Olive oil, dildos and slippers: Greek Sex toys reassessed

Modern definitions of the term “sex toy” frequently cite as an example the dildo, the object most often discussed as a sexual aid in scholarship on ancient Greek sexuality. Martin Kilmer’s Greek Erotica on Attic Red-Figure Vases provides a systematic study, categorising olive oil and dildos as “sexual accessories”, but does not always give sufficient weight to the problematic nature of the material. Building on more recent, more nuanced readings of individual images and texts, this chapter reassesses the extent to which a class of “sex toy” can be identified in real life and/or as the stuff of erotic fantasy in ancient Greece.