10/1/2007 Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love Aphrodite Origins: Eastern fertility goddess Parentage: Zeus and Dione, or Ouranos’ genitals Spouse: Hephaestus But ongoing affair with Ares! Functions: love (spiritual and physical) Attributes: Eros, cupids (putti) Animal: dove, swan Sanctuaries: Cythera, Paphos on Cyprus Epithets: Kypria, Kypris (Cypris), Cytheria, Golden Roman: Venus 10/1/2007 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 2 1 10/1/2007 Aphrodite Urania and Aphrodite Pandemos The double tradition of Aphrodite’s birth may account for a basic duality in her character Aphrodite Urania (Ourania, Celestial Aphrodite) Sprung from Ouranos alone Stronger, more intelligent, spiritual For religion and philosophy, becomes the celestial goddess of pure and spiritual love Aphrodite Pandemos (Aphrodite of All the People) 10/1/2007 Sprung from Zeus and Dione more base, devoted primarily to physical satisfaction Goddess of physical attraction and procreation 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 3 Birth of Aphrodite Graecia Ludovisi Throne, ca 470-460 BC 10/1/2007 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 4 2 10/1/2007 Birth of Venus Pompeiian wall painting: House of Venus, 1st century AD 10/1/2007 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 5 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 6 Aphrodite 10/1/2007 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 3 10/1/2007 Venus de Milo (Roman copy of the original Hellenistic Aphrodite of Melos) 10/1/2007 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 7 Hymn to Aphrodite “Sing to me, O Muse, of the works of golden Aphrodite, the Cyprian, who stirs sweet longing in gods and subdues the races of mortal men” (Hymn to Aphrodite, 13) “Three are the minds which she can neither sway nor deceive: first is the daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, gray-eyed Athena …second is hallooing Artemis of the golden shafts…third is a revered maiden not charmed by the deeds of Aphrodite, Hestia …of these three she can neither sway the mind, nor deceive them. But none of the others, neither blessed god nor mortal man, has escaped Aphrodite” (Hymn to Aphrodite, 7-35) 10/1/2007 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 8 4 10/1/2007 Aphrodite and Anchises “But even in Aphrodite’s soul Zeus placed sweet longing to mate with a mortal man…and that some day the smile-loving goddess might not laugh sweetly and boast among all the gods of how she had joined in love gods to mortal women…and so he placed in her heart sweet longing for Anchises” (Hymn to Aphrodite, 45-53) “When indeed smile-loving Aphrodite saw him, she fell in love with him, and awesome longing seized her heart… she stood before him, in size and form like an unwed maiden, so that he might not see who she was and be afraid…desire seized Anchises, and to her he uttered these words: ‘Lady, welcome to this house, whoever of the blessed ones you are’” (Hymn to Aphrodite, 56-92) 10/1/2007 9 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love Life and Death Several scenes in the Hymn to Aphrodite present a tension, or conflict between giving and taking life 10/1/2007 “From there Argeiphontes of the golden wand abducted me and carried me over many works of mortal men, over much undivided and uninhabited land, where beasts which tear raw flesh roam through the shady glens…He said I would be called your wedded wife, Anchises, and sharing your bed would bear you fine children” (Hymn to Aphrodite, 121-127) “With these words he took her by the hand; and smile-loving Aphrodite, turning her face away, with beautiful eyes downcast, went coyly to the well-made bed…on it were skins of bears and deep-roaring lions, which he himself had killed on the high mountains. And when the climbed onto the well-wrought bed, first Anchises took off the bright jewels from her body…” (Hymn to Aphrodite, 155-163) 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 10 5 10/1/2007 Anchises and Aeneas “No need to be afraid that you may suffer harm from me or from the other blessed ones, for by the gods you are loved. And you shall have a dear son who will rule among the Trojans, and to his offspring children will always be born. Aineias his name shall be, because I was seized by awful grief for sharing a mortal man’s bed” (Hymn to Aphrodite, 194-199) ainos = grief Aphrodite is suddenly ashamed of mating with a mortal and bearing a child by him, something she had formerly boasted about coercing the other gods to do “But if you reveal this and boast with foolish heart to have mingled in love with fair-wreathed Kythereia, an angry Zeus will smite you with a smoking thunderbolt…refrain from naming me, and heed divine anger” (Hymn to Aphrodite, 286-290) 10/1/2007 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 11 Eros • Male counterpart of Aphrodite • Dual tradition about his birth: early cosmic deity in Hesiod, or son of Aphrodite and Ares • Closely associated with the goddess as her attendant • May represent all facets of love and desire, but often is the god of male homosexuality, particularly in the classical period • Often depicted as a handsome young man, the embodiment of masculine beauty Roman terracotta statuette, from Myrina. Louvre, Paris. 10/1/2007 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 12 6 10/1/2007 Aphrodite, Pan, and Eros Delos, ca 100 BC 10/1/2007 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 13 Aphrodite and Adonis After describing the birth of Adonis from the Myrrh tree-trunk (formerly the incestuous girl Myrrah), Ovid recounts the story of Aphrodite and Adonis “He now became the darling of Venus, and avenged the passion which had assailed his mother. For while her son Cupid was kissing Venus, with his quiver on his shoulders, he unwittingly grazed her breast with an arrow …the goddess of Cythera, captivated by the beauty of a mortal, cared no more for her sea shores …she even stayed away from heaven, preferring Adonis to the sky. She used to hold him in her arms, and became his constant companion” (Ovid, Metamorphoses, 520-530=Innes, 239) The “most beautiful” male, he was worthy of Aphrodite and gave his name to the modern “Adonis complex” 10/1/2007 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 14 7 10/1/2007 Death of Adonis After recounting the story of Atalanta and Hippomenes and their transformation into lions, she warns him to stay away from the wild beasts of the forest “But, though she had warned Adonis, his natural courage ran contrary to her advice. By chance, his hounds came upon a wellmarked trail and following the scent, roused a boar from its lair…It sank its teeth deep in his groin, bringing him down, mortally wounded, on the yellow sand” (Ovid, Metamorphoses, 710-716) “There will be an everlasting token of my grief, Adonis. Every year, the scene of your death will be staged anew…but your blood will be changed into a flower…With these words, she sprinkled Adonis’ blood with sweet-smelling nectar and, at the touch of the liquid, the blood swelled up…within an hour, a flower sprang up, the color of blood, and in appearance like that of the pomegranate” (Ovid, Metamorphoses, 720-735) Aetiological myth for the anemone flower 10/1/2007 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 15 Venus and Adonis Bronze mirror cover, ca 4th century BC 10/1/2007 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 12-Aphrodite and the Primal Power of Love 16 8