JKP
An unambiguous phallus in the biological section? Which one do you mean?
If this is a phallus, I would of course agree with a more pagan interpretation, the reason why I mentioned Hermes.
You see, the ancients liked small, delicate penises in their art. Not in a sexual way - they just thought the male body as an artistic object was more beautiful with a civilized, slender penis.
Sizable phalli like the one this, would, if I remember correctly, only be used in two contexts:
- To make a figure appear uncivilized, barbaric... like Satyrs.
- Fertility deities, like Priapus.
![[Image: priapus.jpg]](http://creadm.solent.ac.uk/custom/rwpainting/imagch6/priapus.jpg)
The reason why I don't abandon the "phallus theory" right away, is exactly this.
If we were to associate the running foot with a deity, it would likely be Hermes/Mercurius. And he doubled as a god of fertility. Look for example at this picture, where Mercurius, with his usual winged feet, is given a Priapic phallus:
![[Image: Mercurius-Priapus_MAN_Napoli_SN.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Mercurius-Priapus_MAN_Napoli_SN.jpg)
So we get a running foot and large phallus in one deity. This is where it gets interesting for my theory - I think the mnemonics in the root and leaf section offer "vocabulary/pronunciation hints" for Greek speakers.
If I were to analyse this plant the way I did in my running series of blog posts, I would first consider these two options:
- foot+ phallus refer to Hermes --> plant name sounds like /hermes/
- foot and phallus are separate clues --> Ancient Greek for "foot" is πούς m (poús), (Laconian) πόρ m (pór). In that case, it is likely that the phallus acts as a double hint, suggesting that the plant sounds like /priapous/.
This is far from certain of course. I would first have to back it up with a plant name that does sound like hermes or (pria)pous and a label reading along those lines.
An unambiguous phallus in the biological section? Which one do you mean?
If this is a phallus, I would of course agree with a more pagan interpretation, the reason why I mentioned Hermes.
You see, the ancients liked small, delicate penises in their art. Not in a sexual way - they just thought the male body as an artistic object was more beautiful with a civilized, slender penis.
Sizable phalli like the one this, would, if I remember correctly, only be used in two contexts:
- To make a figure appear uncivilized, barbaric... like Satyrs.
- Fertility deities, like Priapus.
The reason why I don't abandon the "phallus theory" right away, is exactly this.
If we were to associate the running foot with a deity, it would likely be Hermes/Mercurius. And he doubled as a god of fertility. Look for example at this picture, where Mercurius, with his usual winged feet, is given a Priapic phallus:
So we get a running foot and large phallus in one deity. This is where it gets interesting for my theory - I think the mnemonics in the root and leaf section offer "vocabulary/pronunciation hints" for Greek speakers.
If I were to analyse this plant the way I did in my running series of blog posts, I would first consider these two options:
- foot+ phallus refer to Hermes --> plant name sounds like /hermes/
- foot and phallus are separate clues --> Ancient Greek for "foot" is πούς m (poús), (Laconian) πόρ m (pór). In that case, it is likely that the phallus acts as a double hint, suggesting that the plant sounds like /priapous/.
This is far from certain of course. I would first have to back it up with a plant name that does sound like hermes or (pria)pous and a label reading along those lines.