Phallos
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A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a
mimetic Mimesis (; grc, μίμησις, ''mīmēsis'') is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including '' imitatio'', imitation, nonsensuous similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the ...
image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically—or, more precisely, iconically—resembles a penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic (as in "phallic symbol"). Such symbols often represent fertility and cultural implications that are associated with the male sexual organ, as well as the male orgasm.


Etymology

The term is a loanword from Latin ''phallus'', itself borrowed from Greek (''phallos''), which is ultimately a derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root *''bʰel''- "to inflate, swell". Compare with Old Norse (and
modern Icelandic Icelandic (; is, íslenska, link=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Due to being a West Scandinavian language, it is most closely re ...
) ''boli'' " bull",
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
''bulluc'' " bullock", Greek " whale".


Archaeology

The Hohle phallus, a 28,000-year-old siltstone phallus discovered in the
Hohle Fels The ''Hohle Fels'' () (also ''Hohlefels'', ''Hohler Fels'', German for "hollow rock") is a cave in the Swabian Jura of Germany that has yielded a number of important archaeological finds dating from the Upper Paleolithic. Artifacts found in the ...
cave and reassembled in 2005, is among the oldest phallic representations known.


Religion


Ancient Egypt

The phallus played a role in the cult of Osiris in
ancient Egyptian religion Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancient Egyptian culture. It centered on the Egyptians' interactions with many deities believed to be present in, and in control ...
. When Osiris' body was cut in 14 pieces,
Set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...
scattered them all over Egypt and his wife Isis retrieved all of them except one, his penis, which was swallowed by a fish; Isis made him a wooden replacement. The phallus was a symbol of fertility, and the god Min was often depicted as ithyphallic, that is, with an erect penis.


Classical antiquity

In traditional Greek mythology, Hermes, god of boundaries and exchange (popularly the ''messenger'' god) is considered to be a phallic deity by association with representations of him on
herms Herms is a surname and given name. Notable people with the name include: *George Herms (born 1935), American artist * René Herms (1982-2009), German middle-distance runner *Herms Niel Ferdinand Friedrich Hermann Nielebock (17 April 1888 – 16 ...
(pillars) featuring a phallus. There is no scholarly consensus on this depiction and it would be speculation to consider Hermes a type of fertility god. Pan, son of Hermes, was often depicted as having an exaggerated erect phallus.
Priapus In Greek mythology, Priapus (; grc, Πρίαπος, ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term ...
is a Greek god of fertility whose symbol was an exaggerated phallus. The son of Aphrodite and
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
, according to Homer and most accounts, he is the protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens, and male genitalia. His name is the origin of the medical term
priapism Priapism is a condition in which a penis remains erect for hours in the absence of stimulation or after stimulation has ended. There are three types: ischemic (low-flow), nonischemic (high-flow), and recurrent ischemic (intermittent). Most cases ...
. The city of Tyrnavos in Greece holds an annual Phallus festival, a traditional event celebrating the phallus on the first days of
Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
. The phallus was ubiquitous in ancient Roman culture, particularly in the form of the '' fascinum'', a phallic charm. The ruins of
Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
produced bronze wind chimes ''( tintinnabula)'' that featured the phallus, often in multiples, to ward off the evil eye and other malevolent influences. Statues of Priapus similarly guarded gardens. Roman boys wore the ''
bulla Bulla (Latin, 'bubble') may refer to: Science and medicine * Bulla (dermatology), a bulla * Bulla, a focal lung pneumatosis, an air pocket in the lung * Auditory bulla, a hollow bony structure on the skull enclosing the ear * Ethmoid bulla, pa ...
'', an amulet that contained a phallic charm, until they formally came of age. According to
Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
, the cult of Father Liber, who presided over the citizen's entry into political and sexual manhood, involved a phallus. The phallic deity Mutunus Tutunus promoted marital sex. A sacred phallus was among the objects considered vital to the security of the Roman state which were in the keeping of the
Vestal Virgins In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...
. Sexuality in ancient Rome has sometimes been characterized as "
phallocentric Phallocentrism is the ideology that the phallus, or male sexual organ, is the central element in the organization of the social world. Phallocentrism has been analyzed in literary criticism, psychoanalysis and psychology, linguistics, medicine and h ...
".


