THE LOVE GODDESS

Aphrodite
           Aphrodite[a] is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, beauty, pleasure, passion and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess Venus. Aphrodite's major symbols include myrtles, roses, doves, sparrows, and swans. The cult of Aphrodite was largely derived from that of the Phoenician goddess Astarte, a cognate of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar, whose cult was based on the Sumerian cult of Inanna. Aphrodite's main cult centers were Cythera, Cyprus, Corinth, and Athens. Her main festival was the Aphrodisia, which was celebrated annually in midsummer. In Laconia, Aphrodite was worshipped as a warrior goddess. She was also the patron goddess of prostitutes, an association which led early scholars to propose the concept of "sacred prostitution" in Greco-Roman culture, an idea which is now generally seen as erroneous.
In Hesiod's Theogony, Aphrodite is born off the coast of Cythera from the foam (aphrós) produced by Uranus's genitals, which his son Cronus has severed and thrown into the sea. In Homer's Iliad, however, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. Plato, in his Symposium 180e, asserts that these two origins actually belong to separate entities: Aphrodite Ourania (a transcendent, "Heavenly" Aphrodite) and Aphrodite Pandemos (Aphrodite common to "all the people"). Aphrodite had many other epithets, each emphasizing a different aspect of the same goddess, or used by a different local cult. Thus she was also known as Cytherea (Lady of Cythera) and Cypris (Lady of Cyprus), because both locations claimed to be the place of her birth.
In Greek mythology, Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths and metalworking. Despite this, Aphrodite was frequently unfaithful to him and had many lovers; in the Odyssey, she is caught in the act of adultery with Ares, the god of war. In the First Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, she seduces the mortal shepherd Anchises. Aphrodite was also the surrogate mother and lover of the mortal shepherd Adonis, who was killed by a wild boar. Along with Athena and Hera, Aphrodite was one of the three goddesses whose feud resulted in the beginning of the Trojan War and she plays a major role throughout the Iliad. Aphrodite has been featured in Western art as a symbol of female beauty and has appeared in numerous works of Western literature. She is a major deity in modern Neopagan religions, including the Church of Aphrodite, Wicca, and Hellenismos.

Near Eastern love goddess
Late second-millennium BC nude figurine of Ishtar from Susa, showing her wearing a crown and clutching her breasts
Early fifth-century BC statue of Aphrodite from Cyprus, showing her wearing a cylinder crown and holding a dove




The cult of Aphrodite in Greece was imported from, or at least influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia,[21][22][23][24] which, in turn, was influenced by the cult of the Mesopotamian goddess known as "Ishtar" to the East Semitic peoples and as "Inanna" to the Sumerians.[25][23][24] Pausanias states that the first to establish a cult of Aphrodite were the Assyrians, followed by the Paphians of Cyprus and then the Phoenicians at Ascalon. The Phoenicians, in turn, taught her worship to the people of Cythera.[26]
Aphrodite took on Inanna-Ishtar's associations with sexuality and procreation.[27] Furthermore, she was known as Ourania (Οὐρανία), which means "heavenly",[28] a title corresponding to Inanna's role as the Queen of Heaven.[28][29] Early artistic and literary portrayals of Aphrodite are extremely similar on Inanna-Ishtar.[27] Like Inanna-Ishtar, Aphrodite was also a warrior goddess;[27][22][30] the second-century AD Greek geographer Pausanias records that, in Sparta, Aphrodite was worshipped as Aphrodite Areia, which means "warlike".[31][32] He also mentions that Aphrodite's most ancient cult statues in Sparta and on Cythera showed her bearing arms.[31][32][33][27] Modern scholars note that Aphrodite's warrior-goddess aspects appear in the oldest strata of her worship[34] and see it as an indication of her Near Eastern origins.[34][35]
Nineteenth century classical scholars had a general aversion to the idea that ancient Greek religion was at all influenced by the cultures of the Near East,[36] but, even Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker, who argued that Near Eastern influence on Greek culture was largely confined to material culture,[36] admitted that Aphrodite was clearly of Phoenician origin.[36] The significant influence of Near Eastern culture on early Greek religion in general, and on the cult of Aphrodite in particular,[37] is now widely recognized as dating to a period of orientalization during the eighth century BC,[37] when archaic Greece was on the fringes of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.[38]
Indo-European dawn goddess
Some early comparative mythologists opposed to the idea of a Near Eastern origin argued that Aphrodite originated as an aspect of the Greek dawn goddess Eos[39][40] and that she was therefore ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European dawn goddess *Haéusōs (properly Greek Eos, Latin Aurora, Sanskrit Ushas).[39][40] Most modern scholars have now rejected the notion of a purely Indo-European Aphrodite,[6][41][14][42] but it is possible that Aphrodite, originally a Semitic deity, may have been influenced by the Indo-European dawn goddess.[42] Both Aphrodite and Eos were known for their erotic beauty and aggressive sexuality[40] and both had relationships with mortal lovers.[40] Both goddesses were associated with the colors red, white, and gold.[40] Michael Janda etymologizes Aphrodite's name as an epithet of Eos meaning "she who rises from the foam [of the ocean]"[11] and points to Hesiod's Theogony account of Aphrodite's birth as an archaic reflex of Indo-European myth.[11] Aphrodite rising out of the waters after Cronus defeats Uranus as a mytheme would then be directly cognate to the Rigvedic myth of Indra defeating Vrtra, liberating Ushas.[10][11] Another key similarity between Aphrodite and the Indo-European dawn goddess is her close kinship to the Greek sky deity,[42] since both of the main claimants to her paternity (Zeus and Uranus) are sky deities.[43]
Forms and epithets
Aphrodite Ourania, draped rather than nude, with her foot resting on a tortoise (Louvre)

