From its origins in the ancient Fertile Crescent, the Dominatrix archetype continued to invigorate culture through the medieval period into the 19th century. The ancient goddess worship of Inana and Artemis Orthia had been violently oppressed as patriarchal religions and concepts of private property came to dominate society. Despite this, the dominant woman archetype persisted in art, literature, and erotica. From a brave knight jousting for his fair lady’s honor, to a governess disciplining her young wards, the Dominatrix archetype remained a constant theme in both art and fantasy.
Courtly Love Rituals and Submission
Historian Dr. Eleanor Janega explores the themes of dominance and submission woven throughout the rituals of medieval courtly love in her series On Medieval Kink. For men, “the satisfaction comes from being focused on the needs of another, rather than themselves, and sometimes..debased or humiliated in that role.” The knight’s lady love would be of high status and married to another high status man. To impress this forbidden lady and win her affections, the knight might take up jousting, a quest, or participate in “ritual humiliation in service to a woman.”
The story of Guinevere and Lancelot is filled with dominance and submission themes. After Guinevere is kidnapped, the knights Lancelot and Sir Gawain set off to rescue her. They encounter a dwarf who promises to reveal Guinevere’s location if they ride with him in his cart. For knights, riding in such a cart was below their status. Gawain refused this indignity—but Lancelot, overcome by love and devotion, jumped into the cart. Lancelot’s debasement “is brought up over and over throughout the story, with random characters absolutely ripping into him for it.” He performs feats of strength for Guinevere: lifting heavy stones, battling with an ax, walking over a bridge of swords. Finally, he is reunited with Guinevere and is rewarded with a chaste hug. Dr. Jenga observes: “it codifies the sort of ritual humiliation that was expected of love service…The humiliation was the relationship and the end goal. Having said that, sex was always sort of hinted at.”
Phyllis and Aristotle’s Folly
The popular (though likely fabricated) tale of Phyllis and her domination of the philosopher Aristotle served as a warning to medieval men to beware the power of feminine wiles. It was immortalized in both literature and art.
Dr. Janega found one of the earliest versions in a thirteenth-century French text called Lai d’Aristotle, then another version in a fifteenth-century text Promptuarium exemplorum by a Dominican monk.
The story begins with Aristotle and his pupil Alexander the Great. He was concerned that Alexander’s scholarly focus would be compromised by the allure of Phyllis, Alexander’s beautiful wife. Her beauty would “impede his spirit from seeking the general good.” Alexander dutifully neglected his wife as per the advice of Aristotle.
Upon hearing of Aristotle’s words, Phyllis was outraged. She endeavored to seduce Aristotle herself, and “often crossed paths with him alone, with bare feet and loose hair, to entice him.” Unable to resist the charms of Phyllis, Aristotle neglected his own counsel and pursued her. Phyllis refused his advances: “I will not do this, unless I see a sign of love…come to my room crawling on hands and feet, to carry me like a horse. Then I’ll know you aren’t playing with me.” Eager to please Phyllis, Aristotle crawled like a beast of burden carrying Phyllis.
Alexander saw this and was enraged with Aristotle’s hypocrisy. Aristotle admitted his folly: “If it happens to a very wise old man, that I was deceived by a woman, you can see that I had taught you well, what could happen to a young man.”
The image of Phyllis riding upon Aristotle’s back was popularized in art into the 19th century. One of the most popular photographs of 19th century philosopher Nietzche references Phyllis and Aristotle. He and philosopher Paul Ree are pictured as beasts of burden pulling a cart driven by philosopher Lou Andreas-Salomé. She holds a whip in her hand, ready to strike. Nietzsche unsuccessfully proposed marriage to her, and perhaps broken-heartedly referenced this scene in Thus Spake Zarathustra: “You go to women? Do not forget the whip!” He was the one who was whipped.
Erotica and Female Flagellants
The Dominatrix archetype was present in erotica, showing up in works by the Marquis de Sade, Leopold van Sacher-Masoch’s Venus in Furs (1870), and John Cleland’s Fanny Hill (1748). Despite public outcry, moral outrage, imprisonment, and book bans, the love of a stern woman who could wield a “birch rod” persisted. A collection of “birching” stories was published as Fashionable Lectures, by Henry Thomas Buckle, reportedly originally published in 1782. The collection opens with the following:
Philosophers who’ve studied Nature.
And all our holy Fathers, swear
A Rod’s the best invigorator —
A Rod applied upon the Rear!
Vide, Madame Birchini’s Dance
The author claimed that even philosopher Rousseau was smitten with dominant women, a love which began in childhood. After a whipping by his governess, Miss Lambercier, Rousseau reportedly wrote:
Who would believe it, that this childish chastisement, received at eight years old, from the hand of a girl of thirty, should decide my tastes, my desires, and my passions for the rest of my days, and that precisely in a contrary sense to what might have been expected naturally to follow it?...Long tormented, without knowing by what, I devoured, with an ardent eye, every fine woman: my imagination recalled them incessantly to my memory, solely to submit them to my manner, and to transform them into so many Miss Lamberciers…To fall at the feet of an imperious mistress, obey her orders, have pardons to ask her, were to me the sweetest enjoyments.”
Cullies and the Dominatrix
Men who sought to bring such scenes out of fantasy and into reality were known as “cullies” in the New Canting Dictionary of 1725. According to Anne O. Nomis in the The History & Arts of The Dominatrix, cullies often referred to old men suffering from erectile dysfunction. A sound whipping was supposedly the cure. "The term was used in this way to tease and denigrate men who held non-normative desires, who wished to submit to a woman for discipline-and-punishment fantasies."
Enterprising women offered discipline services for pay, such as 19th century English dominatrix Theresa Berkley. She is credited with designing a specialty frame for flagellation, known as the Berkley Horse. The frame had strategic points for tying a person in bondage. She enjoyed both giving and receiving flagellation and made a great fortune for herself.
Despite suppression by the law, the dominance of patriarchal religions, the love and need for the Dominatrix archetype could not be eliminated. In the next part of this series, the Dominatrix archetype evolves into the 20th century, reaching the mainstream on an unprecedented level through the power of mass media and the internet.
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