Yes, it is true. Priapus was viewed as vulgar by the Greeks.
More from http://en.wikip … rg/wiki/Priapus
He was described as the son of Aphrodite by Dionysus, Hermes, Zeus or Pan, depending on the source.[1] According to legend, Hera cursed him with impotence, ugliness and foul-mindedness while he was still in Aphrodite’s womb, in revenge for the hero Paris having the temerity to judge Aphrodite more beautiful than Hera. The other gods refused to allow him to live on Mount Olympus and threw him down to Earth, where he was brought up by shepherds.
Priapus joined Pan and the satyrs as a spirit of fertility and growth, though he was perennially frustrated by his impotence. He attempted to rape the nymph Lotis but was thwarted by an ass, whose braying caused him to lose his erection at the critical moment and woke Lotis. He pursued the nymph until the gods took pity on her and turned her into a lotus plant. The episode gave him a lasting hatred of asses and a willingness to see them killed in his honour. [2] In the end, his lust gave him a permanent erection and his penis grew so large that he was unable to move.[3]