Priapus: A phallic retrospective in ancients / NSFW - Natchomamas type of thread

[Ryro]

(Priapus appears to be feathering or dusting off his pride and joy)

To tell you the story, in short, about a very long God; Priapus was son of Dionysos and Aphrodite (way to play up out of your league Dionysos!) Or possibly a nymph. He much like Bes before him in Egypt, was a massive phallused God of fertility. Though, the difference being, Bes and his wife Besset were Gods whoes main area of expertise was in human fertility (that and Bes's crazy head). As Priapus was God of animal and plant fertility.

(Priapus "flashing" his genitals from under his trenchcoat...I mean toga)

In the, so funny it can't be true category of history, Priapus's worshipers sacrificed an "ass", that poor gal probably didn't sit down for a week, to ensure he would come fertilize their fields and animals. 

(10 denarii says my cock weighs more than your chicken)

Cut forward a few thousand years and this afternoon I'd already put a bid in on a slightly less popular Priapus type *I think primarily due to the fact they don't know why it looks like he has two dongs when, in fact, it's only one dong with his toga/cloak on top, as he is flashing us! The second coin was more desirable, as it matches the art work from the first fresco at the very top of the post, but already had two bids on it... then live bidding came and nobody gave any resistance to coin 1, won at opening bid! I figured I'd throw my hat in the ring on coin 2 and then... no other bids!!! I won these two, strange enough, at a the same major auction for around what I paid for my first Priapus (3rd coin below).

Without further blah, blah:

Nicopolis ad Istrum. Septimius Severus (193-211). Ae.

Obv: AV KAI CEVHPOC.

Laureate head right.

Rev: NIKOΠOΛI ΠPOC IC (retrograde from lower right).

Ithyphallic Priapus standing right, revealing himself.

Cf. Varbanov 2281-2. Condition: Good fine. Weight: 3.40 g. Diameter: 16 mm.

Nicopolis ad Istrum. Septimius Severus (193-211). Ae.

Obv: AV [...]Π CEVHPOC.

Laureate head right.

Rev: NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠPOC IC.

Ithyphallic Priapus standing left, revealing himself.

Cf. Varbanov 2366. Condition: Near very fine. Weight: 2.74 g. Diameter: 19 mm.

MOESIA INFERIOR. Nicopolis ad Istrum. Septimius Severus (193-211). Ae. Obv: AV KAI CE CEVHPOC.

Laureate head right.

Rev: NIKOΠOΛIT ΠPOC ICTP.

Ithyphallic Priapus standing left, revealing himself. Varbanov 2327-8. Good fine. 2.35 g.18 mm. Purchased from Numismatik Naumann Dr. F Jarman collection: Mints of Romthe Roman Empire. March 2021

Of course, "Ithyphallic", the rather limp term to simply say, hard on\boner\erection etc was kinda what Satyrs did in ancient coin centuries before Priapus rise not until the Hellenistic area:

Though penaii on ancients aren't all so aggressive as Priapus and his pals the Satyrs. 

Zeus didn't mind not being long, he was strong and bound to get the friction on:

Caracalla-198-217. Denarius (Silver, 19 mm, 3.00 g, 12 h), Rome, 217. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM Laureate head of Caracalla to right. Rev. P M TR P XX COS IIII P P Jupiter standing front, head to left, holding thunderbolt in his right hand and long scepter in his left. BMC 180. Cohen 373. RIC 285a. Light deposits and with a minor edge crack, otherwise, good extremely fine. Purchased from Leu Feb 2022

Certainly young Apollo wasn't expected to be chaste while the ladies chased him around like a fifth Beatle:

Roman luck charm of mine:

So, flaunt it if you got it! 

Ps, ancient dirty songs, whether made up recently or not, are also appreciated!!!

 

 

[Phil Davis]

Closest I can come...

[Roman Collector]

Whoa!! 😲 So glad you were able to TRIPLE your collection of ithiphallic Priapi!! I regret I don't have any coins that are even remotely relevant to post.

[Ryro]

6 minutes ago, Roman Collector said:

Whoa!! 😲 So glad you were able to TRIPLE your collection of ithiphallic Priapi!! I regret I don't have any coins that are even remotely relevant to post.

[Curtis JJ]

The artistry varies, so the trick with these is to get one where you can really tell what you're looking at.

Unfortunately I've sold both of these some years ago. Always figured I'd get another, but then suddenly they started to become harder to find (I guess when all the pre-1980s-2000 E. European stockpiles were suddenly depleted):

Septimius Severus AE Assarion. Moesia Inferior, Nikopolis as Istrum.
Obv: AVT CEΠT CEVHΡO. Laureate head right. 
Rev: NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠΡOC IC. Ithyphallic Priapus standing left.
Ref: Moushmov 987; AMNG 1380; Sear GIC 2280
Prov: Chicago, April 2014, CICF Bourse; sold shortly after on vcoins or ebay.

