Penile representations in ancient Greek art.

OBJECTIVES: The presentation of the cult of phallus in ancient Greece and the artistic appearance of the phenomenon on vase figures and statues, as indicative of the significant role of the male genitalia in all fertility ceremonies. METHODS: The examination of a great number of penile representations from the ancient Greek pottery and sculpture and the review of the ancient theater plays (satiric dramas and comedies ). RESULTS: Phallus in artistic representation is connected either with gods of fertility, such as the goat-footed and horned Pan or the ugly dwarf Priapus or the semi-animal nailed figures Satyrs, devotees of the god Dionysus accompanying him in all ritual orgiastic celebrations. Phallus also symbolizes good luck, health and sexuality: people bear or wear artificial phalli exactly like the actors as part of their costume or carry huge penises during the festive ritual processions. On the contrary, the Olympic gods or the ordinary mortals are not imaged ithyphallic; the ideal type of male beauty epitomized in classical sculpture, normally depicts genitals of average or less than average size. It is noteworthy that many of these images belong to athletes during or immediately after hard exercise with the penis shrunk. The normal size genitalia may have been simply a convention to distinguish normal people from the gods of sexuality and fertility, protectors of the reproductive process of Nature. CONCLUSIONS: The representation of the over-sized and erected genitalia on vase figures or statues of ancient Greek art is related to fertility gods such as Priapus, Pan and Satyrs and there is strong evidence that imagination and legend were replacing the scientific achievements in the field of erectile function for many centuries.

Representaciones fálicas en el arte griego antiguo / Penile representations in ancient Greek art

OBJETIVO: La presentación del culto del falo en la Grecia antigua y la aparición artística del fenómeno en figuras de ánforas y estatuas, como indicativo del papel significativo de los genitales masculinos en todas las ceremonias de fertilidad. MÉTODOS: La examinación de un gran número de representaciones fálicas en la cerámica y escultura griega antigua y la revisión de las antiguas obras teatrales (dramas satíricos y tragedias). RESULTADOS: El falo en las representaciones artísticas está conectado a los dioses de fertilidad, como Pan, el dios con pies de chivo y cuernos, o el enano feo Príapo, o los Sátiros, figuras con uñas parecidas a las de los animales, devotos del dios Dioniso que lo acompañan en todas las celebraciones rituales orgiásticas. El falo también simboliza la buena suerte, la salud y la sexualidad: la gente se pone falos artificiales exactamente como los actores, como parte de sus trajes, o lleva penes enormes durante las procesiones rituales festivas. Al contrario, los dioses del Olimpo o los mortales comunes no están representados como itifálicos; el tipo ideal de la belleza masculina resumida en la escultura clásica, normalmente representa genitales de tamaño mediano o aún más pequeño. Es notable que muchas de estas imágenes pertenecen a atletas durante o inmediatamente después de ejercicios duros con el pene reducido. Quizás los genitales de tamaño regular hayan sido sencillamente una convención para distinguir entre la gente común y los dioses de sexualidad y fertilidad, protectores del proceso reproductivo de la naturaleza. CONCLUSIONES: La representación de genitales de gran tamaño o en erección en figuras de ánforas y estatuas en el arte griego antiguo está relacionada con dioses de fertilidad como Príapo, Pan y los Sátiros, y existe una gran evidencia de que la imaginación y la leyenda estaban sustituyendo los logros científicos conseguidos durante muchos siglos en el campo de la función eréctil (AU)

OBJECTIVES: The presentation of the cult of phallus in ancient Greece and the artistic appearance of the phenomenon on vase figures and statues, as indicative of the significant role of the male genitalia in all fertility ceremonies. METHODS: The examination of a great number of penile representations from the ancient Greek pottery and sculpture and the review of the ancient theater plays (satiric dramas and comedies). RESULTS: Phallus in artistic representation is connected either with gods of fertility, such as the goat-footed and horned Pan or the ugly dwarf Priapus or the semi-animal nailed figures Satyrs, devotees of the god Dionysus accompanying him in all ritual orgiastic celebrations. Phallus also symbolizes good luck, health and sexuality: people bear or wear artificial phalli exactly like the actors as part of their costume or carry huge penises during the festive ritual processions. On the contrary, the Olympic gods or the ordinary mortals are not imaged ithyphallic; the ideal type of male beauty epitomized in classical sculpture, normally depicts genitals of average or less than average size. It is noteworthy that many of these images belong to athletes during or immediately after hard exercise with the penis shrunk. The normal size genitalia may have been simply a convention to distinguish normal people from the gods of sexuality and fertility, protectors of the reproductive process of Nature. CONCLUSIONS: The representation of the over-sized and erected genitalia on vase figures or statues of ancient Greek art is related to fertility gods such as Priapus, Pan and Satyrs and there is strong evidence that imagination and legend were replacing the scientific achievements in the field of erectile function for many centuries (AU)

[Mental disease in two classical music composers].

A study οn two neglected classical music composers suffering a not syphilitic mental disease, is attempted here, syphilis of the central nervous system being frequent in that time. A brief overview on the psychiatric ailments of many great composers reveals suicide attempts and more or less severe depression following external events. The issue of a possible relationship between mental disease and (musical) creativity can be discussed, as mood swings and a certain tendency to melancholia are frequent features of a talented brain (a fact that can also be detected in their works). The first case presented here is Hans Rott from Austria, the beloved student of Anton Bruckner, who was considered to be at least equal to his famous classmate Gustav Mahler. The great expectations of his teacher and his friends suddenly came to an end, when he suffered a crisis of schizophrenia and was hospitalized in an insane asylum in Lower Austria. The tragic psychiatric adventure of the young musician lasted almost four years. He was diagnosed as a case of "hallucinatory insanity" and "persecution mania" by the medical staff, before dying of tuberculosis, aged only 26, and having completed only one symphony and several smaller works. His name came again on surface only a century after his death, when in 1989 his Symphony in E Major was discovered and premiered with great success, permitting to its creator a posthumous recognition, among Bruckner and Mahler. The second case of mental illness is that of the Armenian Komitas Vardapet. He was an orphan who grew up in theological schools and became a monk and later a priest, though he spent some years in Berlin in order to develop his musical skills. He is considered to be an authority of Armenian ecclesiastic music, introducing polyphony in the Armenian Church's music and collecting numerous traditional songs from all parts of Armenia. In 1915, during the Armenian genocide he was deported, tortured but finally saved, due to interventions of influential friends and politicians. His mental health was destabilized and he spent almost 20 years in psychiatric hospitals in France. He never recovered from a mental disease, whose cause is still debated, as some researchers do not admit its schizophrenic character and consider it as a severe post traumatic syndrome. The issue of a mental disease in relation to artistic creation is discussed, especially concerning biographies and mental diseases of these two gifted but strangely forgotten music composers.