"#Aphrodisiacs for the penis: these stretch the penis and lead to sexual union: pine-cones, pepper, parsley, fillings deer’s penis, turpentine, of each the same amount; mix with honey, and give to drink in wine." Pseudo-Galen, Euporista 2.2
The first temptation is to assume the nude Pan has been up to no good, but he seems to be riding the mule with some modesty. Now, the same cannot be said for the mule…
Ahhh the Romans’ most fortunate day of the week. Here we offer dubious honour to Priapus, the god often most found holding a fruit basket. That’s no cornucopia!
Aimee, I have a question for as you are clearly a subject matter expert here. I write scifi, but pull in historical elements or themes where I can.
My question is this: were the everyday Greeks/Romans of ancient times more accustomed to nudity or open lascivious activity than in modern times or was this simply what artists chose to depict?
@steaphan I think nudity was much more widespread than today for sure, there were even mixed public baths (though this varied greatly over time and from place to place).
If there was more sex, I cannot say, but as my Twitter friend LJ Trafford said "there was no telly" 😉
Something that we know for sure is that nudity and especially penises were depicted on everyday stuff like on the side of a house or at the fastfood joint or on protective amulets. Check out #PhallusThursday to get an idea!
While the auction house listed this piece as a rare C1st BCE intaglio, my suspicion is its a fake. Ancient Roman phalluses rarely came with balls when you could have another phallus! Something about the lightning bolts also feels off. What do you think?
@phistorians I agree, why add balls when cxyou can have another phallus instead? Also the testicles are too huge. Not even satyrs are depicted with huge testes. These are the finds I do have of fascina with balls and none of them look similar to the engraving.
This maenad is certainly living up to her reputation! As a devotee of Dionysus she appears nude holding a thyrsos staff and touching a disembodied phallus! This C2nd BCE amethyst simply shines!
We’re celebrating the Roman fondness for the phallus with this bronze phallic ornament c. C1st CE. With a phallic head, tail, and it’s own phallus, this piece is truly offering options in terms of apotropaic power!
🪷 #PhallusThursday This photo is banned from Meta Threads, Facebook and Instagram for frontal nudity! Marble copy of Capitoline #Antinous 60 cm high. Students' work, 19th Century. Private collection, Brussels. No nude images on Meta Threads! 🪷