![gay sex cartoon of the greeks of olympus gay sex cartoon of the greeks of olympus](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/1c/5c/44/greek-god-ruins-agragento.jpg)
Artwork surrounding these women were highly explicit, and the sexual acts represented by the artwork displayed the figures as objects to be observed. In Ancient Greece, there exists a body of art dedicated to Maenads, the feverous female followers of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, ritual madness, religious euphoria, and theatre. One such wall painting from, unsurprisingly, Pompeii, displays this voyeurism with a man and a woman having intercourse in front of their attendant, who is visible in the background. This “Secret Cabinet” houses a collection of erotic artwork from Ancient Rome. One could discover this for themselves at The Gabinetto Segreto in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. “You may look, but don’t touch,” was somewhat of a guiding theme across Ancient Roman and Greek artwork, as indicated by the many pieces of art uncovered today displaying such provocations. And if those weren’t clear enough markers, erect phalluses were often positioned above the doors of brothels and private residences as tidings of good luck. Visit the ruins of Pompeii today, and you will no doubt see the “phallic bricks” of Pompeii pointing the way to the nearest pleasure house with an erect phallus engraved into its stone. Rather, they existed on a highly public and unashamed platform, alongside the forum and communal bath houses, both of which were important sites of a larger (public) sex system.
![gay sex cartoon of the greeks of olympus gay sex cartoon of the greeks of olympus](https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/The-Greek-Gods-of-Olympus.jpg)
Despite their appearances, it would be misleading to classify these brothels as the seedy underbelly of Pompeii’s economy. Pompeii’s economy thrived on more than 40 brothels, the most famous of which was named “Lupanare Grande,” translated today as “pleasure house.” The rooms in these brothels were often cramped and dim, with a small straw mattress positioned beneath a piece of pornographic artwork hung on the wall. Since excavation of its near-perfectly preserved remains began in the 18th century, archaeologists have discovered a great deal regarding Pompeii’s sexual identity. The original City of Sin’s people basked in a perpetual heat of promiscuity-promiscuity said to have inspired the gods’ rage with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. We all know the legend surrounding Pompeii.