A reverse myth or remarks on a Priape, a graphic novel by Nicolas Presl

Abstract

In Priape, his wordless, black-and-white debut graphic novel published of 2006 (in Poland published by Lokator in 2015) Nicolas Presl looks at the myth of a lesser known deity, weaving his own, surprising version of the story, one which is made up of motifs not connected with Priapus. Little is known of Priapus; he was the son of Aphrodite and Dionysus (or Adonis), we also know him from some slightly obscene poems from the collection Priapea, which highlight his physical appearance, much as ancient art does. Presl’s graphic novel, with its reverse elements of myths about Oedipus and Orestes and in which Priapus’s physical appearance is not stressed at all, is actually a universal tale of life and death, love and loneliness, and most of all of alienation and otherness.