Ancient Greece (Small is Perfect)
Return to DiscussionsPerceptions of penis sizes and attributes related to penis sizes are largely culture-biasedIn Ancient Greece and various vassals of the Greek city states an uncircumcised, small penis was seen as a sign of nobility and cultural superiority, whereas a penis of a bigger size was regarded as vulgar and inappropriate, mostly associated with barbarian culture (this may have been because many barbarians surrounding Greece whom had raided and warred with Greece had demonstrated their penis worship and such practices were therefore a sign of barbarism and cultural vacuum in the eyes of the Greeks).Ancient Greeks and penis sizeGreek culture has left a legacy in terms of portraying penis size as small in art. Although Greeks have demonstrated an interest in the genitals, but they were not preoccupied with size. This coincides with the nature of the Greek art as Greeks considered a large phallus to be humorous, and their art was supposed to be austere. In the arts, small penis identified the ideal or intellectual aspect of the human male, whilst in theatre for example, the person playing the "fool" role wore something like an oversized phallus to indicate his stupidity, the idea being he was therefore closer to animals and less human than his opponent.
The ancient Olympianscompeted naked. But the penis head had to be covered or they would be considered indecent. They even tied a string round the end of the foreskin to stop it inadvertently rolling back.
As for size the Romans were the opposite. Visit Pompeii and you will see they thought of a large penis as a sign of wealth. Sorry chaps. But it didn't carry through to later Italian sculpture - see Michelangelo's David for example.