ID: 901000724 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/ia/901000724	Record Type: Character/Person

	Priapus (Greek deity)

Note: In Greek religion, a god of animal and vegetable fertility whose originally Asian cult started in the Hellespontine regions, centring especially on Lampsacus. He was represented in a caricature of the human form, grotesquely misshapen, with an enormous phallus. The ass was sacrificed in his honor, probably because the ass symbolized lecherousness and was associated with the god’s sexual potency. In Greek mythology his father was Dionysus, the wine god; his mother was either a local nymph or Aphrodite, the goddess of love. In Hellenistic times Priapus’ worship spread throughout the ancient world. Sophisticated urban society tended to regard him with ribald amusement, but in the country he was adopted as a god of gardens, seafarers, and fishermen and of others in need of good luck.

Names:

	Priapus (Greek deity) (preferred,English-P,D,N)
	Priapos (Greek deity) (English,U,N)

Hierarchical Position:

		Legend, Religion, Mythology (P)
		....<Greek iconography> (P)
		........<Greek characters> (G)
		............Priapus (Greek deity) (I)

Other Relationships:

	role/characteristic is .... deity
	.....(people in religion, people in religion and related occupations, people in the humanities, people by occupation, people (agents), People (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

	culture/religion is .... Ancient Greek (culture or style)
	.....(Aegean periods, Aegean, Mediterranean (Early Western World), Early Western World, styles, periods, and cultures by region, Styles and Periods (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

	deity of .... fertility
	.....(biological concepts, scientific concepts, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

	symbolic attribute is .... phallus
	.....(figure- and animal-derived motifs, motifs, design elements (attributes), Design Elements (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

Sources:

	Priapus (Greek deity)
	................J. Paul Getty Museum, collections online (2000-)
	................Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-)
	................Library of Congress Authorities online (2002-) sh 88006438
	................Iconclass Illustrated Edition (2022-) in 92L6 (story of) Priapus
	Priapos (Greek deity)
	................J. Paul Getty Museum, collections online (2000-) http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/6595/unknown-maker-statuette-of-priapos-east-greek-3rd-century-bc/

Iconography Record Sources:

	................ J. Paul Getty Museum, collections online (2000-) http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/7030/unknown-maker-statuette-of-priapus-roman-1st-2nd-century/
	................ Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-) "Priapus," accessed 10 July 2017