“Bigger is always better,” isn’t that what they’ve always said? Not in ancient Greece.
Thousands of years ago, the ancients had a different perception about the ideal male member and what it signified to the beholder.
During interviews with Vice, various experts explain that ancient Greeks favored a smaller rod over a large one, citing the former as a sign of elegance.
“[In ancient Greek culture,] the proper or beautiful penis is dainty,” said John Clarke, an ancient erotic art scholar at the University of Texas. “A human with very large genitalia, especially male genitalia, is considered to be grotesque, laughable.”
This idea manifests itself in Greek statues and artwork, which overwhelmingly depict naked men with smaller-than-average genitalia.
Ohio State University professor Timothy McNiven says that the trend dates back to at least the 8th Century BC and continued through most classical Greek art and literature.
The ancients admired small penises as a sign of modesty and self control, whereas larger willies gave the perception of a fool incapable of resisting primitive, animalistic sexual desires.
For example, half-human beasts such as the satyr, goats from the waist down, were often depicted with big peckers.
McNiven says that satyrs were “the poster boys for losing self-control.”
Online pornography has shifted modern preferences toward larger lumber, but experts predict that smaller shafts may come back to reign supreme.
“It’s definitely not a linear path,” art historian Ellen Oredsson told Vice. “There was no point at which social perceptions of penises flipped… Many different perceptions have existed and co-existed throughout history.”
Is The Pappas Post worth $5 a month for all of the content you read? On any given month, we publish dozens of articles that educate, inform, entertain, inspire and enrich thousands who read The Pappas Post. I’m asking those who frequent the site to chip in and help keep the quality of our content high — and free. Click here and start your monthly or annual support today. If you choose to pay (a) $5/month or more or (b) $50/year or more then you will be able to browse our site completely ad-free!
Click here if you would like to subscribe to The Pappas Post Weekly News Update
