Ancient Romans thought big penises were ugly

Wave

Experimental Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Posts
133
Media
0
Likes
5
Points
163
Age
34
Location
Cleveland (Ohio, United States)
Sexuality
69% Gay, 31% Straight
Gender
Male
Hey, I just noticed that Skinny Guinea has removed his picture from his entries. I hope i did not offend with my deductions!

<
 

LuckyLuke

Experimental Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2004
Posts
171
Media
0
Likes
2
Points
238
Age
34
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Freddie53 &#064; Nov 3 2005, 02&#58;56 AM) [post=357754]Quoted post[/post]</div><div class='quotemain'>
<snipped>
I have really appreciated your comments to this and I have learned a lot.

I now believe that the real David was somewhere past 14 but not yet 18. But the real guy that posed for this statue was probably somewhere between ages 16 and 21. Most probably either 18 or 19 or he looked those ages. [/b][/quote]
Thanks&#33; As for your last comments, I can certainly agree with that.

If anyone is at all interested in an excellent account of homosexuality in 15th/16th century Florence, there is a book called Forbidden Friendships by Michael Rocke and it is excellent, though it is a &#39;non-fiction&#39; history book based upon actual documentary research (my kind of book&#33;). It is a goldmine of factual information about homosexual issues at that time period. Oddly enough, 15th century Florence had a reputation not unlike late 20th century San Francisco as a &#39;gay mecca&#39;.






<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DoubleMeatWhopper &#064; Nov 3 2005, 05&#58;30 AM) [post=357804]Quoted post[/post]</div><div class='quotemain'>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Freddie53 &#064; Nov 2 2005, 09&#58;56 PM) [post=357754]Quoted post[/post]</div><div class='quotemain'>
So that brings us to the Michelangelo&#39;s statue of David which of course comes from Michelangelo&#39;s mind. David himself I&#39;m sure didn&#39;t shave. But this is not the historic David, but Michaelangelo&#39;s concept of David which is Renaissance.
[/b][/quote]

There is one detail that makes it obvious that Michelangelo deviated from history in order to present his ideal: the penis on the statue of David is uncircumcised&#33;
[/b][/quote]
Indeed. I&#39;d never thought of that, but you are undoubtably correct here. &#39;Historical&#39; David could be expected to be circumcised - unless we have any Hebrew scholars here to correct us?
 

jonb

Sexy Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2002
Posts
7,578
Media
0
Likes
64
Points
258
Age
40
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GreekNY &#064; Nov 2 2005, 07&#58;03 PM) [post=357757]Quoted post[/post]</div><div class='quotemain'>
All this talk about Greeks is making horny lol
[/b][/quote]
So, do you want to go to Mykonos and we can drink ouzo together?
 

Matthew

Legendary Member
Gold
Platinum Gold
Joined
Aug 27, 2005
Posts
7,291
Media
0
Likes
1,503
Points
583
Sexuality
99% Gay, 1% Straight
Gender
Male
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wave &#064; Nov 3 2005, 02&#58;43 PM) [post=358032]Quoted post[/post]</div><div class='quotemain'>
Hey, I just noticed that Skinny Guinea has removed his picture from his entries. I hope i did not offend with my deductions&#33;[/b][/quote] I think Skinny&#39;s decided to pick up his marbles and play somewhere else.
<
I doubt it was just you.
 

Karena Morgan

Just Browsing
Joined
Nov 5, 2005
Posts
37
Media
0
Likes
0
Points
151
Location
Notts UK
Sexuality
90% Straight, 10% Gay
Gender
Female
<span style="font-family:Comic Sans Ms"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%">" Yea but what have the Romans ever done for us, eh? .."</span></span>
 

pavil

Just Browsing
Joined
Oct 25, 2015
Posts
1
Media
0
Likes
0
Points
11
Location
Pietermaritzburg
Sexuality
Unsure
Gender
Male
The penis on the statue of David is apparently not uncircumcised. It has some foreskin but not a complete foreskin. The statue depicts a male who is circumcised in the manner in which it was done in the tenth century before the Christian era, which is when David lived. It was called the little millah in Hebrew, as distinct from the more radical complete circumcision which became the practice later. Only a small part of the foreskin was removed. The little millah was a ‘tip clip’. Later when Palestine and its surrounds became Hellenized under the dynasty of the Ptolemies and thereafter under Alexander the Great, the radical or full circumcision became standard in order for the Jews to emphasize their separateness from the Greeks.