 

[Etcherdude]

I have no coins with Priapus but do have a photo of an interesting ensemble of phalli from the Landesmuseum in Trier.

[kirispupis]

Here's my coin of Priapos. Mine seems to have been overcome by crabs.

Mysia, Priapos
11.52mm, 1.11g 300-200 BCE
Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo right
Reverse: A / ΠPI, crab, harpa below
SNG von Aulock 7526
Ex Marc Breitsprecher

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

It's kind of funny how history repeats itself. The whole Priapus thing would probably be considered a hoot today.

Butt-Head voice, "He said crabs." (Beavis was always my favorite).

It's not something I'd hang up, but the Landesmuseum wind chime is pretty neat.

Hmm, now I want to find a VF or XF example of Curtis' posted coins.  However, I searched on vcoins and one (not all that nice) of a different emperor is $574!

He wasn't off-color, but I think you, Ryro, might want to check out Jim Hawthorne (1940's, before he became an interviewer).  He was one of the first Weird Al's.  archive.org might have something. Do an artist search of Jim hawthorne at https://radiogoldin.library.umkc.edu// for program names, although Goldin has a lot of programs that no one else has. archive might have a Hawthorne Thing or two floating around. It's 10/10 trippy! His interview shows are just that, interviews.

 

[Ryro]

Thanks for the great posts and support! Still in disbelief that two or three prudes from the site are bothered by this, led alone trying to get it taken down *or at least don't feel it belongs on a site about ancients???

This is a hobby for fun. Why would you tell someone else not to enjoy a hobby how they want, when you can just move in to a different post about LRBs (I do find it funny that the person that made the derogatory post and his 2 followers are both LRB guys who don't appear in any Greek or provincial posts)? Overall, I do find the subject of LRBs not something I'm very interested in. But I don't make some dorky post about how they don't belong and it isn't being handled the way I feel they should be handled. 

These are the same types whom hundreds of years ago went around drawing leafs over masterpieces to cover any privates or knocked the Phalluses off of Herms and Bes. 

Speaking of, I'd mentioned the similarities between Bes and Priapus in the OP. Here is the middle to old kingdom Egyptian diety with his phallus in hand (its so lame that I feel the need to use such an outdated term like phallus to placate a few squares)

 

And a Herm Sans penis:

Ps, thanks to @Restitutor for letting my content stay up. As you can tell, I  spend a good amount of time to make my posts as educational and entertaining as I can. If a few blue jokes need to go, cool I'm happy to edit (as a dad of three I get censorship being a necessary evil). However, there aren't many "filthy" words. It's all within the obviously humorous context that the ancients had it in. If someone didn't learn a few interesting facts about mythology after reading this and hopefully enjoying the artistry then they were clearly too obsessed with the imagery. 

For whatever primordial reason, this type has always spoken to me.

Folks, please Don't Yuck my Yum.

Edited September 5, 2022 by Ryro

[Phil Davis]

I come down firmly in favor of a bit of good-natured salaciousness and against censorship, but I also think @Restitutorsolution of adding NSFW to posts like this is reasonable. I would've left the title alone, but I guess I see the point of that change too.

It's worth noting that the thread that "inspired" these changes now seems to be gone (unless I'm just having a moment.) If the guy who posted it deleted it, obviously that's up to them, but if Restitutor deleted it himself, let the record state that I pretty strongly disagree with doing that.

[John Conduitt]

2 minutes ago, Phil Davis said:

I come down firmly in favor of a bit of good-natured salaciousness and against censorship, but I also think @Restitutorsolution of adding NSFW to posts like this is reasonable. I would've left the title alone, but I guess I see the point of that change too.

It's worth noting that the thread that "inspired" these changes now seems to be gone (unless I'm just having a moment.) If the guy who posted it deleted it, obviously that's up to them, but if Restitutor deleted it himself, let the record state that I pretty strongly disagree with doing that.

It's still there.

I had to look up NSFW, but it's a simple solution 🤪

Edited September 5, 2022 by John Conduitt

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I knew pretty much what to expect when the thread came up.  Left to my own devices, I'm a live and let live type of guy; silly potty humor doesn't bother me; I love Lenny Bruce, Sam Kinison and George Carlin.  However, an NSFW tag might alleviate any kerfluffle going forward. (Edit; and that seems to be what came about).

This is how I like to feel on the forum, and how I am most of the time.  Who is that little guy, by the way?  He has a bunch of memes on the Android, mostly cute stuff - but some Fritz the Cat type stuff as well.

The following gif is totally me when stuck behind 40mph drivers on the highway, or trying to renew my driver's license online.  Through no fault of my own, their wonderful authentification page doesn't work - just sticks on the same page.  I can never fill out all the info because it has a big circle with a line through it on one field!  And who wants to put oneself at more peril by calling the help line and giving up sensitive info to goodness knows who? Useless or unfair stuff angers me.  Added super bonus, the firm they chose to be the authenticator had a very famous data breach!  Arrghhh!!!! 

