About how old would you say this fetish probably is? Surely The Jungle Book wasn't the grandfather of hypno fetishes, despite being such a common catalyst. Hypnotism has been around for a long-ass time, and shades of the sexy, dominant side can be found as early as Trilby, if not earlier. Is there any recorded history for the first time someone realized and wrote on, or even exercised hypnotism/mind-control as an (intentionally) perverse fantasy?

Who knows? Maybe centuries ago, some boy or girl found themselves getting aroused by a shaman going into trance in the streets of India :P

Among all of the other fetishes, it is probably extant somewhere in a few different ancient religions.

This is interesting. Any ideas on specifics?

Well, some of the earliest evidence of hypnofetish that I know of can be found in many pieces of ancient Greco-Roman literature. In a lot of said literature, the mind control is usually involved with eroticism rather directly.

I can't recall the exact titles, but, a few examples are:

* A short myth where Zeus used his godly powers to influence a maiden into falling for the humanoid form he had taken so that she would lay with him. There are more than a few stories that follow concepts similar to this, actually. All with Zeus, too. <.<

* Another short myth where a vain young man is made to fall in love with his own reflection. I believe it was due to the influence of Aphrodite, but it's been over a decade since I read it, so...

Then there's also the ancient Greek "original cupid", named <<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eros|Eros>>. Much like cupid, he wielded a bow and arrow that would induce love to those struck.

An example of Eros and his powers:



I imagine that hypnofetish is as old as the idea of controlling other's wills. And control has always been desirable for humankind, so I'm sure control fetishes have practically always existed.

Of course, I have no proof. But it makes logical sense to me, and it's one of those things I'll believe until it's disproven.

You can't really date local sorcery. Practically everyone has their version of a 'love potion' they buy off the local witch as well.

But the voodoo tradition is a mixture of Catholic and African folklore. It is interesting because it yields technically viable mind control, in the form of zombies. If you believe that Africa is the cradle of humanity (which is what genetic evidence says, but that is neither here nor there) that would mean that mind control has been played with since the birth of humanity. Though that speaks more to the practical and less to the erotic aspects of it.

It would be interesting to track it in relatively contemporary culture though. An interesting job for a social scientist (AKA, an English major).

The ancient Greek tragedy 'The Bacchae', by Euripides, displays the god Dionysus taking revenge on the city of Thebes and its king, who banished his cult.
The play is filled with the overwhelming power of Dionysus, who turns the women of the city into a mass of mindless mad slaves, who shred their clothes, have orgies, copulate with animals, commit slaughter and stuff like that. He also uses his powers on the King's family and finally on the king himself. A good example of mass hypnosis with extreme content =w=

I remember The Odyssey and its Sirens, who would enchant men with their songs, only for man's ships to be crashed against the rocks by the Siren's trickery.

Narcissus, actually, where "narcissist" comes from. Basically the guy was so in love with himself that he ignored even the Goddess of Love, which pissed her off so she made it so that he could never look away from his own reflection again.

Which i had totally forgotten about until you mentioned it.

Good points. It would be deeply intriguing to find the earliest recorded instance of somebody looking into any of this and saying "I think mind manipulation/enchantments/whatever is my thing," but I wouldn't know where to begin to search.

Anyone know of any Greek epics featuring the misuse of Zeus/Eros' powers? ...oh wait, that was probably a major topic in general fiction at the time... Any Greek epics with the sirens in starring roles maybe? :p


I need to read this play o.O ... or stage it :3 .

'Theogonia' and 'Works and Days' are the most ancient Greek accounts of mythology. Don't remember exactly what is in each, but they most probably contain plenty of Zeus fucking around. Not sure if sexy tho XD
There are several other works, poems and books in the Hellenistic period, maybe a bit more focused on descriptions than on the mere info.

As for sirens... they are mainly described in the Odyssey. But they are not the sexy mermaids everyone thinks of. They were horrible women with hag face, wings in place of arms and bird legs. Only their voice was mesmerizing.

And regarding the Bacchae, you can probably find the book of the play with commentary and original Greek version in any bookshop specialised in classical/ancient studies. I had to read it along with other tragedies during high school XD

Mind control has always had a place in sexual arenas, but it seems to have taken off much more recently.

We can thank the internet for that. Easy access to instantaneous methods of communication and a virtually unlimited abyss of information at our fingertips... When you think about it, everything has taken off more recently due to the internet.