Call it what you want, head, eating out, chewing on a rug, or sneezing in cabbage*, we humans have rarely been able to stay away from our mouths. Oral sex has a long history in art and literature. Culturally speaking, opinions about oral sex have changed a lot in societies. Fellatio (men receiving oral) and cunnilingus (women receiving oral) are also often viewed differently across cultures. This is by no means an exhaustive list, just a few of my favorites from ancient history. Let us know if you’d like a part 2 with more modern examples!
Let’s start with my two favorites, the ancient Greeks and Romans. Understanding Greek and Roman attitudes toward fellatio means you also have to understand queer sex for them. Having gay sex was absolutely fine, even expected and, dare I say, encouraged, HOWEVER, the role a man played in that dynamic was the most important. We would understand it in terms of being up or down. Being superior (the giver) was very normal and okay, however, being inferior (the receiver) was considered degrading and left you open to ridicule. The same thing happened with blowjobs. Receive them? Good for you, Biggus Dickus. Give them? Wow…embarrassing, don’t get too close, they have bad breath. The bad breath joke also extended to anyone who attacked women. Fortunately, however, these social complexes did not stop the Greeks and later the Romans from giving careless toppy and subsequently putting pictures of them on everything. So enjoy this selection of orals from Ancient Greece and Rome.
Depiction of fellatio on an Attic red-figure kylix, c. 510 BC c.
An Eiffel Tower seen in The Tomb of Scourges. Etruscan. 490 BC C. An impressive 2,377 years before the Eiffel Tower was built.
Fresh cunnilingus in a brothel. Pompeii. 79 AD
One of my favorite Roman things are these sex tokens/coins called Spintria. Their use is not known with certainty, but some scholars theorized that they were tokens that allowed entry to brothels or were used to pay sex workers. This one shows a blowjob, but there are a variety of them that show a variety of sexual acts.
When I went to the Machu Picchu exhibition at the Australian Museum, the main thing that caught my attention (to no one’s surprise) was its erotic ceramics. Which led me down a rabbit hole about Moche culture; in northern Peru between 100-800 CE. Looking at them further, their pottery has pretty much every sexual position you can imagine, including oral! Enjoy:
Example from the Larco Museum
Stirrup glass with fellatio scene. Peru, Moche civilization, 300-600 AD
In ancient China, Taoism taught that cunnilingus and specifically the consumption of vaginal secretions (needs a spicier way to say it) would increase the life force of men. At the same time, male ejaculation was strongly discouraged because they believed that the loss of semen would weaken this life force, basically they are trying to retain as much body fluids as possible and give all kinds of blowjobs.
Qing Dynasty Erotic Painting: Obsessed by how excited they both look. Good for them.
When they weren’t busy building pyramids, the ancient Egyptians incorporated oral sex into their mythology. In frame 2 of Henuttawy’s Book of the Dead, we see the god Geb performing an act on himself that I think most people would attempt if they were flexible enough.
© The Trustees of the British Museum.
The Kama Sutra (c. 3rd century AD) is possibly the most famous text on sexual pleasure of all time, so of course it covers the topic of oral sex. It’s worth noting that the Kama Sutra is not just an exciting practice guide to sexual positions. It is a deeply spiritual text that focuses on Hindu philosophy, eroticism and emotional fulfillment. That also spends a lot of time on Head’s topic. Auparishtaka or Congress of the Mouth as discussed in chapter 9 It was not highly appreciated by the author Vatsyayana. Firstly, it was emphasized that oral was performed by eunuchs and “…also by impudent and lascivious women” (me af). That said, the chapter at least offers a summary of the typical sequence of events;
- The nominal congress
- biting the sides
- Pressing out
- Pressing inside
- Kiss
- Rubbing
- Sucking a mango fruit
- swallow
The chapter also briefly details about cunnilingus and 69ing:
“Some women in the harem, when they are in love, do the acts of mouth on the yoni of another, and some men do the same with women. The way of doing this (that is, of kissing the yoni) must be known by kissing the mouth. When a man and a woman lie down in reverse order, that is, with the head of one towards the feet of the other and perform this congress, it is called “congress of a crow.””
Overall, the author seems to believe that oral practice is generally “impure,” but recognizes that people will do it anyway and that it is justifiable in some circumstances. Although a “wise man” should not participate.
Anyway, here are some 19th century illustrations from some editions of the Kama Sutra showing some very flexible blowjobs.
And since these blogs are supposed to be related to the products we sell, and are increasingly becoming my excuse to talk about my latest hyper fixation, did you know that there are a ton of products that will improve your skills? At the top of that list is the Doc Johnson Deep Throat Spray. An oral anesthetic that numbs the back of the throat and the gag reflex, allowing you to place any appendage you want lower in the throat than you would otherwise. I tried this one personally and let me tell you, it WORKS (it tastes a little like medicine, but it’s not that bad).
On a similar note, Doc Johnson also has a range of “Pussy licking” sprays in a bunch of flavors that you spray (as the name suggests) on a pussy before chewing it to change the flavor. They do not contain glycerin or sugar, in addition to protecting the pH balance and leaving the skin pleasant and hydrated.
Funtasia Sexpert and Cabbage Sneeze Enthusiast*
Verin Sampson
*I swear on my life that this is a real expression for cunnilingus that I learned from the amazing Dr. Kate Lister in her book Curious History of Sex, apparently it originated in the early 20th century and I desperately want it back.