When I was a little girl I fell in love with Greece. I don’t really know where my obsession began, it was probably thanks to Disney’s awesome Hercules that pushed me to read all I could about myths. Almost at the same time, I met a woman named was Atenea (“Athena” in Spanish) whose father was Greek. My dad was working with her mother and while they discussed business, she would take me to the garden and play with me. Naturally, I asked her a lot about the Greek culture and she would describe to me the cities and towns she had visited in Greece since she was a little girl. At that moment I decided that I had to visit that place at all cost. When I turned fifteen, which is a special age in my country, my parents asked me what I wanted for gift and I automatically answered that I wanted to visit Greece. My aunt, having studied history and also a huge fan of Greek culture, offered to go with me.
One of the first things we did in Athens was visit the Parthenon and the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. I was already familiar with the importance of sex in Ancient Greece; I mean, no matter how toned down the kid’s version of the myths are, it’s kind of obvious that sexuality was the main protagonist in these stories. However, I can’t stress enough how shocked I was when I entered these museums; there were phalluses literally everywhere. Not only there, every souvenir shop around Athens had explicit objects that playfully highlighted that area, from erotic decks of cards to plush toys of the main gods and mythological figures. So, naturally, I just got the impression that the Greeks (actually ancient Greeks) were very steamy and explicit.
It’s well known that sexuality and representations of the phallus, in general, are part of humanity’s way to understand the world and the creation of life. Many cultures worship the phallus as a symbol of fertility and life, as well as power and strength. Greeks weren’t the exception, and that’s one of the main reasons why they put a lot of attention to this organ in their art and architecture. The phallus wasn’t only related to sexuality, and one of the main examples can be found in the island of Delos, the birthplace of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis. The island is an archaeological site you can only visit and it only takes a short boat trip from Mykonos to see the famous palm and exact spot where they were thought to be born. In this small, yet highly important island, you can also visit the remains of the Stoivadeion Temple of Dionysus. The most impressive part of this temple are the pillars holding two gigantic phalluses. These are actually honoring the God’s importance in theater. Actually, two statues representing the actors stood next to the pillars and were moved into the museum for protection.
If you happen to be in Israel you can visit the Mortuary site of Kfar HaHoresh in Nazareth, which dates back to the Neolithic period. Here is the site where in 2008, many figurines and phallic-shaped artifacts were found. In this place there is an impressive number of buried bodies, which was unusual for Neolithic people because they rarely recurred to mass burial centers. What is also interesting is that according to Nigel Goring-Morris, who is the chief archaeologist from the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, in nearby excavations they discovered representations and symbols of female genitalia.
Let’s go back to the Mediterranean, and to Italy’s legendary city of Pompeii, which was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Like the Greeks, the Romans are also known for their erotic and recurrent phallic representations in art and decorative ornaments. Fascinus was the Roman personification of the divine phallus and it was thought to serve as a protection against evil and sorcery. Many amulets, artifacts, and decorations were found in homes, especially at their entrances. Other frescoes and paintings depicting Priapus (ancient god of fertility, best known for his extremely big penis) and mythological scenes are also found. The latter were jaw-droppingly pornographic and during the nineteenth century they were collected and safely stored in a secret cabinet.
Let’s leave the Greeks and Romans and cross the Atlantic Ocean to Mexico, where the Mayan culture blossomed. For this civilization, the phallus was a symbol of fertility and was related to agriculture. In an archaeological study sponsored by the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies (FAMSI), about 130 phallic figurines and statues were found across 40 different sites in the region. It was believed these trinkets were part of rituals that asked deities for rain during crop season. It was believed that rain was some sort of divine semen that gave life to the earth. Some archaeological sites like Chichen Itza and Uxmal even have Phallic Temples, and these representations can be found scattered across the Mayan region.
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Phallic representations are found all over the globe and each have different meanings according to the culture and religion of the regions. If you want to know more about the representations of sexuality throughout history take a look at these:
The Secret Collection Of Phalluses and Chastity Belts From The British Museum
5 Artifacts Show How You’ve Woven Sex And Sexuality Into Your World View
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