Rhaphanidosis is the act of inserting the root of a radish into the

anus In mammals, invertebrates and most fish, the anus (: anuses or ani; from Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is the external body orifice at the ''exit'' end of the digestive tract (bowel), i.e. the opposite end from the mouth. Its function is to facil ...

. It is mentioned by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

as a punishment for

adultery in Classical Athens In Classical Athens, there was no exact equivalent of the English term "adultery", but the similar ''moicheia'' () was a criminal offence often translated as adultery by scholars. Athenian ''moicheia'' was restricted to illicit sex with free women ...

in the fifth and fourth century BC. It was also a punishment for other sex-related crimes, such as

promiscuity Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...

and

sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...

. Later classical references to the punishment include '' Catullus 15,'' where ''percurrent raphanique mugilesque'' (both radishes and mullets will run you through) is threatened against those who cast lascivious eyes on a boy (''puer'') the poet cares for.

Historicity

There is some doubt as to whether the punishment was ever enforced or whether the reference to it in the debate between Right and Wrong in ''

The Clouds ''The Clouds'' (, ''Nephelai'') is a Greek comedy play written by the playwright Aristophanes. A lampooning of intellectual fashions in classical Athens, it was originally produced at the City Dionysia in 423BC and was not as well received as th ...

'' of

Aristophanes, ''The Clouds''
line 1083: Τί δ᾿ ἢν ῥαφανιδωθῇ πιθόμενός σοι τέφρᾳ τε τιλθῇ. should be understood as signifying

public humiliation Public humiliation or public shaming is a form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of judicially sanctioned puni ...

in general.

References

* Danielle S. Allen, ''The world of Prometheus: the politics of punishing in democratic Athens'',

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

, 2002, , p. 214. * C. Carey, "Return of the radish or just when you thought it safe to go back into the kitchen," Liverpool Classical Monthly, vol.18 no.4 (1993) pp. 53–5. * Charles Platter, "Aristophanes and the carnival of genres", JHU Press, 2007, , p. 79. * James Davidson
''Clinging to the Sides of a Black, Precipitous Hole''
''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

'', vol.22 no.16 (24 August 2000) * Vincent J. Rosivach
''Sources of Some Errors in Catullan Commentaries''
'' Transactions of the American Philological Association'', Vol.108 (1978) pp. 203–216 * Eva Cantarella, ''Pandora's daughters: the role and status of women in Greek and Roman antiquity'',

Johns Hopkins University Press Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...

, 1987, , p. 123 *

Kenneth Dover Sir Kenneth James Dover, (11 March 1920 – 7 March 2010) was a distinguished British classical scholar and academic. He was president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, from 1976 to 1986. In addition, he was president of the British Academy f ...

: ''Greek homosexuality.'' London 1978 * David Cohen: ''A note on Aristophanes and the Punishment of Adultery in Athenian Law.'' In: ''Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Romanistische Abteilung.'' Issue 102, 1985, p. 385–387 Ancient Greek law Corporal punishments Radishes Anus Sodomy Adultery in law Aristophanes {{AncientGreece-stub

Historicity

See also

References