Sumer: Sacred, Practical, and Unashamed
In the cities of ancient Sumer, anal sex was no unspeakable secret. Entu priestesses, forbidden to bear children, used anal intercourse as a practical method of birth control. Texts even preserve the everyday humor of a husband repeatedly asking his wife to "bring your backside."
Male–male anal sex also appeared in religious contexts. The gala, a class of priests serving the goddess Inanna, were known for their homosexual proclivities. The written sign for gala fused the symbols for "penis" and "anus," and a proverb has one such priest wiping himself and reminding, "I must not arouse that which belongs to my mistress"—a wry nod to forbidden desire.
Greece: "Greek Love" and the Limits of Respectability
Centuries later, Greek culture would be so associated with anal intercourse that "Greek love" and "doing it the Greek way" became euphemisms. Yet the reality in classical Athens and Sparta was complex.
Pederastic relationships between men and adolescent boys were expected to avoid penetrative sex altogether. Intercrural sex—placing the penis between the boy’s thighs—was favored in art and etiquette because it did not "violate" or feminize the youth. Boys were not to be treated as women.
Male–male anal intercourse was not absent, but it attracted ridicule and anxiety. Comic playwrights like Aristophanes joked about men being "wide‑arsed," and terms such as kinaidos and katapygon branded those who chronically took the passive role. Anal penetration between adult men was depicted, but a boy who accepted penetration risked accusations of shameful femininity.
Rome: Who Gets to Be a Man?
The Romans inherited Greek sexual lore but filtered it through a fierce obsession with male citizenship and dominance. For an adult male citizen, being penetrated in anal intercourse—paedicatio—was condemned as impudicitia, a stain on masculine honor.
Yet the same citizen might freely penetrate slaves or young male companions, known as catamites. In this double standard, the active partner was always the "real man"; the receptive partner, whether a woman, boy, or slave, was symbolically feminized. Women engaging in penetrative acts with other women were imagined only if they possessed a large clitoris or used a dildo, again preserving the idea that "true" sex is something a penetrating figure does to another.
Interestingly, explicit anal acts often appeared in Roman comedies set in Greece, hinting that Romans could distance themselves by treating anal sex as a Greek specialty.
Takeaway
From priestesses avoiding pregnancy to Roman citizens guarding their honor, ancient societies used anal sex as a canvas for drawing lines around gender, status, and power. The same act could be sacred duty, bawdy joke, or social disgrace—depending entirely on who did what to whom.