"Respect the C*ck!" Let's take a foray into the symbology of the phallus in the ancient world! Well, why not?

 I just have to start this entry with an obvious clip.  Don't play it if it offends, alright?

Behold the Scientology twit! But, seriously, I just love that clip (although I hated the movie--must be because my ex-husband loved it.)

I have to put forth my obligatory luxury at this point.  This entry is going to raise issues that some might find, ah, sensational, or perhaps unnecessary.  However, for me, learning the language of important symbols provides an integral understanding of specific cultures--how they worshipped;  how they interpreted sex roles;  what their values were.

Times change, and so does the meaning given to specific symbols.  Take a gander at this:

I like that sequence, because it illustrates what I mean so well.  To extrapolate from the clip for a moment, let's take the most obvious changing symbol:

Amazing, isn't it? The swastika.

To us, this symbol is the personification of all evil;  to the ancients, it was not.  And yet, this is incredibly difficult to remember in the wake of the Nazi terror.

Note:  when my daughter was around 6 yrs old, she and I were watching an episode of "The X Files."  In the story, one of the characters drew a swastika.  My kid was doodling, and she ended up drawing that figure all over a blank page.  Curious, I looked over at her work, saw the figure, and modern historian that I am, completely freaked, and  proceeded to give her a lecture on Nazi Germany.  Believe me, you NEVER WANT me for a parent.

I have to be obvious now, and show you the 20th century re-interpretation of this ancient symbol:

And thus we return to the supremo German twit in power during the 1930s....

The ancient swastika meant very different things to ancients, amongst which we find luck, peace (!), nature, and in some cases, life.  I guess it shows the damage ignorance can do, if we don't understand the actual history of symbols.  In my opinion, we must be reminded.

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Note:

So, what in the hell got me started on symbols?  Well, when I was fifteen, my brilliant mother and I took a trip to Washington DC.  We were on one of those night-time tours of the monuments, and when the Washington Monument came into view (re:  obelisk), she said "look, honey! It's a gigantic phallic symbol!"

You know, I loved my parents.  Seriously.

So, now we turn to another ancient symbol:  the phallus.  What did the c*ck mean to the ancient world? Masculinity? Sexual prowess? Strength? God? Yes, all of these things.  But, it also meant life, creativity, fertility, and a ward against evil--protection.  Finally, it was also a popular good luck symbol!

Are these things a little different than you thought? Perhaps.  But the phallus was truly an integral part of the symbology in the ancient world for many different cultures, but particularly for western cultures.

Let's begin with the prehistoric era:

Can you see it? Ha! look below:

This image is from the prehistoric paintings in the caves at Lascaux…

I know, I know, I don't have to be obvious, but it's super fun for me!!

This is typically called an "ithyphallic" figure, which is defined as:

 having an erect penis 

—usually used of figures in an art representation

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ithyphallic

We'll also call this type of figure, anthropomorphic, as it combines animal with human traits. Typically, animal/human figures had a mystical, divine connotation (as far as we know, that is) for prehistoric, and ancient peoples.


Phallic symbols were everywhere in this long ago landscape, from art to architecture. So, how did this shape manifest? Let's start with this:

This is called a "Ziggurat" and is located in the former city of Ur--ancient Sumer.


Well, what does this have to do with a symbolic penis? Come on, are you sure you can't see it? Well, I think you can, Dear Reader. Think triangular, and then point it up towards the sky. Alright: let's try the chevron:

The chevron has different meanings over several ancient cultures, but the main themes seem to be life, fertility, and power. Now, what I'm about to illustrate, is how this symbol represents either male or female, depending upon the direction:

This inverted chevron obviously represents a woman's vulva. Riane Eisler referred to it as "the chalice" (for obvious reasons). If curious, check out her classic work on prehistoric symbols: https://www.amazon.com/Chalice-Blade-Our-History-Future/dp/0062502891. In addition, Eisler referred to chevrons pointed upwards as "the blade," as shown in the first collection. "The blade" is, according to Eisler, a symbolic penis:

Note: now, we're not the "time traveler" in HG Wells' The Time Machine. We cannot know, for certain, the true meaning behind such ancient symbols, yet we should not deny the practical sense of Eisler's interpretations.


