![]() ![]() 1 The vase which the old man holds in his right hand is supposed to contain an aphrodisiac essence: and indeed it may be remarked that figures of this kind all represent old men, the young not needing to have recourse to these irritant preparations in order to prepare themselves for the act of coition. In the application, the positive meaning is, we think, the representation of a custom very common among the Romans. Thence, as we have already said, is derived the origin of theįires of the festival of St John, and of the sprinklings of cold water still in use at that period of the year in some parts of France. Ablution was a symbol dear to the ancients it indicated at one and the same time the union of water and fire, at the period when baths are necessary to temper the ardour of the latter. Here, as perhaps in the preceding plate, the allegorical meaning constitutes one of the most important degrees of initiation into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris, of Bacchus or of the Sun. Sacred Texts Sacred Sexuality Classics Index Previous NextĪN old man, whose left hand is enveloped in the chlamys, after the manner of athletes, pours on his phallus the liquor contained in a vase of elegant form. The Royal Museum at Naples: Plate XVI: Votive Figure ![]()
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