Ithyphallos
The Ithyphallos ( Gr. Ἰθύφαλλος from ἰθύς ithys "straight, upright" and φαλλός " Phallos ") is one of the fertility symbols of ancient Greece .
It consisted of a replica of the male member , which was made of red leather and was carried forward especially during the phallophoric lifts of the Dionysus festivals . For this purpose, the participants also sang songs called Ithyphallos with a peculiar meter, the Ithyphallikos .
As an art-historical term, ithyphallically denotes representations of male beings (in antiquity in particular of the god Priapus or of satyrs ) with erect penises of sometimes grotesquely exaggerated size.
Ithyphallia is already common in Paleolithic art, such as Franco-Cantabrian cave painting or rock painting of the Sahara , and occurs on Nordic rock art and in Germany on Celtic anthropomorphic grave steles.