Value, but was meant as a phallic exhibition, a demonstration of power, a threat signal of 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)

Nick Stournaras and Nick Corbetis, eds.,
Olympia 1971 fig. 3. (Courtesy of Mike Roberts Colour Creation).

Codpiece and the baboon presenting his erect penis as an aggressive signal to other baboons to keep off purpose at the
same effect" (p. 165). The author also notes that tendencies towards genital action of an aggressive nature are
repressed in our current culture and that today's men are not aware of potentials like those openly
expressed in the Near East and--at least verbally--among the early Norsemen. This means, according to the
author, that logical understanding of the aggressive aspects of phallic symbolism is lost also; and this in turn
Signifies that understanding of the signal function of a phallic symbolism in dominance-submission routines has
vanished from the consciousness--notwithstanding that these patterns still remain unchanged and attentive of action
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 see in the province of Maabar, India that men went to fight naked
with just a lance 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, naked guys point
firebrands at the skies, as in the case of rain-magic. This nudity is supposed to
"shock" the forces that sent the rain and cause its cessation. To a primitive
warrior the phallus was an symbol of power having prophylactic merit against
the attacks of the enemy. https://s3.amazonaws.com/2023naturist/beach-bum.html marching into conflict carried phallic
symbols on their standards. The particular state of the sexual organ of a warrior
engaged in deadly combat is a matter well comprehended in the Polynesian
superstition.24
24.
of Eastern Bengal (London, 1883). p. 369; W. https://s3.amazonaws.com/naturist2020/family-nudist-pics.html , "Nudity in India in Custom and Rite," Journal of the
Royal Anthropological Institute 49 (1919): 248; George Ryley Scott, Phallic Worship (Awesome Delhi, 1975). p, 109,
p. 21.
Among the Kiwi Papuans of
British New Guinea the member of a slain foe is cut off and dried. Before a fight a small bit of it mixed with banana
is given to the young warriors to make them stronger. [See Gunnar Landman, The Kiwai Papuons of British New
Additionally see Rohelm, Animism. p. 20.

225

The apotropaic use of the phallus is certainly exposed in the Greek herms which
consisted of a square stone pillar surmounted by a man's bearded head and
bearing an erect phallus.
market places, at intersection26 and at the frontiers, always facing away from
the guarded premises. The same type of sculpture are found in some present
cultures, such as on Borneo and Nias, Bali and the Nikobar Islands as things of
superstition against the spirits of the Dead.27
W. https://s3.amazonaws.com/2023naturist/beach-pussy.html wrote on the significance of the display of phallus:
I cannot find any real explanation before ethology detected that there are species
of monkeys, living in groups, of whom the men act as guards:
outposts, facing outside and presenting their erect genital organ. This is an
"Creature ritual" in the sense noted above: the fundamental function of sexual activity is

suspended for the benefit of communication; every individual approaching from the
outside will detect this group does not consist of weak wives and kids,
but enjoys the full protection of masculinity.28


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