The History of Sex Orgies
There’s something alluring about orgies—an added challenge, so to speak. However, orgies, also known as group sex, aren’t as mysterious as we like to imagine. While orgies themselves are rather to the point, there are plenty of myths of orgies throughout the ages.
Oh, and if you thought you were the first one to engage in sex parties, think again. Orgies have been around for centuries. It’s time you were given a little look into the history of orgies.
To truly understand the history of orgies, we need to go back in time, way back. In Ancient Rome, it was quite the trend to take part in group sex. But it wasn’t out in the open; rather, orgies were purposely hidden and kept secret.
While many people in Ancient Rome viewed orgies as a way to connect with the divine, others performed orgies in mystery cults in ancient Greece. When the Romans adopted the Greek cults, they did so through the form of Bacchanalia—crazy, drunk annual festivals that the ancient Greeks would host to worship the wine god Bacchus (or Dionysus).
As you can imagine, where there is wine, there is sex and a lot of it. But things weren’t all bliss; many of these annual festivals would end up in extreme violence.
Roman historian Titus Livius, Livy for short, noted the screams of women and young men engaging in sexual activity as music loudly played overtop of them. However, many historians disregard Livy as a reliable source as it’s believed he played up the cult’s nature to create an uproar.
After the introduction of Christianity, it wasn’t long until state sanctioning (186 AD) removed the provocative nature of these sex festivals. So...they took the wine away...or how did that work...?
However, it wasn’t just ordinary ancient Greeks that were engaging in group sex. The third Roman emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (AD 12 to AD 41), known as Emperor Caligula, would also let loose on his orgy ships. Yes, he had actual orgy ships.
He was known as a dictator who was “mad” and “notorious.” Infamously, he declared himself god, and tried to appoint his horse as consul (seems reasonable)—seems like a totally level-headed guy, right?
Though he only ruled for four years, he certainly made the most of it. Emperor Caligula had three huge pleasure ships built in the middle of Lake Nemi, south of Rome, in the early first century. Allegedly, those ships would host sex parties and have the occasional case of murder. He wasn’t the only roman emperor engaging in orgies, but he was the only one to built ships for them.
Jumping forward, the word “orgy” was then brought into the English language in 1589; though the word was new to them, the action wasn’t. There’s clear evidence that the English would engage in sex parties as well.
In France, the Marquis de Sade, a French nobleman and revolutionary politician, inherited the stunning Château La Coste, which overlooks the Vaucluse valley. Their sex escapades were all written in de Sade’s controversial novel. If you choose to read his novel, please be cautious when do so.
In the 20th century, orgies became a rare occurrence. While people tried to revive this ancient practice, it didn’t really catch on. However, it wasn’t long until America’s hippy culture took hold of free love during the 1960s. It was the sexual revolution people needed to combat mainstream culture, and with that, orgies made a comeback.
However, orgies are still going on today and are also making societal changes. In 2001, anthropologist Pardis Mahdavi returned to Iran only to discover the rising trend of sex parties. She openly described witnessing an orgy right before her eyes inside a drained swimming pool. While Iran was under a religious totalitarian regime, these orgies provided the youth sexual release. In other words, Iran’s green revolution in 2009 was thanks to orgies.
Interestingly, though orgies started as simple parties in ancient Greek culture, they became a tool for sexual revolution around the world. Of course, not all orgies propel world change; some are just a fun sexual activity on a Friday night. So, the next time you’re having group sex, think of how your naughty night of fun has actually changed the course of history.
WRITTEN BY
Natasha Ivanovic
Natasha Ivanovic is an intimacy, dating, and relationship writer best known for her writings on Kiiroo, LovePanky, Post Pravda, and more. She's the creator and author of her short stories on TheLonelySerb. She completed her first degree in Criminology and continued and finished her Masters in Investigative Psychology, but then decided to follow her true passion of writing.
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