The Plague of Lust, Vol. 1 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical AntiquityRosenbaum, Julius
History
The Plague of Lust, Vol. 1 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical Antiquity
Rosenbaum, Julius
Sexually transmitted diseases -- History
“_Distinguishing Marks of the Androgynus_ (_Man-woman_): “The
_man-woman_ has a lecherous and wanton look, he rolls his eyes and
lets his gaze wander; forehead and cheeks twitch, eyebrows are drawn
together to a point, neck bent, hips in continual movement. All
the limbs twitch spasmodically, knees and hands seeming to crack;
like an ox he glares round him and fixes his eyes on the ground. He
speaks with a thin voice, at once croaking and shrill, exceedingly
uncertain and trembling.” In very similar terms the pathic is sketched
by Adamantus[331]. _Dio Chrysostom_ in his speech cited a little
above[332] relates how “a physiognomist had come into a certain city,
in order to give an exhibition of his art there, and declared he could
tell by looking at any individual whether he were brave or timid, a
boaster or a debauchee, a cinaedus or an adulterer. A man was brought
to him who had a meagre body, eyebrows grown together, a dirty look,
who was in evil condition, with callosities on his hands, and dressed
in coarse gray clothing, one that was overgrown with hair to the
knuckles, and ill-shaved, and the physiognomist was asked, what sort
of a man he was. When he had looked at him a considerable time, and
at the end was still uncertain, as it seems to me, what he should
finally say, he declared he did not know and ordered the man to go. But
when the latter sneezed, just as he was going, he cried out instantly
he was a cinaedus. Thus the sneeze betrayed the man’s habits, and
prevented them, in spite of all the rest, from continuing hid.” No
doubt the man’s walk had already given the Physiognomist an indication,
and the gesture he made when he sneezed, quickly confirmed his
Diagnosis. In fact the cinaedus probably made a grip at his posterior
as he sneezed, so as to close the orifice, the weakened or possibly
ruptured _Sphincter ani_ no longer being able to perform this office
(χαυνοπρώκτος,—wide-breeched, in Aristophanes!). Indeed with a healthy
_Sphincter_ it is often hardly possible during a sneeze to keep back
the out-rush of wind and even of the more liquid faeces.[333]
Further the following passage of Lucian should be quoted in this
connection:[334]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account