Also called Priapos.
Their story
Priapus was a rustic god from Lampsacus on the Hellespont, said to be the son of Aphrodite and Dionysus or Hermes. He was shown with an oversized phallus and set up in gardens to guard them from thieves and bring fertility. Ovid tells a comic tale of him being foiled by a braying donkey.
Best times to give to them
- When planting or harvesting a garden
- In spring
- When protecting crops
What they like being given
- The first fruit or vegetable of the garden
- Flowers
- Honey
- Milk
How to honour them
- Place a small guardian figure in the garden, as Greeks and Romans did.
- Share the first harvest in thanks.
- Laugh: his cult was earthy and humorous.
How they can help you
- Gardening
- Protecting property
- Fertility
Symbols
- pruning hook
- garden
- donkey
- fruit
His imagery is frankly sexual; his cult spread mainly from the Hellenistic period onward.
Sources
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.31.2
- Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4.6
- Ovid, Fasti 1.391-440
More Greek gods
- Zeus King of the gods and keeper of oaths
- Apollo Lord of light, music and prophecy
- Hermes Swift messenger and guide of travellers
- Hades Lord of the underworld and giver of wealth
- Dionysus Twice-born god of wine, theatre and ecstasy
- Poseidon Earth-shaker and lord of the sea
- Helios The all-seeing sun who crosses the sky
- Pan Goat-footed god of shepherds and wild places