Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 77

Hermaphroditus

In ancient Greek religion, Hermaphroditus was the son of Hermes, the messenger of the gods, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.  According to Ovid, he came upon the nymph Salmacis in her pool.  She was overcome with lust for him.  He rejected her, but she forced herself upon him (above, in a painting by Jean Francois de Troy, 1729), and she prayed to the gods to be united with him forever.  The gods answered her prayer and merged the two of them into one body.  After that, Hermaphroditus was both male and female.

Above is the sculpture called the Borghese Hermaphroditus in the Louvre.  It is a 2nd century Roman copy of a 2nd century BC Greek sculpture.  In addition, the mattress was carved by Bernini in 1620 specifically as a mattress for this sculpture to lie on.

From this angle, it looks like a sleeping woman, but ...

from the other side, she has a penis and balls in addition to her breasts.  She is both male and female.

Another Roman statue of Hermaphroditus c. 70-100 AD.  Breasts: check.  Dick and balls: check.

This statue of Hermaphroditus was found in the house of Loreius Tiburtinus in Pompeii.  Pompeii is the Roman city destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.  This statue has prominent breasts but clearly also has a penis.

This 3rd century Roman statue goes even further on the male side.  It's also in the Louvre.  We all knew that the Louvre contains great art, like the Mona Lisa, but who knew it has these other interesting artworks?

We end with a modern depiction of Hermaphroditus by Will Mitchell.  I have to say, it certainly looks male, but aside from the hair, it doesn't look very female.

World Naked Bike Ride - Part 86

London 2025

Recently we looked at the WNBR (World Naked Bike Ride) in London on June 14, 2025.  The London ride is one of the largest in the world.  Today we will look at some more riders from the 2025 London WNBR.

The photo above of riders gathering before the ride caught my eye for obvious reasons.

Here's the tattooed guy in the previous photo, viewed from the front ...

and from the rear (he's in the center).

Here he is at the Wellington Arch where the ride started.  He and his companion seem to find the ride exciting.

And crossing the Waterloo Bridge was even more exciting.

Another rider that caught my eye was this guy, well endowed with fur from the waist down.

A side view of him.

And a front view by the Wellington Arch where the ride started.  Interestingly, from the waist up he is virtually hairless, aside from a treasure trail.

Here he is crossing the Waterloo Bridge.

We end with this shot of our young friend's furry end.

Estonian Photos - Part 42

Estonian Photos

We continue our series of photos from the Tartu Ülikooli museum of anthropology in Estonia.

Note: the frontal view photo of #241 and #242 is missing.  We only have the rear and side views.

For those who haven't seen my previous posts in this series, a few words of explanation.  The museum provides no information about the men, other than the photos came from the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tartu.  In particular, it does not say who these men are, or when or why the photos were taken.  However, the photos are labeled "Füüsilise antropoloogia pildistus" (physical anthropology photography).

Who are these men?  My best guess is that they are military recruits.  The very short haircuts suggest that these photos were taken during or shortly after the enlistment process.

Some of the men in this series have dark faces and hands.  Are they are tanned from working outside like farmers, or are they dirty from some dirty occupation?  We don't know.

Note: the dark faces and hands are not as visible in today's post as in some previous posts, but darker hands are visible in some of the side views.  Perhaps the photos in today's post were taken in the winter, when farmers would not be spending as much time outside getting tanned.

When were the photos taken?  My best guess is between World War I and World War II, when Estonia was an independent country with its own military.  Before WWI, Estonia was part of the Russian Empire, and after WWII, Estonia was part of the Soviet Union until 1991.

A clue to the time frame is that these photographs were made on glass plates, not film.  Dry glass-plate photography started in 1871 and began to fall out of use in the 1920s.  I found some references to it in Estonia through the 1930s.

One other clue to the time frame of these photos is that in two previous batches, one of the men is wearing a wristwatch.   Wristwatches were considered to be for ladies before World War I.  (Men used pocket watches.)  However, during the war, wristwatches proved very useful for soldiers and pilots.  After WWI, wristwatches came into fashion for men.

Although wristwatches were evidently rare in Estonia (only two men wore a wristwatch among the hundreds that were photographed), it suggests that these photos are post-World War I.

Since the use of glass plates fell out of use in the 1920s, I think the photos were most likely taken shortly after World War I.

Although these appear to be military recruits, these are probably not military photos.  We know that the museum that currently has the photos got them from the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tartu.  If these are military photos, why would they end up at the Institute of Anatomy?

