Kunst & Ambiente - Priapus God of Fertility - Erotic Art - Bronze Figurine in Two Parts - Penis Statue by M. Nick - Mythological Sculpture - Height: 25 cm

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Clarke, John (2003). Roman Sex: 100 B.C. to A.D. 250. New York: Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 978-1626548800. Brown, Emerson, Jr. "Hortus Inconclusus: The Significance of Priapus and Pyramus and Thisbe in the Merchant's Tale". Chaucer Review 4.1 (1970): 31–40. When Priapus was depicted in the art of the cities, it was often in a humorous and pornographic way. Images of the god, for example, were featured in the brothels and taverns of Pompeii.

Priapus was a protective god for farmers and rural residents but was treated as a source of humor by urban Greeks. Sailors also venerated him as a protector and navigator. While he was a guardian deity in the countryside, city dwellers had a less serious view of Priapus. The other gods refused to let Priapus live on Mount Olympus. They forced him out and he ended up on a hill on Earth below, where he was found by shepherds who took him in and raised him.

Franz, David O. "Leud Priapians and Renaissance Pornography". SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900 12, n°1 (winter 1972): 157–72. Slightly to the north in Bithynia, Priapus was worshipped as a warlike god who was the tutor of Ares. But from his origin in Lampsacus most people in the Greek world regarded him as a rustic fertility god.

So what is are sheela-na-gigs? They are statues with exaggerated vulvas that they are gleefully opening up to the world. They are often found on churches, which seems like the last place you would find an exhibitionist female statue. Most commonly found in Ireland and Britain sheela na gig-like sculptures can also be found in mainland Europe. When they appear on churches they are usually positioned over doorways or windows. It is as if the portal being opened by the statue is mirrored in the one below. While the exact origins of Priapus are unknown, it is likely that the Greek colonists in Anatolia included a local fertility god in their deity.There is a vast range of places to stay near to Vindolanda and the Roman Army Museum with all budgets catered for. Lucius Aurelius Verus (15 December 130 – January/February 169) was a Roman emperor who reigned with his adopted brother Marcus Aurelius from 161 until his death in 169. Regarding the cult of Priapus in Lampsacus, Pausanias writes that: “ This god is worshipped where goats and sheep pasture or there are swarms of bees; but by the people of Lampsacus he is more revered than any other god, being called by them a son of Dionysus and Aphrodite.” Csapo, Eric. 1997. "Riding the Phallus for Dionysus: Iconology, Ritual, and Gender-Role De/Construction." Phoenix 51.3/4: 260.