Was "Virginity" Over-rated?

Why the preoccupation with virginity? I mean like in ancient Rome and Greece, with examples such as the Vestal Virgins and all.

It occurred to me while reading about ancient Rome that the term "virgin" may have connoted something other than what we think of today.

Here's my thought: In reading John Lord's Beacon Lights of History, Vol. 3 he speaks of the sculptors and painters and their depictions of the beautiful "virgins" who were their models. For example, Lord writes "Zeuxis is said to have studied the beautiful forms of seven virgins of Crotona in order to paint his famous picture of Venus."

That's when it struck me that in those times, another word for women who were not virgins was commonly "mother."

Lacking birth control, having sex pretty much ensured pregnancy. And with pregnancy you generally get the loss of the flawless female form. Thus, if you're looking for the very picture of youthful beauty you perforce must look for virgins. It has nothing to do with a woman's sexual activity, but everything to do with the results of that activity. You might easily substitute the word "maiden" for "virgin" and retain the true meaning.

That puts a different spin on our understanding of what the ancients considered important. Her so-called moral character was not at issue, only her figure. Or maybe I'm totally off base. But I found it to be a pretty dang interesting thought so I figured I'd share it with you.