There is a very interesting novel where all of this gets discussed, including why the penises on the figures painted by Michelangelo are small..

The book is a great read and a gripping story. In the story a séance held in London goes wrong and the spirit of Michelangelo takes possession of a young man attending the séance. Michelangelo then finds himself adrift and helpless in London in the twenty first century. He gets by and survives. What’s more he gets to paint what (I think) he would really like to have painted. Inter alia he is contracted by the proprietor of a gay bathhouse in Cape Town to decorate the place with appropriate frescoes. He does. He produces a work on a par with what he did in the Sistine Chapel. The bathhouse then becomes a place of pilgrimage for gay men and boys the world over and also for art lovers.

In the story, when Michelangelo is approached by the proprietor of the bathhouse to do the work, there is a discussion where Michelangelo also describes 14th Century Florence and how it was the gayest city in Europe. It's wonderful stuff.

It's available in kindle format at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016OXY296
 

xperseusx

Cherished Member
Verified
Gold
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Posts
662
Media
13
Likes
250
Points
228
Location
Dallas (Texas, United States)
Verification
View
Sexuality
100% Gay, 0% Straight
Gender
Male
It is my understanding as an art history minor that Michealangelo used a previously worked piece of marble for David and had to make a choice between dick or balls. He chose balls as he felt they were a greater seat of a man's virility than the dick. Interesting though that the sculpture of an ancient Isrealite King is uncircumcised after the covenant requiring circumcision for Jewish men
 
  • Like
Reactions: sangheili90

Uncutpete

Superior Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Posts
1,368
Media
133
Likes
7,220
Points
443
Location
New York (United States)
Sexuality
90% Straight, 10% Gay
Gender
Male
Just an aside on the subject of classical standards. When I was posing for a sculpture class after college (see photos from the time in my gallery), the teacher was walking among the students, commenting on their work. He stood next to one woman who was working close in front of me and looked over her sculpture. As if I weren't there, he said, "You know, the classical ideal is for the genitals to be considerably smaller than his are in real life." Without batting an eye she said, "I know, but I like him this way." I had to stifle my reaction....
She was married, but that didn't stop us from learning all about each other's anatomy, over the next few weeks.
 

nubbin2declare

Sexy Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2015
Posts
6
Media
6
Likes
29
Points
48
Location
Harare (Zimbabwe)
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
Michelangelo's David has the penis he has for two likely reasons - first, it may reflect that of the young quarryman who modeled for the sculptor, that model's name long lost to history. Second, and more importantly, the statue was commissioned to stand in a niche on the Cathedral of Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore. It stood in the public square Piazza della Signoria for about the first 400 of its years, but it was produced as a religious subject for religious display. Michelangelo was also a very young artist, and it wouldn't have served his purpose or his patron for him to get fired, not be paid in full, and have the work destroyed because he gave David an overly prominent penis.

As to the ancient Romans, the prevailing attitude was very similar to ours today: big is better than small. This is reflected in much of the graffitti left behind on the walls of the baths and in much private art. The small penises in ancient Roman art, such as the cupid that is my profile picture here, were mostly copies of earlier Greek originals, and many if not most were produced in workshops near Athens as luxury goods. The Romans admired Greek culture and art. As to why the Greeks in the pre-Roman period favored small penises, which they certainly did, there are several reasons, one of which is a basic misunderstanding about how the human body functions (where exactly sperm/egg fertilization occurs in a woman's body).
 

maturanga

Worshipped Member
Verified
Gold
Joined
Jan 22, 2013
Posts
227
Media
203
Likes
12,562
Points
463
Location
Huelva (Andalusia, Spain)
Verification
View
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
The greek god Priapus not think the same. ;)


In some countrys of South East Asia like Thailand think that a big cock is very ugly and is name contemptuously "water buffalo cock."

In south Spain, where I live, have a special sex slang that many time correlate a large penis with lack of intelligence.

"Cipote" is my favorite dirty word for penis, in exclusive for hung cocks and only this zone of Spain. Very flattering but women do not use because is very dirty. But the same word also mean "stupid" Is a man has a "cipote" has a hung cock, but is a man is a "cipote" mean that is fool and bewildered.

"Carajo" is other dirty word for penis, but the superlative "carajote" mean imcopetent.

All people know what "cojones" mean, If a man has big "cojones" is brave, but if has " too much fat cojones" mean that is slowly at work. He has "cojones" so big, that he steps him own "cojones" mean tha he is very awkward.