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Droit du seigneur back there
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 5:39 pm
by Susa the Great
Hi there,
I have this idea that Mary Renault, in Persian Boy, mentions something that resembles a lot this droit du seigneur (lord's right) in Persia somewhere (Babylon? not sure). Do you have any ideas about this being something that Alexander might have had to deal with being the king then? I know that it is very well known in mediaeval times though...
Rgds!
Susa
Re: Droit du seigneur back there
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 8:04 pm
by agesilaos
Droit de seigneur, the right of the feudal lord to deflower any virgin in his fief, is certainly alien to Achaemenid Persia (and I am unsure how much it germaine to mediaeval europe and not an extension of Victorian paedophile fantasy); what was common was a form of religious prostitution whereby a woman was dedicated to the goddess and could not marry until she had slept with someone at the temple (read Gore Vidal 'Creation' for a touching scene where the protagonist takes a much older woman so that she can escape her unmarriageable state; great book, anyway, everyone on ths forum should read read it, and I am not part of the Vidal estate!).
Even the extent of temple prostitution has probably been exagerated by the prurient interests of graeco-roman commentators, increased by more modern sexual obsession. Renault was just using a too modern analogy to further her story.
Re: Droit du seigneur back there
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 12:35 am
by Susa the Great
Ok, not too well known in medieaval times! I thought it had been widely accepted that that happend, and I see it hasnt. I was checking internet, and what I did find was that the 'sacred marriage' thing with kings and high priestesses goes back hundreds of years before Alexander, so.... Shouldnt be probable... Anyway, that would have annoyed him so completely, no? 
Thanks for the reply!