Prejudices about sex that our ancestors believed in
No matter what they say, but sex occupies a significant place in a person's life. It is not surprising that a whole layer of culture is associated with the sexual issue, including many myths and misconceptions. Some of them are so absurd that one can only wonder how our ancestors, possessing such naivety, managed to give birth to new generations.
Divine offspring
As soon as people invented gods for themselves, myths about children conceived by celestials and other higher beings immediately appeared. Myths, legends, sculptures, mosaics and frescoes around the world present us with young demigods conceived from a parent who turned into a swan, bull, wind or rain. Such imaginary descendants of the gods had a very high status in ancient society, so almost every ruler or high-ranking priest considered it a duty to invent a similar origin for himself. At the same time, the presence of a real father, even a living and healthy one, did not interfere with this. Alexander of Macedon, the son of Tsar Philip and his wife Olympias, had a tense relationship with his dad all his life, since almost from childhood he told everyone that his father was not other than Zeus the Thunderer himself, who once appeared to his mother. Agree
Twins from different fathers
For many centuries, the birth of twins was considered something incredible and mystical. In some European countries, it was believed that one of the twins was the child of his parents, and the other was born from a deity. The husband, whose wife had the honor of such double motherhood, had no right to be indignant, but had to thank fate for the honor rendered by higher powers. But among the majority of the peoples of Africa, twins, on the contrary, were considered a terrible disaster. In some places, one of the children was killed, and in some countries both were killed, often with their mother. The ethnographer R. Harris described cases when men of some tribes removed one testicle on their own, seriously believing that this would help to avoid the birth of twins. Oddly enough, with the advent of Christianity, a barbaric attitude towards twins reigned in Europe. The clergy assured
Inflated by the wind
It seemed that the role of a man in the conception of offspring was obvious to everyone, but no such luck. Ladies who claim that they did not have sexual intercourse with men, but at the same time conceived a child, have lived at all times. In many ancient cultures, there are legends that a woman became pregnant from a tree, animal, bird or wind. But what can we say about antiquity, if in the 30s of the 20th century the ethnographer R. Graves described the superstition of Greek peasants, according to which a mare could give birth to a foal without an individual of the opposite sex, having conceived a cub simply by successfully turning its tail against the north wind. In this regard, the price of virginity has increased dramatically. In the middle of the 18th century in Britain, for sex with an innocent tramp, respected gentlemen paid the cost of a good horse. After such a “treatment", the girl often found herself on the panel and joined the ranks of those
"The queen gave birth in the night, either a son or a daughter"
In Europe, the 18th century became the century of Enlightenment and interest in science in society increased many times over. Along with scientific facts, a lot of nonsense also spread, which would make even a resident of the dark Middle Ages doubt. One of the most common myths in medicine was stories about how women gave birth instead of children to kittens, rabbits, toads, and even completely incomprehensible creatures, such as a “human child with a monkey's head.” Perhaps these stories were based on real observations of malformations of intrauterine development fruit, and perhaps the professional jokes of old midwives. It should not be forgotten that even at the beginning of the 19th century, the doctor did not always follow the birth, trusting even the most difficult cases to experienced old women. The doctors were above all this and limited their intervention to taking pulses, drawing blood, and declaring death if something went wrong.