Ancient India

Shiva, the most widely worshipped male deity in Hinduism pantheon, is worshipped much more commonly in the form of the lingam. Evidence of the lingam in India dates back to prehistoric times. Although Lingam is neither a ''mere'' phallic iconography nor the textual sources signify it as so, stone Lingams with several varieties are found to this date in many of the old temples, and in museums in India and abroad, which are often more clearly phallic than later stylized lingams. The famous "man-size"
Gudimallam Lingam The Gudimallam Lingam is an ancient linga in the Parasurameswara Swamy Temple of Gudimallam, a small village near Tirupati city in the Yerpedu mandal of the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is situated about 13 kilometers south-ea ...
in Andhra Pradesh is about in height, carved in polished black granite, and clearly represents an erect phallus, with a figure of the deity in relief superimposed down the shaft. Many of the earliest depictions of Shiva as a figure in human form are ithyphallic, as for example in coins of the
Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...
. Some figures up to about the 11th century AD have erect phalluses, although they become increasingly rare.


Indonesia

According to the Indonesian chronicles of the
Babad Tanah Jawi ''Babad Tanah Jawi'' ( jv, ꦧꦧꦢ꧀ꦠꦤꦃꦗꦮꦶ, "History of the land of Java"), is a generic title for many manuscripts written in the Javanese language. Their arrangements and details vary, and no copies of any of the manuscripts are o ...
, Prince Puger gained the kingly power from God, by ingesting sperm from the phallus of the already-dead Sultan Amangkurat II of Mataram.


Bhutan

The phallus is commonly depicted in its paintings. Wooden phalluses, with white ribbons hanging from the tip, are often hung above the doorways of houses, to deter evil spirits.


Ancient Scandinavia

*The Norse god Freyr is a phallic deity, representing male fertility and love. *The short story ''
Völsa þáttr ''Vǫlsa þáttr'' is a short story which is only extant in the ''Flateyjarbók'' codex, where it is found in a chapter of ''Óláfs saga helga''. It is probably from the fourteenth century but takes place in 1029, when Scandinavia was still large ...
'' describes a family of Norwegians worshiping a preserved horse penis. *Some image stones, such as the Stora Hammers and
Tängelgårda stone The image stone at Tängelgårda, Lärbro parish, Gotland, Sweden is decorated with a scene of warriors holding rings, one (possibly Odin) horsed, with Valknut symbols drawn beneath. See also *Stora Hammars stones External linksPhotograph of T ...
s, were phallic shaped.


Iran

Khalid Nabi Cemetery Khalid Nabi Cemetery ( fa, گورستان خالد نبی, "Cemetery of the Prophet Khaled") is a cemetery in northeastern Iran's Golestan province near the border with Turkmenistan, roughly northeast of Gonbad-e Kavous city, in the Gokcheh D ...
( Persian: گورستان خالد نبی‎, "Cemetery of the Prophet Khaled") is a cemetery in northeastern Iran's Golestan province. Touristic visitors often have perceived the cylindrical shafts with the thicker top as depictions of male phalli. This gave rise to popular hypotheses about pre-Islamic
fertility cult Fertility rites or fertility cult are religious rituals that are intended to stimulate reproduction in humans or in the natural world. Such rites may involve the sacrifice of "a primal animal, which must be sacrificed in the cause of fertility or ...
s.


