccadillos of kings, politicians, and world leaders throughout history.

Sexuality and Sex in Women's History - About.com guide featuring the history of lesbianism, prostitution, the sanitary napkin, the vibrator, and related topics including related quotes and suggested reading.

A Gay History of the World - Illustrated look at sexual practices, legal and political persecutions, and famous gay people in history, from ancient times to the 20th century.

History of Sex in the Last 500 Years - Timeline of important landmarks in sex from 1530 to the 1970's.

A history of sex in films - Timeline with photos and descriptions of highlights and landmark scenes in mainstream Hollywood films from the 19th century to the present.

History of Sex and Love - Companion website to the The Discovery Channel series with the facts, photos and the odd historical tibdit.