Many people assume that sex toys are Asian inventions. Asians have used sexual aids for more than 1,000 years. Ben-wa balls are clearly Asian. And today many sex toys are manufactured in Asia. But two of the most popular sexual aids, dildos and vibrators, have surprisingly Western roots.

Historians don't know who invented the dildo, but the world owes its popularity to the ancient Greek port city, Miletus, on the west coast of present-day Turkey. Miletan traders sold what the Greeks called olisbos around the Mediterranean. Today's dildos are often enjoyed by couples, but in ancient Greece, they were sexual refuges for lonely ladies. A Greek literary fragment from the third century BC tells the story of a young woman named Metro, whose husband is away. She visits a friend, Coritto, to borrow her olisbo, only to learn that Coritto has lent it to another lonely maiden. Metro departs crestfallen.

In Renaissance Italy, olisbo became "dildo" probably from the Italian diletto, to delight. But compared with today's lifelike models, early dildos were hardly delightful. Made of wood or leather, they required liberal lubrication with olive oil for comfortable use. Modem rubber dildos did not appear until the mid-19th century.

to read the rest of this article visit: http://www.bettydodson.com/sextoyxx.htm