A HISTORY OF ORGIES

The orgy, or organized gathering for the purpose of excessive sexual indulgence, has been a consistent phenomenon in Western and Eastern history. In this pseudo-scholarly text the author describes the character of the orgy as it evolved from a hedonistic Greek practice, through sadistic Rome, the ascetic middle ages with their inverse aspect--extreme preoccupation with illicit sexual indulgence and hysterical confusion between religious and sexual ardor-- to the Renaissance with its curious interpretation of pagan rites, and the lavish indulgences of Victorian England. In his animated accounts of orgies through the ages, certain data normally thought to be the material of erotica is tastefully revealed as Burgo Partridge pauses to apply his personal value judgments on the moral quality of the orgy, condemning functions which take a morbid view of sex or are animated by a zeal for cruelty. Not really sensational, but neither is this a young lady's companion of polite and edifying reading. A limited exploration of a subject which will have a definite reader interest.