Ancient Greek Sport Stars Used to Tie… Their Manhood
Many ancient Greek statues and vase paintings that depict men engaged in sport portray them nude. The era’s literature also makes clear that athletes competed while naked. So it seems reasonable to assume that the Greeks lacked the kinds of hangups we have today about bare bodies, since they often let it all hang out. As it turns out, however, the ancient Greeks had one particular hangup, that had to do with the male member: they thought that the naked glans was vulgar.
Ancient Greeks did not practice circumcision, so the glans was usually covered by the foreskin. However, the glans might pop out while engaged in frenetic sport activities. To avoid such an embarrassment, a string, known as the kynodesme (“dog leash”), was wrapped around the foreskin to ensure that the glans stayed out of sight. The Romans, who thought the Greeks were sissies, dialed it up a notch: instead of dainty strings, they used iron clamps, iron rings, or straight up safety pins through the foreskin.