Bread dildo

The bread dildo (Ancient Greek: ὀλισβοκόλλιξ, olisbokollix) [1][2] is a dildo prepared using bread, allegedly made in the Greco-Roman era around 2,000 years ago.[2][3][4] Alternately, it may be a metaphorical joke based on the shape of a loaf of bread.[5]

Etymology

The Ancient Greek term kollix refers to bread, olisbos refers to a dildo, and the term olisbokollix is found as a hapax legomenon in the Ancient Greek lexicon of Hesychius "written in the fifth century A.D."[1][2][5][6]

History
Amphora attributed to the Flying Angel Painter depicting a basket of phalli and a maiden holding a large phallus.

Oikonomides claims to identify three different red-figure paintings as depictions of "bread dildos":[1]

  • A "fragment from a red-figured cup now in Berlin," depicting a woman carrying a vase full of phalli. Oikonomides claims he is not the first to identify these as olisbokollikes, however, the source cited does not mention it.[7]
  • A belly amphora painting by the Flying Angel Painter, now in the Petit Palais, Paris, depicting a woman holding a "phallos-bird" and uncovering a jar or basket of phalli (right).
  • A vase-painting by Nikosthenes now in the British Museum, depicting a woman using two "phalli-shaped objects".

Talmudic source

The Babylonian Talmud offers another example where bread is used as a means to cause ejaculation.

Here the bread is used for medicinal purposes. In the text, Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama, often referred to as "Rava" in the Talmud, asks Rav Yosef bar Hiyya a question about what to do if a man's urinary meatus, also known as the external urethral orifice, is obstructed.

Rav Yosef suggests the following remedy: "We bring warm barley bread and place it upon his anus, and owing to the heat he emits semen, and we observe what happens and see whether or not the perforation remains closed."[8]

See also

References
  1. Oikonomides, A. N. (1986). "Κόλλιξ,ὄλισβος,ὀλισβοκόλλιξ". Horos. 4: 168–178. OCLC 16267383.
  2. James, P.J.; Thorpe, N.; Thorpe, I.J. (1995). Ancient Inventions. Ballantine Books. pp. 183–184. ISBN 978-0-345-40102-1. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  3. Hsu, Christine (February 1, 2013). "Expert Describes Breadstick Dildos, Erection-Withering Mouse Poo, Sodomizing Radishes and Other Bizarre Sexual Practices of the Greco-Romans". Medical Daily. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  4. Belardes, N.; Leavitt, C. (2014). A People's History of the Peculiar: A Freak Show of Facts, Random Obsessions and Astounding Truths. Cleis Press. p. pt80. ISBN 978-1-936740-92-5. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  5. Meineke, August (1841). Fragmenta comicorum Graecorum. Vol. 4. G. Reimeri. p. 645. OCLC 9200260.
  6. León, V. (2013). The Joy of Sexus: Lust, Love, and Longing in the Ancient World. Walker. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-8027-1997-3. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  7. Licht, Hans (1932). Sexual Life in Ancient Greece. G. Routledge. p. 317. ISBN 0404574173.
  8. "Yevamot 76a:3". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
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