Greek & Roman Statues and Small Dicks

[HotBulge]

I can imagine Stronzo, before he was banned, jumping into this thread with glee. Anything related to homosexuality, male beauty, the Anglican tradtion, or the Greco-Roman tradition was his speciality.

 

[aristarchus]

Well, earllogjam, I think the matter is complex, as is the whole issue of "beauty" among the Greeks. In short, a sculptor might put a small penis on a statue of Zeus simply because that is what the viewer expected to see on Zeus--not necessarily because everyone thought it was more beautiful. The same sculptor at night might well have preferred to admire someone hung like a satyr. For a portrait statue, the sculptor would probably shrink the size of a large penis (I assume the Greeks had 'em too), which would make the statue "look" more heroic to the onlooker (but maybe not more beautiful). To put it in large would be "read" as an insult by viewers (i.e. the man was not very civilized). I suppose the point to consider is that a statue in antiquity carried multiple, overlapping meanings (some of which are lost to us forever) more than just beauty to the eye, or a carrier of "ideal beauty." They weren't made originally to be display pieces in an art museum. You're probably right that some onlookers DID translate the artistic conventions into rules of beauty in actual people--the problem is we don't know whether this was a large number or a small number of people. We have so little clear written material from the Greeks on the subject, I guess I prefer to be a little cautious about reading too much into the statues as a source of what "the Greek in the street" thought beautiful/attractive/desirable/hot in the male body.

As comparison: Romans copied the Greek style of statuary down to penis size, yet it's clear from written sources (we have scads more Latin material than Greek) that many Romans really appreciated the well-hung man. (One Roman writer tells of man who had slightly curved mirrors installed in his bedroom so he could enjoy the sight of both his and his lovers' dicks looking larger in reflection!)

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

Fascinating, aristarchus.
I will have to read these posts over several times.
Now get thee hence to New Member Intros, and tell us more about yourself.

 

[lemont77]

Actually, the real answer comes from Galen of Pergamum, the first great medical theorist. Ancient Greeks believed that brain matter, bone marrow and semen were all the same basic stuff of life, and that if you had a big dick, like the barbarians, it was like a hose, and you would lose more semen every time you came. The proof of this was that barbarians were not as smart as the Greeks, and their men seemed to shrivel up faster with age and become fragile.

So Galen said it was the less perfect and weaker males who had the big dicks. This is why you don't see them on representations of "perfect" male beauty. There are plenty of comic statues and paintings, greek and roman, that show idiot satyrs with huge cocks, but people thought they were ridiculous, not sexy.

It had nothing to do with adolescent models, since greek men of all ages exercised in the nude and bathed together. Men of every size & type were available for sculptors. It was just the greek (and later roman) belief that the perfect man was one who would remain balanced, healthy, vigorous & intelligent well into old age. That was more likely if you had a smaller spigot and didn't shoot much when you came.

There is some truth to this. If you can find the sculpture of Hercules wrestling the...something...you'll see that he is big and strong in every aspect, but his phallus is quite tiny, in comparisson.

The other (unconfirmed) explanation is that most Greek men who were artists preferred young boys for their sexual exploits, and so they sculpted what THEY found attractive. Granted, this was a homophobic art teacher at LSU that said this, so it may not be that valid. I never checked his sources.

 

[Gillette]

Satyrs in particular have not only large penises but erections. This was considered vulgar to the Greeks, because although they had no problem with exposed penises, it was considered EXTREMELY rude to let the penis-head show. Hence, in many vase paintings you will see men with a string tied around the foreskin holding it shut in order to ensure that the glans is never accidently revealed publically.

I noticed the string around the foreskin but wasn't about to ask the docent the reason why. Thank you.

As first posts go, yours was wonderful.
Bravo!

 

[D_alex8]

Sorry if I'm being a pedant

Errant pedantry is in fact highly prized at LPSG. :wink:

 

[BigA]

The statues were done in the classical Greek style of a youth . The whole body being beautifully proportioned and the smaller penis to add to the statue's youthful appearance.

BigA did a similar thread here:




http://www.lpsg.org/celebrity-endowments/39906-david-2.html

thank you dreamer20, I was just thinking about that shit as I was reading this. However some points here may be better stated.

 

[deleted3782]

Errant pedantry is in fact highly prized at LPSG. :wink:

Yes I agree, I can't get enough of large pedants...oh wait, this is the large penis support group???

 

[dreamer20]

thank you dreamer20...

