Six Greek Verbs of Sexual Congress

Bibliographic Data

ID9290824
AuthorsDavid Bain (0000-0001-9271-0007, University of Manchester, corresponding author)
Year1991
Volume41
Issue1
Pages51-77
Publication date1991-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Classical Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0009-8388 • E-ISSN: 1471-6844
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0009838800003530
OpenAlexW2092952530
LanguageEN
Citations received47
References cited38

There existed in Greek a multitude of words denoting or connoting sexual congress. The list of verbs given by Pollux (5.92) only skims the surface. In what follows I discuss words which with one exception (ληκ) are absent from this list and belong, as will be seen from their distribution, to the lower register of the Greek language. They are all demonstrably direct expressions, blunt and non-euphemistic. Only one of them, κιν, is at all common in non-sexual contexts. As for the rest, if they originated through metaphor like many more respectable verbs of intercourse, this had long since been forgotten by native speakers. They rarely undergo any significant weakening, retaining their basic sexual denotation

Art · Denotation (semiotics · Epistemology · Euphemism · Linguistics · Literature · Metaphor · Multitude · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical and Literary Studies · History · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Philosophy · Psychology

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