It was a sign of weakness in Ancient Greece. Diógenes de Sinope touched himself in public, to criticize social control over each person’s body.
Unlike sexuality in general, in ancient Greece, onanism was something that was very frowned upon. Masturbation was seen, above all, as a sign of weakness.
The conclusions are from a recent article published in by the historian Kelly L. Wrenhavenfrom the University of Cleveland, which provides new clues about the perception of sexuality and moral values of the time.
We already knew that Greek society intensely valued the human body, both in art, philosophy and in everyday life. Attention to diet, appreciation for nudity and the integration of sex into daily life show that the body was central to the lives of the Greeks. But strangely this mentality did not extend to self-induced pleasurewhich was stigmatized and associated with social strata considered inferior: women, slaves and foreigners.
It highlights a curious moment involving Diogenes of Sinopeknown as the father of cynicism. Around the fourth century BC, the philosopher masturbated in public in the agora, not out of debauchery, but as a moral provocation. The gesture aimed to criticize hypocrisy and social control over the body, affirming its own self-sufficiency.
To understand this aversion to masturbation, it is essential to know key concepts from Greek philosophy. Moral virtue was measured by self-control, enkráteia, and by temperance, sophrosýne. Self-induced pleasure was interpreted as lack of self-control and therefore a sign of weakness. The loss of semen, considered a fluid of vital energy, was even considered harmful, as it was both a physical and moral waste.
The social hierarchy was also reflected in the hierarchy of desire. The literary and philosophical texts of the time represent masturbation as the prerogative of those who did not have ethical education or full freedom — slaves without access to sex, women relegated to passivity and alien strangers. The free man, on the contrary, demonstrated virtue and moral superiority through moderation and control of his own body.
Today, science dismantles these conceptions: Masturbation does not cause loss of vitality or physical fragility. On the contrary, it is considered a healthy practice in the context of human sexuality.
