Greek & Roman Statues and Small Dicks

[kalipygian]

Herms usually have large erect cocks. These are boundary markers, in cities placed near house doors. They consist of a square column, with just the head and erection carved, as a threat display, meaning 'come in here and you are going to be stuffed'.
Classical art is more focused on butts than cocks, the viewer was maybe more interested in doing than in being done to, so one feature is minimised, and the other exaggerated.
Most classical sculpture has very nicely done butts, that is not usually what gets put in books.
A particular favorite are the warriors of Riace.

Excellent posting in this thread, the things I have written in previous threads on this exact same subject have this time already been better said by others.

 

[aristarchus]

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.

Sounds like you started early.... I remember in the 9th grade using similar photos from our Latin textbook to sound out the proclivities (isn't that a delicate way of putting it!) of a very cute fellow student in the class. I never got anywhere with him (damn), but looking at him provided a pleasant break from memorizing verb forms.

 

[ostrich egg]

In ancient times, beleive it or not, a large penis was considered bad, and if you had a big one you'd be mocked. A lot of the times workers at quarries would grafitti a picture of their boss pushing his huge penis in a wheel barrow, because it was considered a negative trait

 

[curriedeggs]

Most classical sculpture has very nicely done butts, that is not usually what gets put in books.

Your own butt is a classic work of art Kal, if I may say so. Luckily your other assets conform to the modern aesthetic rather than the penile peanut of the Greeks.

 

[aristarchus]

Here are a couple of photos from Pompeii you might find interesting. The Greeks and the Romans had very different views on penis size. While for the Greeks a big dick was a signifier of comedy (which is why they'd never be put on a heroic statue), for the Romans it was a sign of prosperity (note how it balances a bag of money in the painting) and could ward off ill fortune.

This painting is on the wall of the entrance vestibule of a house--where it acts to invite prosperity and repel bad luck. The second is a garden fountain. Interestingly, they are from the same house--wonder what that says about the original owner. Anyway, a residue of the Roman attitude survives in Italy; for example, where Northern European culture "knocks wood" to fend off bad luck, Italians "tocca coglioni," or touch testicles.

Hmm, in my experience, touching (somebody else's) testicles is usually the *result* of good fortune, not a way to get it....

 

[earllogjam]

Anyway, a residue of the Roman attitude survives in Italy; for example, where Northern European culture "knocks wood" to fend off bad luck, Italians "tocca coglioni," or touch testicles.

Hmm, in my experience, touching (somebody else's) testicles is usually the *result* of good fortune, not a way to get it....

Yes, I've seen shoppers spinning on bull testicles at the Galleria in Milan.... so that's where that comes from. :wink: Could you imagine that happening in England or America?

 

[aristarchus]

Yes, I've seen shoppers spinning on bull testicles at the Galleria in Milan.... so that's where that comes from. :wink: Could you imagine that happening in England or America?

No I couldn't; at least not without police involvement as a follow-up. A friend of mine from Italy, while visiting here, repeatedly and innocently offended Anglo-American prudishness with proverbial references to cocks, balls, and butts. I think the last straw for him was being chided at dinner for offering the end of a baguette around and asking "Who-a wants de ass of de bread?" Being told that we call it the "heel"--perhaps the least sexual part of the body--was just too much and he burst out with: "Madonna! You Americans are so Puritanical!" Yep.

 

[earllogjam]

I think the last straw for him was being chided at dinner for offering the end of a baguette around and asking "Who-a wants de ass of de bread?" Being told that we call it the "heel"--perhaps the least sexual part of the body--was just too much and he burst out with: "Madonna! You Americans are so Puritanical!" Yep.

LOL:tongue:

 

[curriedeggs]

Yes, I've seen shoppers spinning on bull testicles at the Galleria in Milan....

I don't understand this Earl. Can you explain? spinning as in spinning wool?; pirouetting? I'm not getting the image.

 

[earllogjam]

I don't understand this Earl. Can you explain? spinning as in spinning wool?; pirouetting? I'm not getting the image.

lol. There is a large tiled mosaic of a bull with prominent hanging balls in the middle of the Galleria (a famous shopping arcade in Milan) floor which shoppers take turns placing one foot on its balls and then spinning- shopping bags and all. It's funny seeing rich elegant women in Prada high heels doing this. The men twirl also. The balls have been worn down to the concrete. It's an Italian way of bringing good luck - god I love those people.

 

[aristarchus]

The balls have been worn down to the concrete. It's an Italian way of bringing good luck - god I love those people.

Yep. Find almost any bronze statue in Italy, and if the balls are within reach they're bright and shiny from being touched. As a comparison, there's a monument on a campus here with statues of a naked man and a naked woman. Students go to rub the statue for good luck before big exams. So guess what part is shiny? The woman's breasts, of course. Totally different culture....sigh.

 

[Adrian69702006]

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

This keeps me up nights....really.

Well I suppose that then as now, small or smallish cocks tended to be the norm and big ones the exception. Also I think in those days people were of smaller build overall.:smile:

 

[Simon9]

My guess is they started out large and nearly done but then...OOPS! Chiseled a little too much....Wait a second....just a little bit off this side now....MINGA! Now I gotta take a little more....Goddamit! It still isn't even....Ah Sweet Jupiter, there goes the foreskin! Momma Mia, this is gonna take all day....


And before you know it, another perfect 3 inch willy.

 

[kalipygian]

My guess is they started out large and nearly done but then...OOPS! Chiseled a little too much....Wait a second....just a little bit off this side now....MINGA! Now I gotta take a little more....Goddamit! It still isn't even....Ah Sweet Jupiter, there goes the foreskin! Momma Mia, this is gonna take all day....


And before you know it, another perfect 3 inch willy.

For stone, perhaps, but terra cotta and bronze were (and are)modeled with an additive rather than subtractive process, the bronze was modeled in wax. The practice for stone is to make a model also, of wax, clay, or plaster.

 

[curriedeggs]

lol. There is a large tiled mosaic of a bull with prominent hanging balls in the middle of the Galleria (a famous shopping arcade in Milan) floor which shoppers take turns placing one foot on its balls and then spinning- shopping bags and all. It's funny seeing rich elegant women in Prada high heels doing this. The men twirl also. The balls have been worn down to the concrete. It's an Italian way of bringing good luck - god I love those people.

Ah! Thank you.