Japan

The Mara Kannon Shrine () in Nagato, Yamaguchi prefecture is one of many fertility shrines in Japan that still exist today. Also present in festivals such as the
Danjiri Matsuri Danjiri Matsuri are cart-pulling festivals held in Japan. The Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri is probably the most famous. There are other Danjiri Matsuri held in the City of Kobe and Haruki Town, but they are less popular and spectacular. The highlight ...
()Danjiri Matsuri Festival
/ref> in Kishiwada,
Osaka prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...
, the Kanamara Matsuri in Kawasaki, and the Hōnen Matsuri (, Harvest Festival) in
Komaki is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 148,872 in 68,174 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city was . Komaki is commonly associated with the former Komaki Airport, whic ...
,
Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...
, though historically phallus adoration was more widespread.


Balkans

''Kuker'' is a divinity personifying fecundity, sometimes in Bulgaria and Serbia it is a plural divinity. In Bulgaria, a ritual spectacle of spring (a sort of
carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...
performed by
Kukeri Kukeri ( bg, кукери; singular: kuker, кукер) are elaborately costumed Bulgarian men, who perform traditional rituals intended to scare away evil spirits. This Bulgarian tradition has been practiced since Thracian times and is of a Thr ...
) takes place after a scenario of folk theatre, in which Kuker's role is interpreted by a man attired in a sheep- or goat-pelt, wearing a horned mask and girded with a large wooden phallus. During the ritual, various physiological acts are interpreted, including the sexual act, as a symbol of the god's sacred marriage, while the symbolical wife, appearing pregnant, mimes the pains of giving birth. This ritual inaugurates the labours of the fields ( ploughing,
sowing Sowing is the process of planting seeds. An area or object that has had seeds planted in it will be described as a sowed or sown area. Plants which are usually sown Among the major field crops, oats, wheat, and rye are sown, grasses and leg ...
) and is carried out with the participation of numerous allegorical personages, among which is the Emperor and his entourage.Kernbach, Victor (1989). ''Dicţionar de Mitologie Generală''. Bucureşti: Editura Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică. .


Switzerland

In
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, the heraldic bears in a coat of arms had to be painted with bright red penises, otherwise they would have been mocked as being she-bears. In 1579, a calendar printed in St. Gallen omitted the genitals from the heraldic bear of
Appenzell Appenzell is a historic canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered a league with the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1411, ...
, nearly leading to war between the two cantons.


The Americas

Figures of
Kokopelli Kokopelli () is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with feathers or antenna-like protrusions on his head), who is venerated by some Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Like most fer ...
and Itzamna (as the Mayan tonsured maize god) in Pre-Columbian America often include phallic content. Additionally, over forty large monolithic sculptures (''Xkeptunich'') have been documented from Terminal Classic Maya sites with the majority of examples occurring in the Puuc region of Yucatán (Amrhein 2001). Uxmal has the largest collection with eleven sculptures now housed under a protective roof on site. The largest sculpture was recorded at Almuchil measuring more than 320 cm high with a diameter at the base of the shaft measuring 44 cm.


Alternative sects

St. Priapus Church St. Priapus Church (french: Église S. Priape), also known as Temple of Priapus, is a North American pagan religion founded in the 1980s that centres on the worship of the phallus. Formation and tenets St. Priapus Church was founded in M ...
(French: ''Église S. Priape'') is a North American new religion that centres on the worship of the phallus. Founded in the 1980s in Montreal, Quebec, by D. F. Cassidy, it has a following mainly among
homosexual men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, ...
in Canada and the United States. Semen is also treated with reverence and its consumption is an act of worship. Semen is esteemed as sacred because of its divine life-giving power.


