phallus

Model of the male sexual organ, used as a fertility symbol in ancient Greece, Rome, Anatolia, India, and many other parts of the world. In Hinduism it is called the lingam, and is used as the chief symbolical representation of the deity Shiva.

Associated deities In ancient Greece, the phallus was a ritual element in the worship of Dionysus, god of wine, orgiastic excess, and mystic ectasy; it was also a symbol of Pan, god of flocks and herds; Priapus, god of fertility; Silenus, a lecherous satyr; and Hermes, messenger of the gods. The Phoenicians adopted the phallus for the veneration of Adonis, a god of vegetation; the Egyptians for Osiris, ruler of the underworld; and the Phrygians for Attis, who represented death and resurrection and the cycle of growth.

Ritual The phallagogia or periphallia was a devotional procession during which the phallus would be carried about by attendant phallophoroi; the hymn sung on such occasions was called the phallikon melos. Aristotle traces the origin of comedy to the ribaldry and jokes at such festivals. At Hierapolis, two 54 m/177ft-high phalli stood before the temple of Aphrodite; a priest climbed them annually, remaining aloft in prayer for seven days.