Unmistakable by virtue of his exaggerated phallus, Priapus--one of Rome's minor fertility gods--inspired a host of epigrammatic poems that offer one of the best primary sources for the study of ancient sexuality. Despite their apparent frivolity, the Priapus poems raise basic questions of class and gender, censorship, and the nature of obscenity. The god's self-conscious indecency placed him squarely in the realm of comedy, but his role as guardian of fertility also gave him a deep religious significance. Richard Hooper's introduction explores this important duality and places the poems in their historical context. Essentially graffiti clothed in the refined forms of classical poetry, The Priapus Poems offers the reader "a trip to Coney Island in a Rolls Royce." Hooper's lively translation makes these playful poems available for the first time to the nonspecialist in an appealing, elegant, and readable version. This edition includes the original Latin texts as well as a commentary on classical references and textual problems.

First published in 1988, Priapea is a collection of eighty Latin epigrams, English translated, that make up the corpus Priapeorum, which displays remarkable skill, artistry and wit. Their elegance of style contrasts strikingly with their indecent subject matter. The poems are mostly spoken by, or addressed to, the lewd god Priapus, famous for the size and tenseness of his erect membrum virile or phallus. A main theme is the threatened use of his formidable organ to assault obscenely any intruders that he may catch thieving, but requests and offsprings made to Priapus, and his comparison of himself with other deities, also figure prominently among the poems. This book will be of interest of literature, classical studies, and translation studies.

The Priapeia is a collection of ninety-five poems in various meters on subjects pertaining to the phallic god Priapus. It was compiled from literary works and inscriptions on images of the god by an unknown editor, who composed the introductory epigram. From their style and versification it is evident that the poems belong to the classical period of Latin literature. Some, however, may be interpolations of a later period. These poems were posted upon statues of Priapus that stood in the midst of gardens as the protector of the fruits that grew therein. These statues were often crude carvings made from tree trunks. They roughly resembled the form of a man with a huge phallus. The statues also promoted the gardens' fertility. The verses are attributed variously to Virgil, Ovid, and Domitius Marsus. However, most authorities on the matter regard them to have been the work of a group of poets who met at the house of Maecenas, amusing themselves by writing tongue-in-cheek tributes to the garden Priapus. (Maecenas was Horace's patron.) Others, including Martial and Petronius, were thought to have added more verses in imitation of the originals.

Sportive Epigrams on Priapus is a collection of poems.