Sexual harassment and ancient Greek warfare? The Eurymedon vase

Eurymedon vase

The Eurymedon vase refers to the Battles of the Eurymedon, in which a Greek force defeated the Persians at land and sea around 465 BC.

We can see two figures: A bearded man, almost completely naked, advancing and holding his erection – reaching towards a man in a typical Oriental archer outfit, who is bending forward at his hips, his upper body slightly twisted.

Between them, a Greek inscription says: “εύρυμέδον ειμ[í] κυβα[—] έστεκα,” which, with a small reconstruction, roughly translates to “I am Eurymedon, I stand bent forward.”

The modern-day interpretations of this vase have been different throughout the years.

Modern-day scholar Dover, for example, wrote:

“A man in Persian costume, informing us, ‘I am Eurymedon. I stand bent over’, suits his posture to his words, while a Greek, half-erect penis in hand, strides towards him with an arresting gesture. This expresses the exultation of the ‘manly’ Athenians at their victory over the ‘womanish’ Persians at the river Eurymedon in the early 460s; it proclaims, ‘We’ve buggered the Persia” (Dover, Greek Homosexuality, 100).

Modern-day scholar James Davidson, however, states:

“Without this background it is illegitimate to interpret Greek scenes of penetration in terms of domination. Indeed, the sex- as-triumph interpretation of the ‘Eurymedon vase’, which has been used in numerous articles as a unique illustration of Greek phallocentrism, was rejected on different grounds as long ago as 1984. Far from being a hero, ‘the Greek’ seizing a sexual opportunity would be seen as degenerate, like those who took advantage of Agathocles” (Davidson, Dover, Foucault and Greek Homosexuality: Penetration and the Truth of Sex, 25).

Art is by @mklekner!

CREDIT TO: unusual.ancient.history

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