It was a noticeable portrayal of a dick, large and arching

upwards. It cannot have had any practical

Value, but was meant as a phallic exhibition, a demonstration of power, a threat signal of
exactly the same nature as
the helmets hammered into the shape of lion masks which appeared simultaneously. The
guy in armour with his
223
Journal of Sport History, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Winter, 1985)
A Geometric bronze statue from Olympia. Nick Stournaras and Nick Corbetis, eds.,
Olympia 1971 fig. 3. (Courtesy of Mike Roberts Colour Generation).
Codpiece and the baboon demo his erect manhood as an aggressive signal to other baboons
to keep off objective at the
same effect" (p. 165). The writer also notes that inclinations towards genital activity of an
aggressive nature are
repressed in our present culture and that today's men are not conscious of potentials like
those openly
expressed in the Near East and--at least verbally--among the early Norsemen. This means,
based on the
Writer, that logical understanding of the aggressive aspects of phallic symbolism is lost too;
and this in turn
Signals that grasp of the signal function of a phallic symbolism in dominance-submission
patterns has
vanished from the consciousness--however that these patterns still remain unchanged and
alert of actions
below the threshold (p. 191).
224
Origin of Nudity in Greek Athletics
A Proto-Attic Vase. Cecil Smith, "A Proto-Attic Vase," JHS 22 (1902) PI.11 a. (Courtesy
of the Society for the Promotion of Helenic Studies).
surprised to find in the province of Maabar, India that guys went to fight naked
with only a spear and a shield. In the Trichinopoly District of Bengal, when in
the rainy season tanks and rivers threaten to blow up their banks, men stand
Nude on the embankments; and if an excessive amount of rain falls, nude guys point
firebrands at the heavens, as in the instance of rain-magic. This nudity is supposed to
"shock" the forces that sent the rain and cause its cessation. To a primitive

Fighter the phallus was an symbol of power having prophylactic virtue against
the attacks of the enemy. Roman soldiers marching into conflict carried phallic
symbols on their standards. The distinct state of the sexual organ of a fighter
engaged in mortal battle is a matter well recognized in the Polynesian
superstition.24
24. H. Yule, Marco Polo (London, 1929), 2: 274,275,278. I. Wise, Notes on the Races,
Castes and Trades
of Eastern Bengal (London, 1883). p. 369; W. Crooke, "Nudity in India in Custom and Ritual,"
Journal of the
Royal Anthropological Institute 49 (1919): 248; George Ryley Scott, Phallic Worship (Fresh
Delhi, 1975). p, 109,
Gza Rohelm, Animism, Magic and the Divine King (London. 1972). p. 21. Also see W. G.
Gudgeon, "Phallic
Symbol from Atiu Island," Journal of the Polynesian Society 13 (1904-1905): 193. One of the
Kiwi Papuans of
British New Guinea the dick of a slain foe is cut off and dried. Before a fight a little piece of it
mixed with banana
is given to the youthful warriors to make them more powerful. [See Gunnar Landman, The
Kiwai Papuons of British Fresh
Guinea (London, 1927), Family Naturism - Angie and the Cannibal Tribe - Growing Up
Naturist . Also see Rohelm, Animism. Magic and the Divine Kiq. p. 20.
225
Journal of Sport History, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Winter, 1985)
The apotropaic use of the phallus is clearly exposed in the Greek herms which
consisted of a square stone pillar surmounted by a guy's bearded head and
bearing an erect phallus. They stood in front of houses as house-guards,25 in the
Markets, at intersection26 and at the frontiers, always facing away from
the guarded premises. The exact same kind of sculpture are found in some present
cultures, such as on Borneo and Nias, Bali and the Nikobar Islands as objects of
superstition against the spirits of the Dead.27
W. Burkert wrote on the significance of the display of phallus:
I cannot find any actual explanation before ethology observed that there are species
of monkeys, living in groups, of whom the men act as guards: They sit up at the
outposts, facing outside and presenting their erect genital organ. This post about the male
organ was printed by Young Naturists and Young Nudists America FKK is an
"Critter rite" in the sense noted above: the fundamental function of sexual activity is
suspended for the benefit of communication; every person approaching from the
outside will notice this group doesn't consist of helpless wives and children,
but appreciates the full protection of maleness.28

Scientists also observed that within a group of squirrel monkeys, one animal
25. The ongoing belief in the apotropaic power of phallus seems to account for its
appearance on the
doorways of fresh buildings in major cities of India. The defender figures frequently shielding
either side of the entry
to a Saivite temple in India, have noticeable erect sexual organs. [See Clarence Maloney,
The Evil Eye (Fresh York,
1976). pp. 114, 1251. For the same purpose renderings of human phalli are curved upon the
exterior timbers of
dwelling places in Central Borneo [See Frederic T. Elworthy, The Evil Eye (London, 1957), p.
1071. Legba or