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Origen (c. 185–c. 253): early Christian theologian, allegedly castrated himself based on his reading of the Gospel of Matthew 19:12 ("For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can ...
Hermotimus of Pedasa (Greek: Ἑρμότιμος) was Xerxes the Great's favored royal eunuch during the Persian Wars against Greece (480 BC).. As a eunuch, not much factually is known about Hermotimus, because he was not as important to contemporary historians.
Castration", in China, meant the severing of the penis in addition to the testicles, after which male offenders were sentenced to work in the palace as eunuchs. The punishment was called gōngxíng (宫刑), which meant "palace punishment", since castrated men would be enslaved to work in the harem of the palace.
Castrated men were not seen as a threat, as no matter how much power they gained they could never take the throne, and numerous eunuchs were entrusted with high and confidential offices in the Byzantine court and administration. In Byzantine culture, the emperor was a reflection of heavenly authority.
One reason why recipients willingly underwent emasculation is that they saw employment as a palace eunuch as a way to acquire wealth and power. Alternatively, poverty was a reason why fathers forced their sons to undergo emasculation, and the desire for financial benefit motivated human traffickers to force emasculation on their victims.
In the Gospel of Matthew 19:3–12, Jesus is reported to have referred to the behavior of eunuchs to illustrate a desirable approach to sexuality: "For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake."
The Khitan were a nomadic Mongolic people and originally did not have eunuchs as part of their culture. [37] When the Khitan founded the Liao dynasty they developed a harem system with concubines and wives and adopted eunuchs as part of it. All of the eunuchs captured were ethnic Chinese from the Central Plains that came from two
The metaphor of Christians as eunuchs is found in the New Testament ("For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others — and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven", Mt 19:12). Accordingly, Christian writers often viewed male saints as ...