I believe the photos were taken by academics doing a study of physical anthropology.  Scientists at the Institute of Anatomy were trying to measure what they considered racial characteristics of the population by measuring the body, including phrenology (measuring the skull), ideas which are now discredited.

I think that the scientists at the Institute of Anatomy may have persuaded the military to let them take photographs of the naked new recruits for "research" purposes.  I have no written evidence to support this idea, but since the photos were at the Institute of Anatomy, and the photo subjects appear to be military recruits, it's now my best guess as to what happened.

One other question that perennially arises from these photos is: why were the men photographed in pairs?  Was it to save film?

The answer is that these photos were made on glass plates, not film, but glass plates were more expensive and involved more labor than film, so yes, it's likely that the men were photographed in pairs to save on glass plates.

So, bottom line: My best guess is that these photos were taken after World War I, the subjects are new or recent Army recruits, and the Estonian military allowed scientists from the Institute of Anatomy to take photos of the naked recruits for a study of physical anthropology.

Not the Same Old Song - Part 74

Great Balls of Fire

Great Balls of Fire was a 1957 hit by Jerry Lee Lewis.  It sold a million copies in the first 10 days after its release, making it one of the best-selling singles of its time.  I have accompanied it with visuals showing some great balls, but probably not the ones that Jerry Lee Lewis had in mind.

Vintage Military - Part 97

World War I - Suez Canal

Last time we saw that Britain had taken over Egypt in World War I to protect the Suez Canal, then invaded Palestine.  But Palestine was a sideshow; Britain's main concern was the Suez Canal.  Today we will look at troops from Britain and its colonies and dominions that were stationed at the Suez Canal.

Above, a photo from John Trevor Peat showing New Zealand cavalry troops bathing in the canal.

Another photo from a New Zealand member of the Wellington Mounted Rifles showing troops swimming their horses in the canal.

Australian troops bathing in the canal by Thomas John Richards, 1915-1916.

Patrick Hamilton from Australia labeled this 1916 photo "water sports – the coolest place in the summer".

Kantara (now El Qantara), Egypt: bathing in the Suez Canal, photo by a soldier from Edinburgh, Scotland, 1916.

We end with another photo from our Edinburgh soldier at Kantara: skinny dipping in the Suez Canal, 1916.

Olympic Photos by Paul Richer - Part 14

Olympic Photos by Paul Richer, part 14

Today we conclude our series of nude photographs by Paul Richer of athletes in the 1900 Paris Olympics.  Richer was on an official Olympic commission to study the athletes.  Richer was responsible for taking nude anthropomorphic photos of the athletes, and since it was an official commission, almost all the athletes who were asked to participate did so.

We start with Danish athlete Charles Winckler, above, who competed in swimming, shot put, and discus, and was on the gold-medal-winning Danish tug-of-war team.

Here are Paul Richer's photos of Winckler, front view ...

rear view ...

and side view

French athlete Guillaume de Saint Cyr, above, competed as a runner and in shot put.  

Here are Paul Richer's photos of de Saint Cyr, front view ...

rear view ...

and side view.

We end with two mini-movies.  Photographer Paul Richer was a pioneer in chronophotography, the early practice of taking multiple photos of a moving subject.  The gif above was made from Richer's photos of an athlete throwing a shot underhand in 1900.  The athlete was not identified, but was probably one of the athletes in the 1900 Olympics.

And here is another gif made from Richer's photos, showing the same athlete throwing a shot overhand in 1900.

This concludes this series of Olympic photos by Paul Richer.  I hope you enjoyed them.

Performers - Part 82

 The Beatles

The Beatles were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.  Of the four, John was the most willing to be photographed nude.  Above, he posed with his girlfriend Yoko Ono for the cover of the November 23, 1968 issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

Years later, he and Yoko graced the cover of Rolling Stone again on the January 22, 1981 issue.

In 1968, John and Yoko put out the album Two Virgins, with this full-frontal photo on the cover.

How could they sell the album with that naked cover?  In stores, the album was covered with brown paper with a cutout for John and Yoko's faces and the album name Two Virgins.

John was even photographed sporting an erection in this photo with Yoko.

What about the other Beatles?  I don't know if this nude photo of Paul McCartney is real or fake.

But this photo of Paul in the bathtub, taken by his wife, is real, including a peekaboo view.

There are apparently no unfaked nude photos of George or Ringo.  We end with this 1968 pop art poster of all four Beatles by Richard Bernstein.  It's art, not a photo, and it shows them all circumcised.  In actual fact, Paul was circumcised, but John certainly wasn't.  I don't know about George and Ringo.  Oh, well.