"Overturning the Table": The Hidden Meaning of a Talmudic Metaphor for Coitus

Abstract

This paper traces the development of particular terminology for the act of coitus and its meanings within Rabbinic literature. A famous Talmudic story narrates the story of a woman who sets a "table" for her husband, only to have it "overturned." The anonymous authors of this story reveal their assumptions about both "normal" and "abnormal" ways of engaging in intercourse. Medieval and modern commentators alike understand the the "normal" position here is what we might call "the missionary position," with the man lying on top of the woman. However, when the various references to sexual posture throughout this Talmudic literature are analyzed carefully, it is shown that any preference for this position post-dates the period of the original story to a significant degree. When the original story is analyzed in light of contemporary Greek and Roman literature and art, however, we see that a cultural shift occurred between the production of these texts. Jewish sages of different periods did not always share assumptions about which sex position was normative; later texts and authors frequently retroject their own ideas about sexuality onto their claimed past.