Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Was there some kind of cultural value placed on small penises?
Was there some kind of cultural value placed on small penises?
Yes. This was very much the ideal for the Greeks, and the Romans borrowed this mentality from them. To quote Aristophanes (Clouds, lines 1010-1019):
If you do these things I tell you, and bend your efforts to them, you will always have a shining breast, a bright skin, big shoulders, a minute tongue, a big rump and a small prick. but if you follow the practices of today, for a start you’ll have a pale skin, small shoulders, a skinny chest, a big tongue, a small rump, a big dick and a long-winded decree.
An oversized penis, meanwhile, was associated with sexually voracious satyrs or lecherous old men. It was also seen as a physical peculiarity and often an object of ridicule. There's a famous mosaic showing the "Evil Eye" being besieged by, among other things, a hunchback's giant penis. The fact that such an image was meant to mock oversized penises by putting them alongside things like dogs and birds should tell you something about their attitude towards this particular body feature.
that is a Neoclassical statue. Classical and Neoclassical artists and sculptors often imitated ancient Greek styles. before i answer this:
yes, there was a high value placed on small penises for ancient Grecian art. large penises were considered comical, and a smaller penis on a statue were more favorable for art which the sculpture or painter intended to be taken seriously. it should also be noted that the Grecian physical ideal of the era was a pre-pubescent male, who is vastly more likely to have a smaller penis.
ancient Roman art was a bit more free-wheeling with penis size. a large penis (such as on Priapus or fertility related/trickster gods) was seen to indicate that either the god was a trickster or the god placed a high value on earthly pleasures.
the Neoclassical movement generally saw Grecian austerity and expression in sculpture and art superior to more Roman ideals of practicality in form. and so you see an expression of this idea in that Neoclassical work.
