Oral Sex in History, Including Paradise Lost

We haven’t posted about oral sex in a while, and it’s one of our readers’ favorite topics! This post is motivated by another sexual verse in Paradise Lost (more posts) that clearly refers to Eve’s enjoyment of Adam’s oral proficiency. In Book VIII we read about Adam’s discourse with the angel Raphael about astronomy, and Eve decides to leave the conversation in order to tend her garden. It’s not that she’s uninterested in astronomy, but she prefers to talk about it later with Adam rather than with the angel. We read:

So spake our sire [Adam], and by his countenance seemed
Entering on studious thoughts abstruse; which Eve
Perceiving, where she sat retired in sight,
With lowliness majestic from her seat,
And grace that won who saw to wish her stay,
Rose, and went forth among her fruits and flowers,
To visit how they prospered, bud and bloom,
Her nursery; they at her coming sprung,
And, touched by her fair tendance, gladlier grew.
Yet went she not, as not with such discourse
Delighted, or not capable her ear
Of what was high: such pleasure she reserved,
Adam relating, she sole auditress;
Her husband the relater she preferred
Before the Angel, and of him to ask
Chose rather; he, she knew, would intermix
Grateful digressions, and solve high dispute
With conjugal caresses: from his lip
Not words alone pleased her.
O! when meet now
Such pairs, in love and mutual honour joined?

Why did Eve prefer to talk alone with Adam? Because he, she knew, would intermix their conversation with conjugal caresses! From his lip not words alone pleased her! Eve wanted Adam to use his mouth to please her with more than mere words.

I found this passage exciting not least because it’s a 17th century Western reference to a male performing oral sex on a female, which appears to be rather rare. If you’re interested in reading about oral sex across space and time you should check out these links (not safe for work; includes ancient artistic representations of oral sex).

Was oral sex an invention of modern western Europe? For instance, did Native American/First Nations people practice oral sex that we know of? And what about East Asians, and other non Europeans? [NSFW] with multiple in-depth, sourced responses pertaining to multiple cultures and time periods.
Latin response by /u/sunagainstgold
South American response by /u/CommodoreCoCo
China by /u/lordtiandao
More China by /u/bigbluepanda

/u/machiavalium

History is full of humans just like us, so we shouldn’t be surprised that they enjoyed sex and did everything we do. John Milton intentionally portrays Adam and Eve’s pre-Fall sexual relationship in a positive, blessed light, and modern Christians should take the same view: God’s will is for you to have an awesome sex life with your spouse!

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