Psychoanalysis

The symbolic version of the phallus, a phallic symbol is meant to represent male generative powers. According to Sigmund Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, while males possess a penis, no one can possess the symbolic phallus.
Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, , ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud", Lacan gave yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, and pu ...
's ''Ecrits: A Selection'' includes an essay titled ''The Signification of the Phallus'' in which sexual differentiation is represented in terms of the difference between "being" and "having" the phallus, which for Lacan is the transcendent signifier of desire. Men are positioned as men insofar as they wish to ''have'' the phallus. Women, on the other hand, wish to ''be'' the phallus. This difference between having and being explains some tragicomic aspects of sexual life. Once a woman becomes, in the realm of the signifier, the phallus the man wants, he ceases to want it, because one cannot desire what one has, and the man may be drawn to other women. Similarly, though, for the woman, the gift of the phallus deprives the man of what he has, and thereby diminishes her desire. Norbert Wiley states that Lacan's phallus is akin to Durkheim's mana. In ''Gender Trouble'',
Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler ...
explores Freud's and Lacan's discussions of the symbolic phallus by pointing out the connection between the phallus and the penis. They write, "The law requires conformity to its own notion of 'nature'. It gains its legitimacy through the binary and asymmetrical naturalization of bodies in which the phallus, though clearly not identical to the penis, deploys the penis as its naturalized instrument and sign". In ''Bodies that Matter'', they further explore the possibilities for the phallus in their discussion of ''The Lesbian Phallus''. If, as they note, Freud enumerates a set of analogies and substitutions that rhetorically affirm the fundamental transferability of the phallus from the penis elsewhere, then any number of other things might come to stand in for the phallus.


Modern use of the phallus

The phallus is often used to advertise
pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,
, as well as the sale of contraception. It has often been used in provocative practical jokes and has been the central focus of adult-audience performances. The phallus had a new set of art interpretations in the 20th century with the rise of Sigmund Freud, the founder of modern psychoanalysis of psychology. One example is " Princess X" by the Romanian modernist sculptor
Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian Sculpture, sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century and a pioneer of ...
. He created a scandal in the Salon in 1919 when he represented or caricatured Princess Marie Bonaparte as a large gleaming bronze phallus. This phallus likely symbolizes Bonaparte's obsession with the penis and her lifelong quest to achieve vaginal orgasm. page 66f, page 73 File:Mechanical penis.jpg, A woman riding a phallic mechanical bull at
EXXXOTICA Exxxotica Expo is an American annual three-day adult-themed event produced by 3XEvents. First held in 2006, Exxxotica has featured some of the most recognized names in the adult industry, including Jenna Jameson, Tera Patrick and Katie Morgan. ...
New York 2009 File:2005 walking penis.jpg, Penis costume at a 2005 parade in San Francisco File:Lisboa Monumento 25 Abril.jpg, Monument to the
Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...
, Lisbon, Portugal


See also

*
Dog's bollocks (typography) The compound point is an obsolete typographical construction. Keith Houston reported that this form of punctuation doubling, which involved the comma dash (,—), the semicolon dash (;—), the colon dash, or ' dog's bollocks' (:—), and less oft ...
* Hōnen Matsuri * Kanamara Matsuri *
Mars symbol A planet symbol (or ''planetary symbol'') is a graphical symbol used in astrological symbol, astrology and astronomical symbol, astronomy to represent a classical planet (including the Sun and the Moon) or one of the modern planets. The symbols wer ...
*
Maypole A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place. The festivals may occur on 1 May or Pentecost (Whitsun), although in some countries it is instead erected at ...
* Phallic architecture * Most Phallic Building contest *
Phallic narcissism Wilhelm Reich first identified the phallic narcissistic personality type, with excessively inflated self-image. The individual is elitist, a "social climber", admiration seeking, self-promoting, bragging and empowered by social success. According ...
* Phallus paintings in Bhutan *
Saint Ubaldo Day Saint Ubaldo Day or ''Festa dei Ceri'' is an event celebrated on 15 May in the Italian town of Gubbio. It honors the life of Bishop Ubaldo Baldassini who was canonized as protector of Gubbio. It is also celebrated in the American town of Jessup, ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

* Vigeland Monolith – Oslo, Norwa
Polytechnique.fr
* Dulaure, Jacques-Antoine (1974). ''Les Divinités génératrices''. Vervier, Belgium: Marabout. Without ISBN. * * * * * *


External links

* * {{Authority control Cult of Dionysus Sexology Sexuality and society