If we can at least agree that pyramids may be phallic, and therefore may be an expression of worship towards a masculine divinity, then such interpretations are possible.


I believe that the pyramid is one of the earliest examples of symbolizing the phallus, and there have been many, many manifestations of the pyramid, from the earliest (the ziggurat), to the later forms:


Teotihuacan

Chichén-Itzá

S

Tikal









Now, not every single ancient kingdom or empire built either step-pyramids, or pyramids, but enough of them were built in wildly different cultures, continents, and times, to beg the question: was this a common symbolic connection that various peoples made autonomously? Well, I think our old mythological buddy Joseph Campbell thought so, although he referred to pyramids and associated temple structures as a "mountain"--perhaps ancients building a sort of 'bridge' like monument to their various sky deities.


https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691018393/the-mythic-image



The fact that such gods were often possessed of a male essence, or represented a male ruler.... Well, you do the math. Next, let's take a look at the obelisk:




Let's face it: the obelisk is completely obvious, and yet it's a shape that was largely extrapolated from the Egyptians, and used in later cultures to usually celebrate something or someone masculine, divine, semi-divine, or other (the last typically being a military hero). One exception to this was, of course, the pharaoh Hatshepsut (woman), who used the obelisk as a way to variously celebrate the accomplishments of her rule..


The Roman obelisk at Piranesi:






And, of course, the more memorable obelisks:






The Bunker Hill Monument





And, thus we briefly return to the Washington Monument:







Alright, now those are (perhaps) some of the less obvious (and yet still not concretized) examples of a symbolic phallus. What about the most obvious?


In time, the phallus was depicted in a more lifelike manner, while still being associated with accustomed meanings. Our next stop, is ancient Greece.




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Let me tell ya about a Greek guy named "Priapos", a.k.a. "Priapus" (among the Romans)







"PRIAPOS (Priapus) was the god of vegetable gardens. He was also a protector of beehives, flocks and vineyards.

Priapos was depicted as a dwarfish man with a huge member, symbolising garden fertility, a peaked Phrygian cap, indicating his origin as a Mysian god, and a basket weighed down with fruit.

His cult was introduced to Greece from Lampsakos (Lampsacus) in Asia Minor and his mythology subsequently reinterpreted. Primitive statues of the god were set-up in vegetable gardens to promote fertility. These also doubled as scarecrows, keeping the birds away."

https://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Priapos.html



Thus Priapos, a minor deity (but, alas, not a minor member), was associated with fertility, male essence, and good luck. Now, no one knows just how the phallus became a protection against evil, but it did. And, what form did it take? Look below:


The Herme














Hermes were an indirect tribute to the Greek god Hermes (later the Roman Mercury--sometime messenger of the Olympian Gods), and were loosely associated with male sexuality (of all shapes and sizes). The herme was to be found at access points in both Greek and Roman houses, and was used as a universal symbol to ward off evil. Yup, protection. Interesting, eh? Using a priapic as the veritable good luck charm, wasn't far away.

With such wide ranging applications, it wasn't long until you could see floating penises everywhere: from dinner plates, to ceramic lamps:








'Flying' phalluses were typically used by Romans to ward off illness. You often found little 'spirit' oil lamps like these, adorning any sickroom.





And, as necklaces or 'keyfobs'? (lol)












To be honest with you, it's still a little strange, even for me, to think that this was Rome's equivalent of a rabbit's foot!


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I believe you get the, ah, well you know what I mean!


Over the long years, the penis became less positively charged, and began to devolve into a mere symbol of male potency. There was a European male fashion, common to the fifteenth and sixteenth fashions called the 'codpiece.'


Oh dear. What would Henry VIII have done without his frigging codpiece?















Believe it or not, the codpiece was used by some as a type of wallet!


This is an interesting little article: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/a-brief-history-of-the-codpiece-the-personal-protection-for-renaissance-equipment


And, just in case you thought that this week's blog entry couldn't possibly get any stranger, let me leave you with this:




Nothing strange ever truly dies, does it? : )