I’ve become sort of obsessed about finding the origin of the concept of testicles as being a measure of manliness; the bigger the better. The idea of ‘big balls’ implying courage and masculinity goes back a long way, but I cannot for the life of me figure out why.

I wanna know where this concept came from. I’ve heard lots of cockamamie ideas like Homer or some other classical origin, but I wanna know where and, even more importantly, why?

Look, I get the obvious intuitive association between testicles and fertility, but let’s get right to it: there is absolutely nothing ‘manly’ about testicles. Other than the reproductive function, they are not only a minor pain, but also a primary vulnerability. Women have no analogous physical …er… ‘achilles heel’.

I wonder why the penis isn’t the arbiter of manliness? But in fact, in linguistic terms, it’s just the opposite. Everyone admires the guy with biggest cojones. But who wants to be that big dick over there in the corner.

So… where did those big balls come from?