When my fantasies turn to ancient Greece, they normally involve slave girls, but there’s some space for a school whipping as well.
The poem below comes from “Schools of Hellas” by Kenneth J Foreman; it was found and translated by the author. I think this may be one of the earliest examples of spanking fiction we’re likely to see.
A vivid picture of school life has recently come to light in the third Mime of Herondas. It belongs to the Alexandrian period in point of date, but many of its details will, no doubt, suit the Athenian schools just as well.
A mother, Metrotime, brings her truant boy, Kottalos, to his schoolmaster Lampriskos to receive a flogging.
Metrotime. Flog him, Lampriskos,
Across his shoulders, till his wicked soul
Is all but out of him. He’s spent my all
In playing odd and even: knucklebones
Are nothing to him …
But, so may yonder Muses prosper you,
Give him in stripes no less than —-
Lampriskos. Right you are.
Here, Euthias, Kokkalos and Phillos, hoist him
Upon your backs. I like your goings on,
My boy. I’ll teach you manners. Where’s my strap,
The stinging cow’s-tail!
Kottalos. By the Muses, Sir,
Not with the stinger.
L. Then you shouldn’t be
So naughty.
K. O, how many will you give me?
L. Your mother fixes that.
K. How many, mother?
M. As many as your wicked hide can bear.
K. Stop, that’s enough, stop.
L. You should stop your ways.
K. I’ll never do it more, I promise you.
L. Don’t talk so much, or else I’ll bring a gag.
K. I won’t talk, only do not kill me, please.
L. Let him down, boys.
M. No, leather him till sunset.
L. Why, he’s as mottled as a water-snake.
M. Well, when he’s done his reading, good or bad,
Give him a trifle more, say twenty strokes.
I’ve cut out some of it, as the mother spends a whole page describing in verse all the stuff that her son’s done wrong.
Next time you’re about to get punished, I dare you to exclaim: “By the Muses, Sir!”
I love it, Haron! Schoolmasters don’t change much, do they?
Muahahaha don’t dare me to say strange things! I just had to use the “I’m lousy with regret, sir!” line during my shoot, and either you or Abel put me up to it. This’ll be my next one then.
“By the Muses, Sir! Not with the stinger!”
ROTFL You used it? I’m so proud of you!!!
Hehe I know! I was so proud of me too! 😉
Aww, and I’m still waiting for an opportunity to use the Lousy line. Congrats to Kate (Irelynn)for finding an (in)appropriate time…
I left a reply last night, but it’s disappeared. Briefly: there was a BBC radio broadcast in the late 1940s about the mimes of Herondas, giving an extract from the one you quote, as well from another in which a housewife talks about flogging a disobedienbt slave, and hesitates between having him flogged on his back or on his belly. These two texts made me wonder whether ancient Geek whipppings were ever given on he bottom. I’m not aware of ancient Greek references to spanked bottoms, or illustrations of them in vase paintings. Perhaps one of your more learned readers can help.
Krampus, I’ve always thought that, because most of the translations we know of Greek poetry has been done by terribly polite old chaps, they may have substituted bottoms for backs from time to time.
Anyway, I hope that’s true. I much prefer my floggings down there.
Clearly to answer this question, you’d need to find a spankophile who could read Ancient Greek …
… send me the citations, and I will look them up and let me know
Ooop. Er, I’d let you know as well. *g*
Your classical spanking poetry has affected me so much I CAN NO LONGER TYPE. It’s all your fault. 😛
Oooh-er, Pandora. You think I’m going to be sorry about that?
Classicist to the rescue! LOL I’ll see if I can find the citations; I’m really curious now.