Penis in Art and Religion

Art:

To know more about the history of almost subject, one needs look no further than art and religion. The penis has obviously been around for thousands of years but it is not always easy to find art dating back that far. Ancient sculptures of the penis, or phallus, exist in all parts of the world. A small number of philosophers, Greek Gods and other prominent people have been sculpted naked for arts' sake. One of the most famous ones being the 28,000 year old siltstone "Hohle phallus" found in the Hohle Fels cave and pieced together only a year ago. Michelangel's David is another more recent example from the 16th century.

A famous belt buckle was created due to the controversial art of Aubrey Beardsley. His notorious illustration, The Lacedaemonian Ambassadors was the root of this fashion trend in the 19th century. Nowadays there is certainly no lack of penises in art as combining the naked body with art is no longer as much of a taboo as it used to be.

Religion:

The subject of the penis in religion is a little more of a delicate subject. Nevertheless, Greek, Roman and Scandinavian histories are trickled with it. The Greek Messenger Deity, Hermes, was deemed to be a phallic God before being the famous messenger. Another important sexually charged God was Priapus. He was the Greek God of fertility who is more often than not associated with having a extremely large penis. His name is now used to refer to Priapism, a serious medical condition where a man maintains a constant erection.

In Roman history, it was believed that wearing jewelry shaped like the penis was a symbol of good luck and warded off the Evil Eye. It is in Sweden, however, where perhaps the most blatant display of penis in culture stands. The Norse God Freyr represented love and male fertility. A statue of him with an erection can be found in the liberal country- a fact that has been put onto paper by several prominent writers.