16 thoughts on ““Why do all old statues have such small penises?””

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david_by_michelangelo_jbu10
Close-up of Michelangelo’s David

Reader question: “Why do all old statues have such small penises?”

The reader who sent me this felt that it was a question that was maybe too silly for my blog, but – firstly – there are no questions too silly for this blog, and – secondly – the answer to this question is actually pretty interesting.

By “old statues”, I assume that we’re talking about ancient Greek and Roman statues. We’ll focus ancient Greek statues, as they heavily influenced all other small-penised European sculptures.

Laocoön and His Sons, Greek sculpture, Vatican Museum
Laocoön and His Sons, Greek sculpture, Vatican Museum

There are two main reasons why ancient Greek statues have small penises:

Firstly, they’re flaccid. If you compare their size to most flaccid male penises, they are actually not significantly smaller than real-life penises tend to be.

Secondly, cultural values about male beauty were completely different back then. Today, big penises are seen as valuable and manly, but back then, most evidence points to the fact that small penises were considered better than big ones.

Greek bronze, The Victorious Youth, J. Paul Getty Museum
Greek bronze, The Victorious Youth, J. Paul Getty Museum

One of the reasons historians, such as Kenneth Dover in his landmark book Greek Homosexuality, have suggested that small penises were more culturally valued is that large penises were associated with very specific characteristics: foolishness, lust and ugliness. There are actually quite a few ancient Greek sculptures that have enormous penises. Here’s one:

Greek statue of a satyr, Athens Archeological Museum
Greek statue of a satyr, Athens Archeological Museum

Here’s another:

A Greek Terracotta figure of Priapus
A Greek Terracotta figure of Priapus

The first sculpture is of a satyr, and the second is of the Greek god Priapus. Satyrs were mythological creatures that were followers of Dionysus, the god of pleasure and wine. Priapus was a Greek fertility god cursed with a permanent erection, impotence, ugliness and foul-mindedness by Hera. Priapus was actually so despised by the other gods that he was thrown off Mount Olympus.

All representations of large penises in ancient Greek art and literature are associated with foolish, lustful men, or the animal-like satyrs. Meanwhile, the ideal Greek man was rational, intellectual and authoritative. He may still have had a lot of sex, but this was unrelated to his penis size, and his small penis allowed him to remain coolly logical.

Greek bronze, thought to be Poseidon or Zeus, Athens Archeological Museum.
Greek bronze, thought to be Poseidon or Zeus, Athens Archeological Museum.

The Greek playwright Aristophanes summarises this attitude in one of his plays, Clouds, where he writes:

“If you do these things I tell you, and bend your efforts to them, you will always have a shining breast, a bright skin, big shoulders, a minute tongue, a big rump and a small prick. But if you follow the practices of today, for a start you’ll have a pale skin, small shoulders, a skinny chest, a big tongue, a small rump, a big prick and a long-winded decree.” (Lines 1010 – 1019, emphasis mine)

Ancient Greek sculptures are all about balance and idealism. Therefore, it makes sense that they wouldn’t have large penises, as this would be considered humorous or grotesque.

The ancient Romans might have been more positive towards large penises, but their sculptures continue the trend of small penises. Later, in Renaissance art, sculptors were very specifically influenced by ancient Greek art and their small penis size.

A famous example of a small penis is Michelangelo’s David (1501 – 04), a Renaissance sculpture from Florence, Italy. There’s an interesting theory for why David’s penis is so small, apart from the Greek influence. In 2005, two Florentine doctors published a paper arguing that David’s penis was shriveled by fear. When viewed from the front, David’s face actually looks frightened and concerned, because of his impending fight with the giant Goliath. The doctors argue that Michelangelo sculpted every detail in David’s body to be consistent with symptoms of fear and tension – including his genitals.

Michelangelo’s David in the Galleria dell’Accademia, Italy
Michelangelo’s David in the Galleria dell’Accademia, Italy

Classical Greek sculpture has been hugely influential for all sculptural representations of the male body in European art, so it’s no wonder that small-penised statues have been the norm throughout most of Western art history. It also shows that our obsession with penis size has always been there, it’s just changed slightly.

 Complete Article HERE!

The Erotic Mind of Scott Church — Podcast #417 — 05/21/14

[Look for the podcast play button below.]

Hey sex fans,

Thanks for indulging me some time away from podcasting over the last couple of weeks. The break was necessary for me to scott church1catch up on some very important stuff. But now that I’m back, I’m rarin’ to go. Today, we’re all about The Erotic Mind. As you know this is the show where we chat with ingenious erotic artists of every stripe from all over the freakin’ world. And all these conversations center around one simple premise — trying to uncover something of the creative process involved with this specialized art form.

Today my guest is the internationally acclaimed photographer, Scott Church. He is an extraordinary artist and quite the philosopher too. And his wisdom and sensitivity shine through his brilliant work. I look forward to a thought provoking and entertaining chat.

Scott and I discuss:

  • His work being natural and realistic;
  • Including and integrating all his work on site;
  • Silly, playful, and cute is sexy too;
  • The sensual nature of his non-erotic work;
  • Maturity, aging, and the erotic;
  • Chronicling and editorializing;
  • Having the eye;
  • People are people, celebrity or not;
  • The sensual and mundane;
  • A foot fetishist’s dream.

Scott invites you to visit him on his website HERE! Or find him on Model Mayhem HERE and Tumblr HERE! He’s on Facebook HERE and Twitter HERE!

Click on the thumbnail images below to see a slideshow of some of Scott’s work.

[portfolio_slideshow id=56870]

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

Look for all my podcasts on iTunes. You’ll find me in the podcast section, obviously. Just search for Dr Dick Sex Advice. And don’t forget to subscribe. I wouldn’t want you to miss even one episode.

Today’s Podcast is bought to you by: DR DICK’S — HOW TO VIDEO LIBRARY.

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More of The Erotic Mind of Stan Cole — Podcast #408 — 02/24/14

[Look for the podcast play button below.]

Hey sex fans,

Ya know what? Last week I was so excited to introduce you to my guest that I completely forgot to mention that stan cole2last week’s podcast marked my 7th anniversary of podcasting. Holy Cow, that’s a lotta podcasting. Hurray for me and all the people who, by their generous donations, make this fun, interesting, and informative sex positive resource available world-wide.

And what better example of the kind of stuff you will find in my podcasts than this The Erotic Mind show. And what better example of the fascinating artists you will find on this show than the very talented, Stan Cole. Who just so happens to be here for Part 2 of his conversation with us about his delightful work.

But wait, you didn’t miss Part 1 of our chat or his first slide show, did you? Well not to worry if ya did, because you can find it and all my podcasts in the Podcast Archive right here on my site. All ya gotta do is use the search function in the header; type in Podcast #407 and PRESTO! But don’t forget the #sign when you do your search.

Stan and I discuss:

  • Idealized masculinity and including men of color;
  • What drives his erotic creativity;
  • His fondness for spooge;
  • Developing trends in erotic art;
  • Art and porn;
  • What is erotic in art;
  • Erotic art and personal eroticism;
  • What he looks for in the erotic art of others;
  • Artists who inspires him;
  • Advice for the novice erotic artist.

Stan invites you to visit him on his website HERE! Buy his work HERE! Look for him on Tumblr HERE! And Twitter HERE!

Click on the thumbnail images below to see another slideshow of Stan’s smutty work.

[portfolio_slideshow id=14236]

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

Look for all my podcasts on iTunes. You’ll find me in the podcast section, obviously. Just search for Dr Dick Sex Advice. And don’t forget to subscribe. I wouldn’t want you to miss even one episode.

Today’s Podcast is bought to you by: DR DICK’S — HOW TO VIDEO LIBRARY.

drdickvod.jpg

The Erotic Mind of Stan Cole — Podcast #407 — 02/17/14

[Look for the podcast play button below.]

Hey sex fans,photo (20)

We’re on a roll with The Erotic Mind show. For the last two weeks, we spent some time visiting with a well-established literary artist from Portland, OR. Today we travel to England to visit with an up and coming visual artist. I am pleased to welcome the very talented artist and illustrator, Stan Cole.

Stan and I discuss:

  • His passion for his work;
  • Letting his work speak for itself;
  • Who is Stan Cole;
  • Getting a degree in doodling;
  • His nom de smut;
  • Lots of cum shots;
  • Interacting with his fans;
  • Commissions;
  • The distinction between artist and illustrator;
  • Comparing his erotic and non-erotic art;
  • The possibility of future collaborations;
  • His interest in comics;
  • The influence of pop culture.

 

Stan invites you to visit him on his website HERE! Buy his work HERE! Look for him on Tumblr HERE! And Twitter HERE!

Click on the thumbnail images below to see a slideshow of some of Stan’s delightful work.

[portfolio_slideshow id=14208]

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

 

Look for my podcasts on iTunes. You’ll find me in the podcast section, obviously, or just search for Dr Dick Sex Advice. And don’t forget to subscribe. I wouldn’t want you to miss even one episode.

Today’s Podcast is bought to you by: Fleshlight & FleshJack.