You're welcome.:wink:

 

[HazelGod]

Well, I've seen lots of non-youth statues with small peni both Roman and Greek

Speaking of errant pedantry, I apologize in advance for this manifestation of my wife's influence on me...

The plural of penis is penes, although penises is also acceptable.

 

[earllogjam]

Speaking of errant pedantry, I apologize in advance for this manifestation of my wife's influence on me...

The plural of penis is penes, although penises is also acceptable.

penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes,
penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes,
penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes, penes. penes, penes,

Boy my hand is tired writing on this blackboard.

 

[aristarchus]

Originally Posted by HazelGod [URL]http://www.lpsg.org/images36/buttons/viewpost.gif[/URL]
Speaking of errant pedantry, I apologize in advance for this manifestation of my wife's influence on me...

The plural of penis is penes, although penises is also acceptable.

Is your wife perhaps a Latin teacher??

(PS. A small hint to this clueless noob on how to quote text from earlier in the thread would be appreciated. The only thing I know is that I'm probably doing it wrong.)

 

[hairyman101]

I remeber when i was 15 and jacking off looking at those now rare male art books and those guys were just normal....but then as i grew up i remember john holmes coming into porn and people loved to watch his huge cock go into a woman that was begging him not to....it turned people on.....so i guess they wanted more.....and more hung guys were found .....and i think it GREW from that. soooo in the last 50 or 60 years has the bigger the better cock came along. just my 2 cents.:biggrin1:

 

[earllogjam]

I remember I was in the 3rd grade and there was this book about Roman or Greek Civilization at the school library which had these photographs of nude male statues in action, Zeus, Posidon...etc. I was mesmerized. I think I went every day for a month to check out that reference book. Always gave me a thrill. I guess things haven't changed much.

 

[Gillette]

(PS. A small hint to this clueless noob on how to quote text from earlier in the thread would be appreciated. The only thing I know is that I'm probably doing it wrong.)

Looks like you did fine with the quote button here. If you wish to use multiple quotes, click on the button with the "-" (next to it) for each post you want to include, then the quote button on the last of your selections.

 

[Drago]

Why are the dicks so small on classic Greek and Roman statues?

This keeps me up nights....really.

In ancient greece small penises were seen as desirable wheras large ones were seen as being laughable. That means that most of us guys on here would've been social rejects wtf2 because we're closer to horses than hamsters ("equipment" wise).

 

[curriedeggs]

Not wishing to bring the tenor of this thread down from such a civilised discussion, may I at least bring it round a little...

They may have tiny penes but venture a little way behind and they have the most wonderful arses. This one I snapped in the museum atop the Acropolis:

 

[earllogjam]

Not wishing to bring the tenor of this thread down from such a civilised discussion, may I at least bring it round a little...

They may have tiny penes but venture a little way behind and they have the most wonderful arses. This one I snapped in the museum atop the Acropolis:

Yes, by all means bring 'em round and post if you have more- my god that's a beautiful ass. You can always tell the gay tourists at the Statue of David. They're the ones taking the up shots at the crotch and lingering behind the statue peering at the ass ever so discreetly. lol.

 

[curriedeggs]

Yes, by all means bring 'em round and post if you have more- my god that's a beautiful ass. You can always tell the gay tourists at the Statue of David. They're the ones taking the up shots at the crotch and lingering behind the statue peering at the ass ever so discreetly. lol.

Sadly that's the only graphic depiction of a 2500yr old ass that I have. I was lucky enough to be accompanied to the historic site by an expert from the British Museum who specialised in this period. The only academic detail I remember about him was that he represents a period in Greek sculpture where the attention to anatomical detail was becoming more sophisticated. Note the asymetry of his hips and shoulders as one leg is slightly extended; this statue could have 'stood up for himself', unlike earlier examples, which more resembled Egyptian Hieroglyphic figures.

His bum was actually pointed out to me by another straight friend whose field is not archeology but classics: "this statue has the best arse I've ever seen!"

Pic one is a wider view of his posterior. If you would like to get to know him better, see pic 2. He doesn't talk much but he's completely 'armless. Poor boy has barely an acorn for an appendage (though I like to think the best part has broken off and rests with his other members). Pic three is another greek with a little more to offer in the genitals but much less elswhere.

 

[DC_DEEP]

You are all overthinking and overanalyzing.

The artists were quite proud of their fine work. Now be honest, if they had carved knee-bruising cocks on these statues, would you ever get around to noticing the fine details in the eyes and beards, or the perfectly proportioned hands?