Phallic processions, or Penis Parade,called "phallika" in ancient Greece, were a common feature of Dionysiac celebrations; they were processions that advanced to a cult center, and were characterized by obscenities and verbal teasing.
The display of a fetishized phallus was a common feature. In his Poetics, Aristotle hypothesizes that the earliest forms of comedy originated and evolved from "those who lead off the phallic processions", which were still common in many towns at his time.
The main purpose of these processions was to celebrate fertility and the eternal process of creation in Nature.Moreover, obscenities and the exhibition of phalluses were thought to drive bad luck away and ensure good crops, health and wealth.
The city of Tyrnavos in Greece still holds an annual Phallus festival, a traditional phallophoric event towards the end of the Greek Carnival ( Apokries ).
Similar parades of Shinto origin have long been carried out in Japan. Although the practice has been mostly eradicated in Japan, a few, such as Kawasaki's Kanamara Matsuri and Komaki's Hōnen Matsuri continue to this day. The striking similarities between the two kinds of celebrations can make us think about potential influences of the Dionysian cult, as it was transmitted to Asia via Alexander the Great and the following kingdoms.
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