Priapus and Incubi

“It is not unusual,” reports Euclid, “for every thousand persons in one city to be the offspring of two of the Incubi,” but “two” may signify any number, or no number. The orgies of the immortals, which were usually made use of to found new families, have, as Aelian observes, been considered by some writers as two different and sometimes contradictory human beings. Another source tells us that Priapus and some of his hangers-on were kept in the same house, and tamed in some way; that the lover could never go to the stable, lest he should be known by the large belly of his beloved. They were not, however, ever kept in captivity for any length of time, as Victor said, when his honor was at stake, that Priapus and his coevals would come and carry him away; and for this reason the relations of his father, the Patrician, fell into a pique. Priapus and his companions, being kept in holy restraint, never got into mischief, but were very kind to each other. The writer of the lost Ovidius Manius also says that the children born by Priapus were “generous, and not short-lived.” They were skilled in cooking, for the nymphs made use of the seeds that were produced by the hosts of Incubi, and held contests for it in gluttony; and yet another passage intimates that they were clever at medicine, and assisted those suffering from various illnesses.

Also told by Isidore is the story of how Zeus, by disguising himself in a tree, in an uncultivated region of Italy, entered the women’s garb, and uttered sexual incantations, after which many childless women conceived; and that their neighbors, desiring to double their profits, perpetuated the tale, and not only invented other names for Priapus, but incorporated it in their libels. He was, likewise, believed to ride the mountain ridges, and sport in the woods, and to bathe in the springs, where he discharged his urine into the water.

Stories are told of Priapus that he kept human slaves, and that some were used for this purpose; but these slaves were obtained only from the convicts who escaped from their walls, and as often as they were recaptured, the impudent old man compelled them to bear his children. It was also reported that the proprietor of a manumitted slave was bound by law to give the man a reward, but had no desire to, because the slave was so convenient to him. That some of the most pitiful and miserable of the hecatonchires were broken upon by Priapus as his playthings, are reported by Plutarch, and again by Martial, and generally these are believed to have been offered up to the stallion as a sacrifice.