A so-called dog tie.A so-called dog tie.( Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig via Wikimedia Commos /)

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FACT: A jaunty foreskin veer may have influenced religious circumcision

By Rachel Feltman

While researching weird historical copulation trash( as one does) and trying to determine whether or not Prince Albert certainly had a penis thrusting( he probably didn’t) I came across the fascinating phenomenon of the kynodesme, which is Greek for “dog tie.” In Ancient Greece and Rome it was common–trendy, even–for young people with penis to comprehend the ends of their foreskins, attract them up over the glans, and use articles of sticky article or airstrips of string or skin to lodge them slam. In doing so, they essentially wrap the glans of the penis snugly into a little goodie bag, ensuring it wouldn’t peek out to say hello while they were playing sports( or just plain playing) in the buff.

The preference for foreskin over the rest of the external sex organ seems to have mostly been due to cultural stances around gender and penis at the time. We discussed this a bit on a recent incident of Weirdest Thing, but to make a long story short, sizing was not everything in Ancient Greece. In fact, a smaller penis was considered a sign of self-control and intellect, while a large one–especially if it didn’t have a foreskin to hide demurely inside of–was a signed of barbarism.

One of the most famous examples of the practice is shown in the ancient bronze sculpture known as “The Boxer, ” where the penis is not just self-assured within the foreskin, but folded and tied up out of the way. But there are many pieces of art and historical textbooks referencing this practice( and the related utilization of metal pins to keep foreskin shut over the penis) in non-athletes. It seems to have been quite popular among male singers and performers, who were likely leaning into the belief that ejaculation decreased their artistic cleverness.

According to some academics, this trend even forced the purposes of the act of religious circumcision. Harmonizing to a 2007 newspaper in Reproductive Health Matters, Jewish circumcision up until around 300 BCE required just the objective of eliminating the most gratuity of the foreskin. This intend Hebrew athletes traveling to Greece to compete could, as they say, do as the Athenians did: They picked up their not-so-diminished foreskins and restrained their penis up in little bundles. This allegedly didn’t go over well with religious authorities at home, especially since the young men often came back with foreskins stretched out by the practice–undoing the visual evidence of their religious practice. Supposedly, this lead to a demand that more foreskin come off during the bris.

FACT: Luxury department stores once sold rhino poop at a huge mark-up

By Ellen Airhart, host of the podcast Plant Crimes

Elephants and rhinoceroses are favourite zoo magnetisms. But for a long time, they’ve afforded a service beyond presentation and education. Numerous metropoli zoos “ve sold” animal dung as “Zoo Doo, ” “ComPOOst, ” “Elepoo, ” or “Zoo Poopy Doo” to city composting programs, farmers, and even Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s. In this bout of Weirdest Thing, I dive into the stinky history of turd, every zoo’s least endangered resources. Excrement from herbivores, such as elephants, rhinos, camels, and giraffes perform the best compost. Carnivore poop could contain maladies, and regulators ask managers to incinerate insect poop to prevent any buried eggs from escaping the enclosings. Some zoos, however, utilize rhinoceros beetles to reel other animal’s poop into easily packable projectiles. Nonetheless they decide to sell and busines the poop, zoos have turned what could be an disturbing mess into useful fertilizer.

FACT: Dimples are a defect, but people want them anyway

By Eleanor Cummins

You hate to say it but … a hollow is a birth defect. Solely, it’s a genetically-determined depression in what should be a smooth face muscle. Piles of people have dimples–and even more want them. In numerous cultures, they’re considered attractive( perhaps because so many of us adore the chubby cheeks of adolescent ). The libido for dimpling is so strong that in the 1930 s, the status of women listed Isabella Gilbert of Rochester, New York, developed and sold machine to give women dimples. It probably didn’t work and it clearly hurt a great deal.

On this chapter of Weirdest Thing, we poke a little deeper.

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