The Warren Cup, being one of the most infamous objects on display at the British Museum, demonstrates how pleasure can be viewed in conjunction with leisure. It does this through the imagery featured on the cup, its overall function, as well as the owner of such an object. The idea of leisure varies; it is subjective. However, many ideas of leisure relate to looking, or watching. This can be seen through John Stuart Mill’s and Plato’s concepts of higher pleasures, as well as modern ideas of classism. Pleasure is ultimately derived from leisure, with the Warren Cup allowing for ideas of sex and drinking as a pleasure to be explored.

Edward Perry Warren, the namesake of the Warren Cup, was the first ‘modern’ owner of the object. The British Museum purchased the Warren Cup in 1999 for £1.8 million, making it the single most expensive purchase by the museum at the time. The cup itself is made entirely of silver, which originally had two handles which have now been lost. The cup features two couples, on either side of the cup, with a boy voyeur in the middle, acting as a divide between the two couples.

The first couple, seen in Figure 1, are two men engaging in sexual intercourse. The boy seen on top is taking the passive role, but is not considered an eromenos, an Ancient Greek pederastic concept; an eromenos was a boy who had reached the age of puberty but was not yet considered a citizen. The relationship between the erastes and eromenos was the only legal form of ‘homosexuality. The younger boy is grown, but not on the same level of maturity as his penetrator. The couple seen in Figure 1, seem to be an idealised couple, with the older man having a beard with short, thick hair, and the younger male has more feminised hair, with some of it running down his back.

This was idealised since it perfectly showcased the Classical Greek, aforementioned, idea of the pederastic erastes-eromenos relationship. However, since the cup is dated to the Judio-Claudian dynasty (1st Century AD), this idea of the pederastic was transformed into the master-slave relationship, conforming with the sexual and social standards of Roman love-making. This can be seen through the symbolism of the tibiae being featured in the background of the couple on the other side of the cup, as seen in Figure 2.

The tibiae was a musical instrument that was only played by the noncitizens of Rome since they were ‘deemed unsuitable’ for freeborn males, indicating the social status, as a slave, of the young boy featured. Furthermore, the young boy’s status as a slave is solidified by his clothes; he wears Greek-style chlamys, rather than the stola, which is the usual attire of male prostitutes, as well as a badge indicating their social status as a prostitute. The couple featured on the other side of the cup [figure 2], have very similar features to that of the couple seen in Figure 1. On both sides of the cup, the idealised version of the pederastic notion is featured.

The idea of homosexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome is very different to that of our modern idea. It was illegal for two men of the same social status to be in a sexual relationship; however, this concept of homosexuality did not apply to certain sexual relationships, one of these being featured on the Warren Cup. When it came to the relationship between two social classes, it was less about gender and more about power. The ‘homosexual’ sex between an older man and a young boy was entirely about power, rather than sexual gratification; the older man being the only partner gaining pleasure from the relationship.

Therefore, the imagery featured on the Warren Cup can only provide a limited idea of leisure; out of the couple, only the older male receives pleasure, as well as the voyeur gaining pleasure from watching the couple. Sex, during Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, was viewed as being a leisure activity, especially due to the existence (and popularity) of symposiums and baths. Symposiums were considered to be a leisure activity since men of a certain social status would venture there to engage in intellectual discussion, drink with friends, and even gain sexual gratification.

It is thought that the Warren Cup was used for special occasions, and decoration rather than function. The figures on the cup are so well preserved that it shows that it was not used for everyday use. The fact that the cup is made of such a precious metal, silver, and the detail of the figures featured indicate its status as a ‘luxury item’ designed for the upper class.

The scenes that are shown on the Warren Cup are likely to have been created to assess the intellectual abilities of the owners drinking guests by evoking the ideas found in famous texts on love, such as in Plato’s symposium – also indicating it’s use as a cup at symposiums. The Warren Cup’s function as a drinking cup, especially at symposiums, furthers its purpose as a symbol of leisure, since drinking was, and still is, considered a leisure activity. Intellectual conversations were deemed as a leisure activity since it allowed for one’s understanding of different topics to broaden.  

Between the two couples featured on the cup, a young boy is watching one of the couple’s, a voyeur. John Ellis suggested that “voyeurism implies the power of the spectator over what is seen”; The power is not to change the situation, but the understanding that the circumstances are being played out for the spectator. The voyeur on the cup is peering through a door, watching one of the couples. The door acts as a divide between the two couples, as well as being a symbolic doorway through which the viewer of the cup is moved subliminally into the action. It is almost as if we, the viewers, are experiencing the voyeur’s pleasure.

As well as this, the young voyeur, himself, is symbolic; his existence in the scene would act as the ‘first stage’ in the ‘training’ of a slave boy, while the young boy featured in Figure 2 would be the ‘second stage’ where the master starts to penetrate the slave boy who has reached puberty, and lastly, the boy featured in figure 1 represents the ‘last stage’, as a sex slave.

This would give an insight into the lives of these young boys, who were essentially groomed from young boys into sex slaves. If, from youth, these boys are raised for their only job to be sex, is that leisure? Surely leisure is when you do what you want while on a break from work? So, this begs the question of, whether it is considered leisure for these boys, even if it is an act like sexual intercourse, or is it work? This demonstrates the limits of the Warren Cup as being a symbol of leisure since it only considers the idea of leisure for the upper class.

