Kunst & Ambiente - Priapus God of Fertility - Erotic Art - Bronze Figurine in Two Parts - Penis Statue by M. Nick - Mythological Sculpture - Height: 25 cm

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So what is are sheela-na-gigs? They are statues with exaggerated vulvas that they are gleefully opening up to the world. They are often found on churches, which seems like the last place you would find an exhibitionist female statue. Most commonly found in Ireland and Britain sheela na gig-like sculptures can also be found in mainland Europe. When they appear on churches they are usually positioned over doorways or windows. It is as if the portal being opened by the statue is mirrored in the one below. The greatest dissemination of the Priapuseas in Roman literature took place during the reign of Augustus. At that time, poems devoted to Priapus were written by, among others, Horace and Tibullus. During the reign of Octavian of Augustus, the circle of poets gathered around Patron, the surviving anonymous collection of 85 Priapuses. These works, stylized as folk poetry, are a testimony to the great literary skill of the author (or authors), full of references, among others to Homer or Eratosthenes. In later years, Priapusea wrote, inter alia, Martial. The Warren Cup, bought by the British Museum in 1999, is one of the finest pieces of Roman silver work in existence. It is also one of the most pornographic. Usually dated to the 1st century after the birth of Christ, the silver drinking vessel shows four figures in a heavily decorated room surrounded by musical instruments. These signs of luxury are not what catch the eye, however.

Eventually, Priapus joined Pan (the god of shepherds) and the satyrs (male nature spirits). Every time he tried to have sex, he would lose his erection. In a story told by Ovid, Priapus tried to rape the goddess Hestia when she was asleep, but a donkey started braying at the crucial moment. This caused Priapus to lose his erection and also woke up Hestia. Since then, Priapus hated donkeys and relished in seeing them be destroyed in his honor. In Ovid's Fasti, [14] the nymph Lotis fell into a drunken slumber at a feast, and Priapus seized this opportunity to advance upon her. With stealth he approached, and just before he could embrace her, Silenus's donkey alerted the party with "raucous braying". Lotis awoke and pushed Priapus away, but her only true escape was to be transformed into the lotus tree. To punish the donkey for spoiling his opportunity, Priapus bludgeoned it to death with his gargantuan phallus. When the same story is recounted later in the same book, Lotis is replaced with the virginal goddess Hestia, who avoids being changed into a tree as the other Olympians come to her rescue. [15] Ovid's anecdote served to explain why donkeys were sacrificed to Priapus in the city of Lampsacus on the Hellespont, where he was worshipped among the offspring of Hermes. [16] Outside his native Asia Minor, the cult of Priapus often had strong humorous connotations – especially among city dwellers. In the countryside, he was taken a bit more seriously, even outside Asia Minor.

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O, the difference of man and man!' (IV.ii.26): Références et différences génitales dans King Lear" in Autour de King Lear, ed. A. Lafont and M.-C. Munoz, with F. Delord. Montpellier: IRCL, February 2009. Long after the fall of Rome and the rise of Christianity, Priapus continued to be invoked as a symbol of health and fertility. The 13th century Lanercost Chronicle, a history of northern England and Scotland, records a "lay Cistercian brother" erecting a statue of Priapus ( simulacrum Priapi statuere) in an attempt to end an outbreak of cattle disease. [26] Concerns about population size and fertility were a constant in ancient Rome. Analysis of female skeletons in Herculaneum shows that the average number of children born to elite women was less than two, and these findings support anecdotal evidence from this era that small families or childlessness were becoming common. Upper classes limited their families because of the risks inherent in childbirth. The number of children required per woman to keep the population stable has been estimated at between six and nine. There are two main reasons for this large number. A woman had about a one in fifty chance of dying in childbirth, with the danger increasing each time she gave birth, leading to many early deaths. The mortality rate for children was also very high, with various estimates putting the percentage who died at around 30% during their first year, while at least half of all children born would be dead by the age of 10. The worship of Priapus seems to have originated east of ancient Greece in the general region surrounding the Hellespont, a narrow strait now known by the European name the Dardanelles. Reverence of phallic deities was widespread in the ancient world and the influence of neighboring phallic gods on the worship of the ithyphallic deity Priapus may have contributed to the growth of the cult. Indeed, Priapus' non-Greek origin is suggested in art and sculpture by the Persian cap that he often wears in artistic depictions.

Venus was the divine protector of Pompeii, and featured in many frescoes around the city. [7] The goddess of love, sex, and fertility, Venus was closely associated with eroticism and prostitution in ancient Rome. [8] The mural of Venus from Pompeii was never seen by Botticelli, the painter of The Birth of Venus, but may have been a Roman copy of the then famous painting by Apelles which Lucian mentioned. What the Lovers was originally intended for is unknown. As with any archaeological find it may well have had a ritual meaning, but it is also possible that our ancestors were like us and simply preferred their porn 3D. 9 Pompeii Brothel PicturesFertility among female slaves was highly prized as this translated into profit for the slave owner. Columella writes in On Agriculture‘I have given exemption from work and sometimes even freedom to very fertile female slaves when they have borne many children since bearing a certain number of offspring ought to be rewarded.’The reward for a woman who produced three sons was exemption from work, and he would manumit (free) a woman who produced more. However, the children remained his property. While a few ancient writers said that his father was Zeus or Pan, most seemed to agree that Priapus was the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite.