I. ch. 33.
[46] _Orpheus_, Argonaut. 422.—_Lucian_, De Saltat. ch. 27., Dialog.
Deorum, 2.
[47] _Strabo_, XI. p. 495.
[48] _Herodotus_, bk. I. ch. 105., καὶ γὰρ τὸ ἐν Κύπρῳ ἱρὸν ἐνθεῦτεν
ἐγένετο, ὡς αὐτοὶ λέγουσι Κύπριοι· καὶ τὸ ἐν Κυθήροισι Φοίνικές εἰσι
οἱ ἱδρυσάμενοι, ἐκ ταύτης τῆς Συρίης ἐόντες, (for the Temple in Cyprus
was built from it,—i.e. in imitation of the temple of Venus at Ascalon,
as the Cyprians themselves admit; and that in Cythera was erected
by the Phoenicians, who belong to this part of Syria.). _Clemens
Alexandrinus_, Ad Gentes, p. 10., speaks of Cinyras as having been the
man who introduced the temple-service in Cyprus. Comp. _Jul. Firmicus_,
De Error. profan. relig. p. 22. _Arnobius_, Ad Gentes, bk. V., (for the
Temple in Cyprus was built from it,—i.e. in imitation of the temple of
Venus at Ascalon, as the Cyprians themselves admit; and that in Cythera
was erected by the Phoenicians, who belong to this part of Syria.).
_Clemens Alexandrinus_, Ad Gentes, p. 10., speaks of Cinyras as having
been the man who introduced the temple-service in Cyprus. Comp. _Jul.
Firmicus_, De Error. profan. relig. p. 22. _Arnobius_, Ad Gentes, bk. V.
[49] Ποντία, Λιμενιάς (of the Sea, of Harbours), at Hermioné,
_Pausanias_, Attica ch. 34. _Mitscherlich_, on Horace, Odes bk. I. 3.
1. Also the epithet εὔπλοια (of fair Winds), _Pausanias_, Attica I. 3.,
should be mentioned here. _Musaeus_, Hero and Leander 245. _Horace_,
Odes III. 26. 3. “Venus Marina”, (Venus of the Sea).
[50] _Pausanias_, bk. III. 23., VI. 25., VIII. 32., IX. 16.—_Plato_,
Sympos.—_Xenophon_, Sympos. ch. 8.
[51] _Augustine_, De Civit. Dei, bk. IV. ch. 10. “An Veneres duae sunt,
una virgo, una mulier? An potius tres, una virginum, quae etiam Vesta
est, alia conjugatarum, alia meretricum? (Are there two Venuses, one a
virgin, the second a matron? Or rather are there three, one of virgins,
who is also Vesta, another of wives, another of harlots?)
[52] “Quae Cnidon fulgentesque tenet Cycladas et Paphon,” (The goddess
who haunts Cnidos and the gleaming Cyclades and Paphos), _Horace_, Odes
III. 28. 13. Ἐνοικέτις τῶν νήσων (Inhabitress of the isles), _Suidas_.
[53] Remarkably enough some would derive the name _Bordeaux_ (_Bordel_)
from the French _bord_ and _eau_, because the houses of ill-fame were
almost always to be found on the bank of the river or in bagnios!
_Parent-Duchatelet_, “Die Sittenverderbniss in der Stadt Paris,” (The
Corruption of Morals in the City of Paris), Vol. I. p. 125.
[54] _Strabo_, XIV. 683.
[55] _Suidas_, under expression κυλλοῦ πήραν (cripple’s wallet) quotes
that here—at Pera,—was a Fountain which made fruitful and facilitated
delivery.
[56] According to _Athenaeus_, Deipnosoph., XII. p. 647., at the Feast
of the Thesmophoria at Syracuse μυλλοί, representations of the female
genital organs, moulded of sesame and honey, were carried about. This
calls to remembrance the _Juni_ of the Indians and the Phallus images.
[57] Bk. XIV. p. 657.
[58] Bk. II. ch. 27.
[59] “Ideen zur Kunst-Mythologie,” (Ideas towards a Study of the
Mythology of Art). Dresden 1826. large 8vo. p. 207.
[60] _Coveel_, “De Sacerdotio Veterum Virginum.” (On the office of
Priestess as filled by Virgins in Antiquity). Abo 1704. 8vo.—_Hirt,
A._, “Die Hierodulen, mit Beilagen von Böckh und Buttmann,” (The
Hieroduli, with Supplements by Böckh and Buttmann). I Pt. Berlin
1818. large 8vo.—_Kreuser, J._, “Der Hellenen Priesterstaat, mit
vorzüglicher Rücksicht auf die Hierodulen,” (Priestly Institutions of
the Hellenes, with particular reference to the Hieroduli). Mayence
1822. 8vo.—_Adrian_, “Die Priesterinnen der Griechen,” (The Priestesses
of the Greeks). Frankfort-on-the-Main 1822. 8vo.—_Schinke_, in Ersch
and Gruber’s Allgem. Encyclopaedie, II. Sect. 8 Pt. p. 50.
[61] _Strabo_, Bk. XII. p. 557.
[62] _Strabo_, Bk. XII. p. 559.—_Heyne, Ch. G._ “Comment. de Sacerdotio
Comanensi de Religionum cis et trans Taurum consensione,” (Commentaries
on the Priesthood of Comana, and generally on the Similarity of
Religions on the nearer and farther side of the Taurus range), Comment.
Soc. Reg. Götting. Vol. XVI. pp. 101-149.
[63] _Strabo_, bk. VIII p. 378., Τό τε τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἱερὸν οὕτω
πλούσιον ὑπῆρξεν, ὥστε πλείους ἢ χιλίας ἱεροδούλους ἐκέκτητο ἑταίρας,
ἃς ἀνετίθεσαν τῇ θεῷ καὶ ἄνδρες καὶ γυναῖκες· Καὶ διὰ ταύτας οὖν
ἐπολυοχλεῖτο ἡ πόγις καὶ ἐπλουτίζετο. οἱ γὰρ ναύκληροι ῥᾳδίως
ἐξανηλίκοντο, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἡ παροιμία φησίν, Οὐ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς ἐς
Κόρινθον ἔσθ’ ὁ πλοῦς. (And the temple of Aphrodité was so rich that
it possessed more than a thousand Hetaerae attached to its service as
Hieroduli, whom both men and women dedicated to the goddess. And so for
this reason the city was frequented by multitudes and grew wealthy;
for shipmasters used readily to visit the port, and on this account
says the proverb: It does not fall to _every_ man to sail to Corinth.)
Comp. the Commentators on Horace, Epist. I. 17. 36. _Alexander ab
Alexandro_, Genial. dier. lib., VI. ch. 26., Corinthi supra mille
prostitutae in templo Veneris assiduae degere et inflammata libidine
quaestui meretricio operam dare et velut sacrorum ministrae Deae
famulari solebant. (At Corinth more, than a thousand prostitutes were
wont to live always in the temple of Venus and with lust ever a flame
to give their lives to the gains of harlotry and to serve the goddess
as handmaidens of her rites).
[64] _Solinus_, Polyhist. ch. 2. _Festus, F._, under word Frutinal (an
Etruscan name of Venus).—_Micali_, “L’Italia avanti il Dominio dei
Romani,” (Italy before the Dominion of the Romans). II. p. 47.—_Heyne_
on Virgil, Aeneid bk. V. Excursus 2.—_Bamberger_, “Uber die Entstehung
des Mythus von Aeneas Ankunft zu Latinum,” (On the Origin of the Myth
of Aeneas’ Coming to Latium), in Welcker and Näke’s Rhein. Museum für
Phil., VI. 1. 1838. pp. 82-105.
[65] _Servius_, on Virgil, Aeneid bk. I. 720.—_Julius Capitolinus_,
Vita Maximin. ch. 7. Baldness was in Antiquity, and particularly at
Rome, as it is still, frequently one of the sequelae of sexual excesses.
[66] _Richard Payne Knight_, An account of the Remains of the Worship
of Priapus, lately existing at Isernia, in the kingdom of Naples: in
two Letters,—one from _Sir William Hamilton_ to _Sir Joseph Banks_,
and the other from a Person residing at Isernia. To which is added a
discourse on the worship of Priapus and its connexion with the mystic
Theology of the Ancients. London (published by T. Spilsburg) 1786. pp.
195. 4to., with 18 Copperplates. Comp. with regard to this rare work
_C. A. Böttiger_ in Amalthea, vol. 3. pp. 408-418., and _Choulant_ in
Hecker’s Annalen, Vol. XXXIII (1836). pp. 414-418.—_J. A. Dulaure_,
“Les Divinités génératrices, ou sur le Culte du Phallus,” (Divinities
of generation, or on Phallic worship). Paris 1805., a work which to our
regret we have been unable to make use of.
[67] Hence in _Orpheus_, Hym. V. 9., the Protogonos (First-born) i. e.
Eros, is called Πρίηπος ἄναξ (King Priapus).
[68] “Voyage aux Indes et à la Chine,” (Journey to the Indies and
China), Vol. I.—_Schaufus_, “Neueste Entdeckungen über das Vaterland
und die Verbreitung der Pocken und der Lustseuche,” (Latest Discoveries
as to the Original Home and Dissemination of the Pox and Venereal
Disease). Leipzig 1805., pp. 31 sqq., from which we give the quotation
that follows in the text.
[69] The beggars or Fakirs in India wander about the country in
thousands, almost uncovered, (_Augustine_, De Civit. Dei, chs. 14,
17.) and excessively dirty (_Havus_ “Historicae Relatio de Regno et
Statu magni Regis Magor,” (Historical Account of the Reign and State
of the great King Magor). Antwerp 1605. p. 1695); after their visits
unfruitful wives especially become fruitful (δύνασθαι δὲ καὶ πολυγόνους
ποιεῖν καὶ ἀῤῥενογόνους διὰ φαρμακευτικῆς,—and they can make even the
barren have many children by means of their drugs,—_Strabo_ says, Bk.
II.). The people bestir themselves to do them every honour and the men
quit their villages, so as to leave the monks a free hand. _Papi_,
“Briefe über Indien,” (Letters on India), p. 217.—_P. von Bohlen_, “Das
alte Indien,” (Ancient India), Königsberg 1830. Vol. I. p. 282.
[70] _Strabo_ and _Arrian_, Indic. 17., already in their time state,
at any rate of the nobler Indian women, that they could have been
allured to profligacy at no price, except at that of an elephant.
According to _von Bohlen_ (“Das alte Indien,”—Ancient India, Vol. II.
p. 17, Vol. I. p. 275.) it would seem that not the slightest trace (?)
can be found of the immoral life of the Indian priests in Antiquity,
on the contrary that chastity was the first thing needful to gain
them respect and honour, and their whole literature is never ready
to extol a priest or hero more highly than when he has withstood the
enticements to unchastity. Hence what is asserted of the Devâdasis or
Priestesses of the gods as being courtesans for the Priests is also
in the main untrue, since it rests, as in the case of the Hieroduli,
chiefly on a confusion with the Bhayatri (Bayaderes, the Hetaerae
of the Greeks), or holds good only for particular places (_Häfner_,
“Landreise längs der Küste Orixa und Koromandel,”—(Journey along the
Orissa and Coromandel Coast). Weimar 1809. Vol. I. pp. 80 sqq.—_Papi_,
“Briefe über Indien,” (Letters about India), p. 356.—_Wallace_,
“Denkwürdigkeiten,” (Memorabilities), p. 301.)—In this connection
should be mentioned also the narrative of the Jesuit—in other respects
suspicious—in the edifying letters addressed to _Schaufus_, ch. I. p.
40, that during his residence in a Hindoo town he had been informed,
that it would be unsafe at the present moment to allow foreigners to
visit the Devadâsis, on the contrary that there was nothing to fear
from those attached to the Pagoda of the place. Even if we admit the
truth of this narrative for more modern times too, still the conclusion
that _Schaufus_ draws from it, that in Hindostan every Pagoda is a
brothel, is surely somewhat hasty.—Some other legends of the origin of
the Lingam ritual in India are given in _Meiner’s_ “Allgem. kritische
Geschichte der Religionen,” (Universal Critical History of Religions),
Vol. I. P. 254.
[71] _Anquetil_, Voyage, p. 139., “Le Lingam, c’est à-dire, les parties
naturelles de l’homme réunies à celles de la femme,” (The Lingam, that
is to say, the natural parts of the man joined to those of the woman).
Comp. _Roger_, “Neu eröffnetes Indisches Heidenthum,” (Paganism of
India newly Revealed). Nürnberg 1863. 8vo., II. 2.
[72] “De Morbi Venerei Curatione in India usitata,” (On the Mode of
Curing the Venereal Disease practised in the East Indies). Copenhagen
1795. Comp. _Tode_, Med. Journal Vol. II. Pt. 2. Unfortunately we have
been able to obtain a sight neither of _Klein’s_ Treatise nor of _Tode_.
[73] _Strabo_, Geogr. pp. 1027, 1037. μηδὲ γὰρ νόσους εἶναι πολλὰς
διὰ τὴν λιτότητα τῆς διαίτης καὶ τὴν ἀοινίαν. (nor yet are their
diseases many, owing to their plainness of living and abstinence from
wine). Comp. _Ctesias_, Indic. 15. _Lucian_, Macrob. ch. 4. _Diodorus
Siculus_, Bk. II. ch. 40. _Pliny_, Histor. Nat. Bk. XVII. ch. 2.
[74] _Sprengel’s_ “Neue Beiträge zur Völkerkunde,” (New Contributions
to Ethnology), Bk. VII. p. 76.
[75] In this connection may be cited the view which _Clement of
Alexandria_, Ad Gentes p. 10., expresses as to the origin of Aphrodité:
Ἡ μὲν ἀφρογενής τε καὶ κυπρογενὴς, ἡ Κινύρᾳ φίλη, τὴν Ἀφροδίτην λέγω,
_τὴν φιλομηδέα, ὅτι μηδέων ἐξεφαάνθη_, μηδέων ἐκείνων τῶν ἀποκεκομμένων
Οὐρανοῦ, τῶν λάγνων, τῶν μετὰ τὴν τομὴν τὸ κῦμα βεβιασμένων· ὡς ἀσελγῶν
ὑμῖν μορίων ἄξιος Ἀφροδίτη γίνεται καρπὸς ἐν ταῖς τελεταῖς. (Now the
foam-sprung, Cyprus-born goddess, the patroness of Cinyras, Aphrodité
I mean, _she that loves the parts of a man, because from them she
sprung_, to wit those parts that were lopped off from Uranus, those
lewd parts which after their severance violated the sea-wave. Of such
foul components is Aphrodité the worthy child in the mysteries).
[76] _Minutoli_, “Reise zum Tempel des Jupiter Ammon,” (Journey to the
Temple of Jupiter Ammon), p. 121.—_Münter_, “Religion der Babylonier,”
(Religion of the Babylonians), p. 130.
[77] Bk. II. ch. 48. “Description de l’Egypte” II. p.
411.—_Wyttenbach_, on Plutarch, Isid. p. 186.
[78] Histories bk. II. ch. 64. Καὶ τὸ μὴ μίσγεσθαι γυναιξὶ ἐν ἱροῖσι,
μηδὲ ἀλούτους ἀπὸ γυναικῶν ἐς ἱρὰ ἐσιέναι, οὗτοί εἰσι οἱ πρῶτοι
θρησκεύσαντες· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι σχεδὸν πάντες ἄνθρωποι, πλὴν Αἰγυπτίων
καὶ Ἑλλήνων, μίσγονται ἐν ἱροῖσι· καὶ ἀπὸ γυναικῶν ἀνιστάμενοι, ἄλουτοι
ἐσέρχονται ἐς ἱρόν. (And the practice of not having intercourse with
women in temples, and not going into temples unwashed after such
intercourse, these practices they were the first to observe as a matter
of religion; for almost all the rest of mankind, except Egyptians and
Greeks, have sexual intercourse in temples). Comp. also _Clement of
Alexandria_, Stromat. Bk. I. p. 361.
[79] Geogr. Bk. XVII, ch. 46. Τῷ δὲ Διΐ, ὃν μάλιστα τιμῶσιν,
εὐειδεστάτη καὶ γένους λαμπροτάτου παρθένος ἱερᾶται, ἃς καλοῦσι οἱ
Ἕλληνες Παλλάδας· αὕτη δὲ καὶ παλλακεύει, καὶ σύνεστιν οἷς βούλεται,
μέχρις ἂν ἡ φυσικὴ γένηται τοῦ σώματος κάθαρσις· μετὰ δὲ τὴν κάθαρσιν
δίδοται πρὸς ἄνδρας. (And to Zeus, whom they reverence most, a maiden,
most beautiful and of highest lineage, is consecrated, and these
priestesses the Greeks call Pallades. And she acts as a courtesan, and
lies with whom she pleases, until the natural purging (menstruation) of
the body begins. And after this she is given in marriage). So here we
find brought into connection with the Zeus of the Egyptians the same
practice we observed amongst Asiatics in the Venus cult.
[80] According to _Herodotus_, bk. II. 51., the Greeks borrowed the
Phallic ritual under the form of the Hermae (pillars of Hermes)
from the Pelasgians, by which name according to _Böttiger_,
“Kunstmythologie,” (Mythology of Art), p. 213, Phoenicians should
be understood. Comp. _Cicero_, De Nat. Deorum bk. III. ch. 22., and
_Creuzer’s_ note on the passage.
[81] “Mythologiae, sive Explicationis Fabularum Libri X,” (Mythology,
or the Explanation of Legendary Tales, in X Books). Frankfort 1588.
8vo. pp. 498. The Author borrowed this legend according to p. 487
from _Perimander_, “De Sacrificiorum Ritibus apud Varias Gentes,” (On
the Rites of Sacrifice amongst Various Nations), bk. II. But it is
also found in the _Scholiast_ to _Aristophanes_, Acharn. l. 242: ὁ
Ξανθίας τὸν φαλλὸν.—περὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ τοῦ φαλλοῦ τοιαῦτα λέγεται. Πήγασος
ἐκ τῶν Ἐλευθήρων λαβὼν τοῦ Διονύσου τὰ ἀγάλματα ἧκεν εἰς τὴν Ἀττικήν·
οἱ δὲ Ἀττικοὶ οὐκ ἐδέξαντο μετὰ τιμῆς τὸν θεόν· ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀμισθί γε
αὐτοῖς ταῦτα βουλευσαμένοις ἀπέβη. μηνίσαντος γὰρ τοῦ θεοῦ, _νόσος
κατέσκηψεν εἰς τὰ αἰδοῖα τῶν ἀνδρῶν_, καὶ τὸ δεινὸν ἀνήκεστον ἦν, ὡς δὲ
ἀπεῖπον πρὸς τὴν νόσον κρείττω γενομένην πάσης μαγγανείας καὶ τέχνης,
ἀπεστάλησαν θεωροὶ μετὰ σπουδῆς· οἱ δὲ ἐπανελθόντες ἔφασαν ἴασιν εἶναι
μόνην ταύτην, εἰ διὰ πάσης τιμῆς ἄγοιεν τὸν θεόν· πεισθέντες οὖν τοῖς
ἠγγελμένοις οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι, φαλλοὺς ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ κατεσκεύασαν,
καὶ τούτοις ἐγέραιρον τὸν θεόν, ὑπόμνημα ποιούμενοι πάθους. (Xanthias
mentions _the Phallus_.—Now about the Phallus itself the following
story is told. Pegasus removed the statues of Dionysus at Eleutherae
from there, and came to Athens with them. However the Athenians did
not receive the god with due honour. But for this ill counsel they by
no means got off scot-free; for the god was wroth, and a disease fell
upon the private parts of the men. The plague was incurable; and after
they had tried in vain every device of magic art and physician’s skill
against the disease that only grew the more, envoys were despatched
with all speed to the oracle. So these went up, and brought back the
reply that the only remedy was this, that they should bring in the
god in procession with all possible honour. Therefore the Athenians,
submitting themselves to what was reported as the will of heaven,
made phalli—private and public, and presented them to the god as a
complimentary gift, thus commemorating the affliction). A different
explanation from this is given by the _Scholiast_ to _Lucian_, “De Syra
dea,” (Of the Syrian goddess), ch. 16., where the Phallus service is
brought in a measure into connection with Paederastia.
[82] Comp. _Pausanias_, Descriptio Graeciae bk. I. ch. 2.
[83] I. ch. p. 528.; perhaps following _Posidonius_, “De heroibus et
daemonibus,” (Of heroes and demigods)? comp. p. 391. But _Servius_
on Virgil, Georgics IV. 111., also has this legend. _Suidas_, under
the word πρίαπος. _Scioppius_, who likewise relates it in his edition
of the Priapeia, adds: fuit autem morbus ille quem hodie _Gallicum
vocamus_, (but it was the disease which _we nowadays call the French
disease_—Siphylis).
[84] _Diodorus Siculus_, Bk. IV. ch. 4., says of Bacchus: He had a
tender body and was extremely effeminate; his beauty distinguished
him above all others, and his temper was strongly inclined to
voluptuousness. On his progresses he used to take with him a crowd of
women, etc. _Clement of Alexandria_, Paedag. Bk. II. ch. 2., Ὀργῶσι
γοῦν ἀναιδέστερον ἀναξέοντες οἴνου, καὶ οἰδοῦσι μαστοί τε καὶ μόρια,
προκηρύσσοντες ἤδη πορνείας εἰκόνα. (So they revel shamelessly being
full of wine, and breasts and members swell, showing forth already an
image of harlotry). Sufficiently noteworthy is the following passage
from _Augustine_, De Civit. Dei bk. VI. ch. 4., Liberum a liberamento
appellatum volunt, quod mares a coeundo per eius beneficium emissis
seminibus liberentur; hoc idem in feminis agere _Liberam_ quam etiam
Venerem putant, quod et ipsas perhibeant semina emittere et ob hoc
Libero eamdem virilis corporis partem in templo poni, femineam Liberae.
(The name of Liber (Bacchus) they derive from _liberamentum_, the act
of freeing, because males in the act of coition are freed by his aid
when the seed is emitted; the same function they consider Libera, who
is identified with Venus, to perform for women, because they say that
women also emit seed, and that for this reason that same part of the
male body is consecrated to Liber in his temple, and the corresponding
female part to Libera).
[85] Juno was not merely the Patron goddess of the birth-hour, but
also of fornication. Comp. _Dousa_, Praecidan. pro Tibullo, ch.
18.—Politian, Miscell. ch. 89. Hence also “filles de joies” used to
swear by Juno, as we see from Tibullus, Bk. III. Eleg. 4.,
Esto perque suos fallax iuravit ocellos,
Junonemque suam, perque suam Venerem,
(Be it so, she said, and the deceiver sware it by her own eyes, and by
Juno and by Venus, her patron goddesses). Bk. IV. Eleg. 18.,
Haec per sancta tuae Junonis nomina iuro,
Quae sola ante alios est mihi magna Deos.
(This by the holy divinity of Juno, thy goddess, I swear, who alone
before other deities is great in my eyes); and also from _Petronius_,
who (Satir. ch. 25.) makes a “fille de joie” declare: Junonem meam
iratam habeam, si unquam meminerim virginem fuisse (Juno my patron
goddess be wroth with me, if ever I remember to have been a maid).
According to _Lucian_, De Syra Dea ch. 16., Bacchus dedicated to Juno
noverca (stepmother) divers Phalli.
[86] The Greeks used to make little figures of men with big
genitals of wood, which they called Νευρόσπαστα (figures moved by
strings, puppets). _Lucian_, De Syra Dea ch. 16. _Herodotus_, II.
48. _Diodorus_, I. 88.—_Hesychius_ says: νάνος· ἐπὶ τῶν μικρῶν· ὡς
νάνον καὶ αἰδοῖον ἔχοντα μέγα· οἱ γοῦν νάνοι μεγάλα ἔχουσιν αἰδοῖα,
(_dwarf_: applied to the undersized; dwarf, but having large private
parts. Dwarfs _do_ have large private parts). Which reminds us of the
unhappy “cretins” with monstrous generative organs, who are notoriously
passionate Onanists (Masturbators) also.
[87] “_Priapeia_, sive diversorum poetarum in Priapum lusus, illustrati
commentariis Casp. Scioppii, Franci; L. Apuleji Madaurensis Ἀνεχόμενος
ab eodem illustratus. Heraclii imperatoris, Sophoclis Sophistae,
C. Antonii, Q. Sorani et Cleopatrae reginae epistolae de prodigiosa
Cleopatrae reginae libidine. Huic editioni accedunt Jos. Scaligeri
in Priapeia Commentarii ac Friderici Linden-Bruch. Patavii 1664. 8.
pag. 45. carmen XXXVII,” (_Priapeia_, or Verses of Various Poets to
Priapus, illustrated by commentaries of Caspar Scioppius, a Frenchman;
also Lucius Apuleius, of Madaura, his Ἀνεχόμενος, illustrated by the
same Scholar. Letters of the Emperor Heraclius, Sophocles the Sophist,
Caius Ausonius, Quintus Soranus and Queen Cleopatra, concerning the
extravagant and wanton voluptuousness of the said Queen. To this
edition are appended the Commentaries of Joseph Scaliger and of
Fridericus Linden-Bruch to the Priapeia. Padua 1664. 8vo., p. 45. Ode
XXXVII).
[88] Similarly we read in the distich _Antipater_, Antholog. Graec. bk.
II. Tit. 5. No. 3.:
_Ἑστηκὸς_ τὸ Κίμωνος ἰδὼν _πέος_, εἶφ’ ὁ Πρίηπος,
Οἴμοι, ὑπὸ θνητοῦ λείπομαι ἀθάνατος.
(When Priapus saw Cimon’s penis standing stiff, he said, “Woe’s me!” I
am thrown in the shade by a mortal, immortal though I be).
[89] In the Codex Coburgensis the Priapeia begin with the following
words: P. Virgilii Maronis Mantuani poetae clarissimi Priapi carmen
incipit feliciter, (the Song of Priapus by Publius Virgilius Maro, of
Mantua, the renowned poet, begins happily). Comp. _Bruckhusius_ Notes
to Tibullus bk. IV. Eleg. 14. At any rate the majority of the poems
belong to the golden age of Roman literature. For readers of the old
poets it may perhaps not be out of place here to remark that _Priapus_
as _Cultor Hortorum_ (Patron of Gardens) is not unfrequently mentioned
with an equivocal meaning, if indeed he has not come into the garden
entirely through misunderstanding. So we read in Priapeia, Ode 4.,
Quod metis hortus habet, sumas impune licebit;
Si dederis nobis, quod tuus hortus habet,
(What my garden has thou mayest take at will, if only thou give to us
what thine possesses) and in the “Anechomenos” of _Apuleius_.
Thyrsumque pangant hortulo in Cupidinis,
(Let them plant the thyrsus (Bacchic staff) in the garden-plat of
Cupid). Similarly _Lucretius_, Bk. IV. 1100., says, ut muliebria
conserat arva, (to sow the woman’s seed-fields), and _Virgil_, Georgics
III. 136., speaks of, genitali arvo, (the seed-field of generation).
Possibly in this direction may be found a better interpretation of
the, irriguo nihil est elutius horto, (There is nought more insipid
than a new-watered garden), of _Horace_, Satires Bk. II. 4. 16. The
Greeks used in the same way their word κῆπος (garden), e. g. _Diogenes
Laertius_, II. 12, and _Hesychius_ explains it by τὸ ἐφήβιον γυναικεῖον
(the female organ of puberty). Similarly in _Aristophanes_ καλὸν
ἔχουσα τὸ πεδίον, (having the plain beautiful). The Koran also says,
Thy Wife is thy field!
[90] “Apologie pour Herodote,” (Defence of Herodotus), II., 253.
[91] _Strabo_, bk. XIII. 588.
[92] _Lucian_, De Dea Syra, § 28., relates that at Hieropolis there was
a Phallus 180 or 1800 feet in size.
[93] _Creuzer_, Symbolik, Bk. II. p. 85.—_de Wette_, Archäologie, § 233
k.—_Wiener_, Biblisches Realwörterbuch. 2nd. ed. Leipzig 1833., Vol. I.
p. 139. Article, _Baal_; and p. 260. Article, _Chamos_.
[94] Numbers, Ch. 23. v. 28. Deuteronomy, Ch. 4, v. 46.