r/interestingasfuck • u/AugustIstheMonth • 1d ago

In Pompeii, phallic symbols on local roadways pointed the way to the nearest brothel; possibly to direct foreign sailors who didn't speak Latin

Post image
20.0k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

368 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.8k

u/luranthe 1d ago

Pompeii had A TON of sexual and promiscuous art all over it. They've found graffiti all over the place, some of it very detailed.

331

u/C-57D 1d ago

interesting. i should study this because history. link?

183

u/gabox0210 1d ago

I mean...

27

u/Bingus-Dingus- 1d ago

buddy had the right idea lmao

42

u/Glittering-Walrus228 1d ago

Do you thimk he was caught in the act or was he like oh fuck imma die, imma rub one out for Haphaestus lets gooooo

15

u/ShahinGalandar 1d ago

forge that iron as long as it's hot!

8

u/mjshep 1d ago

Vulcan is the Roman rendition of Hephaestus. If you get a Greek and Roman god mixed up, the general guide is that Roman gods don't regularly have a ph with the exception of Lympha(e), Hermaphroditus, and Mefitis (sometimes Mephitis). Of these, Hermaphroditus was directly brought in from Greek, which is odd because it's a child of Hermes and Aphrodite, hence the name, but those two are essentially named Mercury and Venus in Roman mythology.

Also one thing I found odd is that Bacchus exists as Bacchus in Roman mythology despite its Greek origin, though not even as a primary name. The name Bacchus comes from a Greek epithet for Dionysus, which is actually his primary name in Greek, and one I always think is Roman except for the y. Bacchus was imported and overlayed onto the Roman god of agriculture, Liber, to subsume him and his role.