Fascinating

Nestled at the bottom of a recent morning’s round up of news from the New York Times was a fun little article (gift link) about the still on-going excavation of Pompeii. I mean, for how many centuries now have people been picking away at those lava-covered ruins? While finds like cool frescoes in a dining room garner coverage in major outlets, rarely does anyone discuss the amazing number of erotic works uncovered. Uncovered and then—prudery triumphant—hidden away again.

This naughty treasure trove has been dubbed the Gabinetto Segreto (Secret Cabinet). As treasures were unearthed and cataloged in fastidious Enlightenment fashion, many were deemed obscene and locked away. Well, unless you were a man and could pay—then you could, of course, see all the ancient smut you wanted.

As the great Victorian freeze has slowly thawed across the decades, the collection has become more available to viewers and even has some published catalogs. And of course, lots of images now on the interwebs! (Hope you have safe search off, darlings.) The secret cabinet’s doors got flung wide open.

If you want something less ephemeral than an image search, there’s a great book from the 70’s called Eros in Pompeii. It has a nice intro about life in Pompeii and the history of its gradual excavation to help put the naughty stuff in its daily context. And yes, darling, the naughty bits were a prominent part of daily life. Alas, the book is not in print anymore, but there are enough used copies floating around that you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting your hands on it.

Particularly fun are the phalluses everywhere. Even a winged phallus with a phallus for good luck and warding off the evil eye. There was a very different relationship with the male member than what we experience today. There's also a possible phallic origin of the word "fascinating." How fascinating is that? 🍆

I’m particularly intrigued by the House of the Vettii. The decor was decidedly gay by our standards. The household was headed by two men, unrelated, both freed slaves who took on the name of their former enslaver. An anomaly, a scandal, or no big deal? In many places in the modern world, it would be the subject of gossip, passive aggressive bullshit, or even something that could get your house torched and yourself beaten or killed. Perhaps Pompeii was like the sanctuary cities of today where some side-eye and little shade are the worst a well-to-do and flamboyantly gay couple living their best (now free) lives would have to face. There’s definitely a lovely, luscious historical graphic adventure lurking here in the mysterious and sexy remains of this intriguing household.

Moral panics aside, this vast array of ancient naughties hint at very different ideas about sexually explicit art. More interestingly, they also hint at the erotic aspects of everyday spirituality and social customs. Were these frescoes, statues, charms and lamps considered “erotic” in the same way to ancient Romans? What constitutes erotic anyway? Then or now?

Just because they were fond of the penis and not afraid to show some spicy art is not a free pass. The Roman world was pretty horrific for most of the people in it—elites had it nice and they left behind some pretty damn fine literature and architecture (hello, indoor plumbing!). But, they also are the origin of western society’s continuing love affairs with slavery and colonialism. Being freer erotically doesn’t automatically make things okay. The erotic can just as easily solidify dominant power structures as tear them down, liberate or constrain, explore or avoid, foster growth or stupefy with distraction.

So, darlings, as you contemplate your dining room decor, raise a glass to those fabulously free Daddies in Pompeii living it up with their gloriously erotic decor. Right up to that last fateful minute that preserved their lives in time and gave us the gift of a glimpse into our shared past.

Cover image: Tayla Bundschuh from Unsplash