However, the act of voyeurism, itself, could be considered leisure. The idea that ‘looking’ or ‘watching’ is a pleasure is considered by Plato, but more contemporarily explored by John Stuart Mill. Mill believed in the existence of ‘higher pleasures’, leisure activities that were more “desirable and more valuable” than others. These higher pleasures would include visiting an art gallery (looking at art), watching an opera, and going to a play. All of these would be considered ‘high pleasures’ since the viewer would gain intellectual and aesthetic gratification.

From the perspective of Mill, the use of the cup as a more decorative function, and to initiate intellectual conversation, the Warren Cup would be categorised as being an emblem of a ‘higher pleasure’. Although this may be the case, Mill also concurred with the beliefs of Plato on pleasure; Plato reasoned that most physical pleasures exist simply to be the end of pain, the aid of anguish or the easing of physical need; they are not, real, positive pleasures, that intellectual activities would provide. According to both Mill and Plato, the ‘”pleasures of the mind are preferable to any amount of physical pleasure”; so the act of sexual intercourse featured on the Warren Cup would be considered a ‘low pleasure’ according to Mill.

Although the act of sex itself would not be considered a high pleasure, and so likely not a leisure activity since it is acting for a cause, the act of viewing the Warren Cup as art would be considered a high pleasure, and therefore, a leisure activity.

Using Mill’s examples of higher pleasures, the Warren Cup, in its current state, would be considered a higher pleasure; the Warren Cup is currently on display in the British Museum and serves a purpose to educate and arouse intellectual discussion, much like its original intent. The act of sex becomes art through the Warren Cup; therefore the Warren Cup further symbolises the act of leisure, and how pleasure can be intertwined.

The Warren Cup highlights the importance of class in the act of leisure; being able to do acts of leisure, is leisure in itself. Leisure is defined as doing what you want, away from work; being able to afford to not work is only a luxury the rich can afford. Historically, it was usually upper-class men who could partake in leisurely activities; most of the leisure activities that were being partaken in were men only, such as symposiums.

The imagery on the Warren Cup displays an older man engaging in sexual intercourse with his slave. Only those with money could afford to own slaves, especially slaves who were especially ‘educated’ to become sex slaves; the owner was rich enough to have slaves for very specific needs.

Not only was the older man on the Warren Cup rich enough to afford to have sex slaves, and educate them, but also rich enough to have the time to engage in sexual intercourse with the slave. The owner of such an object, like the Warren Cup, indicates his status as being part of the upper class. The Warren Cup, itself, is made entirely out of pure silver, which, even now, is a very expensive material. Furthermore, to commission a cup to be made with that specific imagery could reflect the owner’s very own relations with his slaves, showing that the owner of the Warren Cup likely had enough money to afford his slaves, much like the man featured on the cup. The main theory for the Warren Cup was that it was designed to be used at symposiums and private parties, further highlighting the social status of the owner of the cup.

The owner of the Warren Cup was wealthy enough to host private parties and have a silver cup specially made just for the event. Leisure activities, such as attending symposiums and private parties, were far less accessible for the lower classes during the Roman Empire. However, there were still leisure activities that the lower classes could partake in, namely, the Roman games; even though they had to be seated high up, they could still relax and enjoy the games.

Even though the Warren Cup demonstrates class, and the strict social structure in the Roman Empire, it does not show the leisure that the lower classes could partake in. The slaves in Ancient Rome, like those featured on the Warren Cup, would likely not view sexual intercourse as a pleasure, not in the same way the older male, the owner, would.

We, in the modern world, and indeed in the past, sex is considered a leisure activity, since pleasure is derived from it. For slaves, however, this was possibly not the case; since for a lot of slaves their work was sex, it is not time away from work, and therefore cannot be defined as being a leisure activity.

Furthermore, for the young men featured on the Warren Cup, the sexual intercourse they’re engaged in might not be entirely pleasurable for them, especially since they are being used by their owner, rather than for their sexual gratification; to them, it is just work rather than being pleasurable. Although the Warren Cup only features the leisure activities of the upper classes, it is still a symbol of leisure, and how the idea of leisure has not changed.

Pleasure is inexplicitly linked to leisure activities. Doing what makes us relax, outside of work, allows for the feeling of pleasure to take over. This can be explained by the chemical consequence of events that produce happiness; serotonin is produced and released into the neuro-system. It is a chemical that regulates feelings of happiness.

Furthermore, the chemical dopamine is released as a response to pleasure; it is mainly believed to be stimulated by food, drugs, and sex. Therefore, scientifically, leisure causes a chemical reaction to occur, physically instigating the feeling of pleasure. Consequently, the Warren Cup’s depiction of sex allows for it to be a symbol of pleasure, illustrating the leisure activities that upper-class Roman men would partake in.

The Warren Cup stands to be a window into the life of a wealthy Roman man, and how pleasure tied into their daily lives. The depiction of homosexual sex highlights how the idea of same-sex relations has greatly changed, with the focus during the Roman Empire being on power, rather than gender. The strict social hierarchy of the time is present in the imagery, with the slaves being greatly feminised, and the obvious distinction between the stages of education of the slaves seen.

The Warren Cup is an emblem of pleasure, it encapsulates the concept of Mill’s higher pleasures since the sex featured becomes art, rather than ‘pleasures of the flesh’. Pleasure is derived from leisure. However, the Warren Cup only highlights the leisure that wealthy Romans would have participated in, it is only a symbol of pleasure to an extent; it shows that one person’s pleasure, the older Roman man, is another person’s work, the younger slave boy. Nevertheless, the Warren Cup shows leisure in the Roman Empire.

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