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Priapus is a god of fertility, protector of
horticulture and viticulture. His statue, holding a
wooden sickle in his hand, was used in the Roman
gardens as scarecrow, and his enormous penis as a
threat against thieves.
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Priapus' attribute
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This god is mainly known for his huge virile
member, and the size of it is so enormous that it
has been called "column", "twelve-inch pole",
"cypress", "spear", "pyramid", and many other names
of the same kind referring to the dimensions of his
penis. And just as Zeus
shows his thunderbolt,
Poseidon his trident,
Athena her spear,
Apollo his golden arrows,
Hermes his caduceus,
Dionysus 2 his
thyrsus, Heracles 1
his club, so Priapus cannot but proudly exhibit his
penis, which best represents him, and without which
he is weaponless. This is the reason why his privy
parts are always shameless displayed in erection.
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Matter of size
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Some believe that the size of the male sexual
organ has little or no relevance, but this lustful
god has been assumed to think that the greatest
advantage with his enormous penis is that no female
can be too roomy for him.
When a certain ass once had a contest with
Priapus on the matter of the size of their sexual
organs, the beast was defeated by the god, and
killed by him. Others say that the ass was killed
for a different reason; they tell that after a
party in the countryside, Priapus tried to ravish
the nymph Lotis, and that when everybody was asleep
after feasting and drinking, Priapus approached her
silently. But when he was close to fulfil his wish,
the saddle-ass of
Silenus gave out an
ill-timed roar, which made the nymph to start up.
Lotis pushed off Priapus and fled, but the only way
to escape him was to turn into the flower called
lotus. For having caused him to lose this girl,
Priapus killed Silenus'
ass, and that is why in Lampsacus, a city on the
Hellespont in northwestern Asia Minor where he was
more revered than any other god, they used to
sacrifice this animal to the god.
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Protector of gardens
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On account of the reproductive function of the
virile member, Priapus has been regarded as a
promoter of fertility , a protector of domestic
animals, and of all garden produce. He has been
honoured not only in cities and temples, but also
in the countryside, where his statue served as
scarecrow, watching over vineyards and gardens, and
protecting them against theft. The Romans could
say:
"If haply one
has seen my Cato's house,
His shingles stained with red,
His garden over which Priapus watched:
................................................"
[Suetonius, On Grammarians XI]
or
"A bowl of
milk, Priapus, and these cakes, are all you can
expect year by year; the garden you watch is poor
...." [Virgil,
Eclogues
7.33]
or
"Let there be
gardens fragrant with saffron flowers to invite
them, and let the watchman against thieves and
birds, guardian Priapus, lord of the Hellespont,
protect them with his willow hook." [Virgil,
Georgics
4.111]
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Threats against thieves
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As a watcher Priapus warns thieves and
transgressors, threatening to sodomise or to
sexually penalize in any other way whoever dares to
steal the garden's greens and fruits (follow
epigrams collected by Smithers & Burton in
Priapeia):
"I warn you,
my lad, you will be sodomised; you, my girl, I
shall futter; for the thief who is bearded, a third
punishment remains."
or
"... If I do
seize you ... you shall be so stretched that you
will think your anus never had any
wrinkles."
or
"He who shall
plunder with dishonest hand the little field
committed to my charge, shall feel me to be no
eunuch ..."
or
"Why do you,
watchman, hinder the thief from coming to me? Let
him approach: he will return more 'open'!"
or
"If a woman,
man, or boy, thieve from me, she shall pay me with
coynte, that with his mouth, this with
arse."
or
"O, wayfarer,
thou shalt fear this god and hold thy hand high:
this is worth thy while, for lo! there stands ready
thy cross, the phallus ..." [Virgil,
Priapea 2.16]
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Yet an obscenity
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And this god's obscenities were further
developed by the orchards' owners, who could
threaten with the statue itself:
"This staff of
office, which severed from the tree, can now shoot
forth no verdure; sceptre which pathic maidens
crave, and some kings love to hold; to which
notorious paederasts give kisses; shall go right
into the very bowels of the thief, as far as the
hair and the bag of balls." [Epigram in
Priapeia,
collected by Smithers & Burton]
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Priapus and Dionysus
2
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Priapus has been called son of
Dionysus 2, and
sometimes he has even been identified with the
latter. Some believe that the connection between
these two gods depends on
wine; for, they say, when
men are under the influence of this divine
beverage, they become inclined to the pleasures of
love. Others have said, however, that the name
Priapus was at some point in the past used to
denote the sexual organ of males. In any case, this
generative member, through being the cause of the
continued existence of human beings, has won
immortal honour through Priapus.
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Opinion of the Egyptians
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The Egyptians say that the
TITANS once conspired
against Osiris 1 and slew him, dividing his body
into equal parts among themselves. Now, the sexual
organ they threw into the river, no one among them
being interested in it. The Egyptians also believed
that Osiris 1's wife Isis
detected the murderers, and after slaying them, put
the pieces together into the shape of a human body,
giving them to the priests to pay Osiris 1 the
honours of a god. But as she had failed to recover
the sexual organ, she instructed the priests to set
it up in their temples in an erect position. And
this, some think, explains the origin of this god.
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Famous in later times
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It has also been said that Priapus, who was
unknown to the most ancient poets, or not mentioned
by them, was declared at god only in later (Roman)
times. He was particularly honoured in the city of
Priapus in the Troad, and it is said that his
worship was probably transferred there from Orneae,
a city west of Mycenae.
Other phallic deities such as Attic Orthanes,
Conisalus, and Tychon, resemble Priapus.
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