I'm not quite like that after coin photography, but that's also pretty frustrating. I can at least avoid photography pretty easily. Technology will improve and some good macro app will come around.

This (below) was me after scoring the Sulla coin!

[Phil Davis]

1 minute ago, John Conduitt said:

It's still there.

Then I'm losing my mind; I just looked again and I don't see it. Course, I don't see THIS thread either, although patently it still exists and I can access it via notifications. I'm on my phone right now; is it possible the topic list is different on a pc?

[Ryro]

3 minutes ago, Phil Davis said:

Then I'm losing my mind; I just looked again and I don't see it. Course, I don't see THIS thread either, although patently it still exists and I can access it via notifications. I'm on my phone right now; is it possible the topic list is different on a pc?

I've accidently gotten myself stuck on only one topic on here more than once. 

Up at the top, at least on my phone, there is a plus symbol. Go to that and make sure all the topics that interest you (I recommend all of them) are selected and save. 

Almost forgot this archaic fella from Macedon:

[John Conduitt]

8 minutes ago, Ryro said:

Up at the top, at least on my phone, there is a plus symbol. Go to that and make sure all the topics that interest you (I recommend all of them) are selected and save. 

Yes and these posts are in the General forum, which is the one I switch on and off the most, confusing the hell out of myself.

Edited September 5, 2022 by John Conduitt

[Phil Davis]

6 minutes ago, Ryro said:

I've accidently gotten myself stuck on only one topic on here more than once. 

Up at the top, at least on my phone, there is a plus symbol. Go to that and make sure all the topics that interest you (I recommend all of them) are selected and save. 

Almost forgot this archaic fella from Macedon:

Thanks. The plus sign didn't take me there, but you did start me on the path of checking settings. It seems my phone decided--while I was in the middle of using it!--that I really only wanted to see Roman Imperial. I've rechecked all the boxes and all is as it should be.

TL/DR: Never mind!

[Leo]

The Control mark on my Alexander Tetradrachm is... quite a thing!

[Restitutor]

1 minute ago, Leo said:

The Control mark on my Alexander Tetradrachm is... quite a thing!

Not sure why this is the first thing I thought of but… 

🤣

[Ryro]

4 minutes ago, Phil Davis said:

Thanks. The plus sign didn't take me there, but you did start me on the path of checking settings. It seems my phone decided--while I was in the middle of using it!--that I really only wanted to see Roman Imperial. I've rechecked all the boxes and all is as it should be.

TL/DR: Never mind!

Exactly! It'll be from no doing of mine, at least that I'm aware. And I'm stuck in a specific topic. Anywho, it's somewhere at the top.

You'll have to remind me how to get there when I get lost next time. 

[ominus1]

hahaha...hey...who wasn't expecting this..   rock on Ryro my non conformist Friend...but try not to be one 😛

Edited September 5, 2022 by ominus1

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I think Ryro should pull a prank and do a thread which is sedate, just to confuse people.  It is Ryro, after all; one kind of expects silly humor.  With all due respect to the people who don't like it, the best filter for those who don't want that type of humor is don't read a Ryro thread (say that 3 times fast).  There's a 99.7% chance that it's probably going to be a bit off color.

Life isn't perfect.  If the worst we have to worry about is Beavis and Butt-Head humor, we're doing pretty well.  I prefer potty-ness over ban-happy.  I'd totally go the confuse-a-cat route and drop a few threads which are normal.

I can't find a Monty Python Confuse a Cat meme...

That was weird, the pages seemed to go down for a couple of minutes.

[kirispupis]

Just a thought - so there's been a bit of snit over posts like this one containing ancient images of penises, boobs, and butts.

However, NOT A SINGLE PERSON has voiced concern over the other (far more common) coins that depict people being speared, heads cut off, tied to trees, run over by horses, etc.

Should we be concerned about our society's values as a whole?

[John Conduitt]

2 minutes ago, kirispupis said:

Just a thought - so there's been a bit of snit over posts like this one containing ancient images of penises, boobs, and butts.

However, NOT A SINGLE PERSON has voiced concern over the other (far more common) coins that depict people being speared, heads cut off, tied to trees, run over by horses, etc.

Should we be concerned about our society's values as a whole?

Not concern. But we did query how this went with the legend 'happy times are here again'. 🤣

[Ryro]

24 minutes ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

I think Ryro should pull a prank and do a thread which is sedate, just to confuse people.

THANK YOU!!! And I did my dude: 

 

And despite, our more likely due to, the very specific and specialized content I recieved only one response.

Nevertheless, good read, enjoy if you haven't😊

Edited September 5, 2022 by Ryro