Ancient Greek herma of Aphroditus, a male form of Aphrodite,[44][45][46] currently held in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm




See also: Category:Epithets of Aphrodite
Aphrodite's most common cultic epithet was Ourania, meaning "heavenly",[47][48] but this epithet almost never occurs in literary texts, indicating a purely cultic significance.[49] Another common name for Aphrodite was Pandemos ("For All the Folk").[50] In her role as Aphrodite Pandemos, Aphrodite was associated with Peithō (Πείθω), meaning "persuasion",[51] and could be prayed to for aid in seduction.[51] The character of Pausanias in Plato's Symposium, takes differing cult-practices associated with different epithets of the goddess to claim that Ourania and Pandemos are, in fact, separate goddesses. He asserts that Aphrodite Ourania is the celestial Aphrodite, born from the sea foam after Cronus castrated Uranus, and the older of the two goddesses. According to the Symposium, Aphrodite Ourania is the inspiration of male homosexual desire, specifically the ephebic eros, and pederasty. Aphrodite Pandemos, by contrast, is the younger of the two goddesses: the common Aphrodite, born from the union of Zeus and Dione, and the inspiration of heterosexual desire and sexual promiscuity, the "lesser" of the two loves.[52][53] Paphian (Παφία), was one of her epithets, after the Paphos in Cyprus where she had emerged from the sea at her birth.[54]
Among the Neoplatonists and, later, their Christian interpreters, Ourania is associated with spiritual love, and Pandemos with physical love (desire). A representation of Ourania with her foot resting on a tortoise came to be seen as emblematic of discretion in conjugal love; it was the subject of a chryselephantine sculpture by Phidias for Elis, known only from a parenthetical comment by the geographer Pausanias.[55]
One of Aphrodite's most common literary epithets is Philommeidḗs (φιλομμειδής),[56] which means "smile-loving",[56] but is sometimes mistranslated as "laughter-loving".[56] This epithet occurs throughout both of the Homeric epics and the First Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite.[56] Hesiod references it once in his Theogony in the context of Aphrodite's birth,[57] but interprets it as "genital-loving" rather than "smile-loving".[57] Monica Cyrino notes that the epithet may relate to the fact that, in many artistic depictions of Aphrodite, she is shown smiling.[57] Other common literary epithets are Cypris and Cythereia,[58] which derive from her associations with the islands of Cyprus and Cythera respectively.[58]
On Cyprus, Aphrodite was sometimes called Eleemon ("the merciful").[48] In Athens, she was known as Aphrodite en kopois ("Aphrodite of the Gardens").[48] At Cape Colias, a town along the Attic coast, she was venerated as Genetyllis "Mother".[48] The Spartans worshipped her as Potnia "Mistress", Enoplios "Armed", Morpho "Shapely", Ambologera "She who Postpones Old Age".[48] Across the Greek world, she was known under epithets such as Melainis "Black One", Skotia "Dark One", Androphonos "Killer of Men", Anosia "Unholy", and Tymborychos "Gravedigger",[46] all of which indicate her darker, more violent nature.[46]
A male version of Aphrodite known as Aphroditus was worshipped in the city of Amathus on Cyprus.[44][45][46] Aphroditus was depicted with the figure and dress of a woman,[44][45] but had a beard,[44][45] and was shown lifting his dress to reveal an erect phallus.[44][45] This gesture was believed to be an apotropaic symbol,[59] and was thought to convey good fortune upon the viewer.[59] Eventually, the popularity of Aphroditus waned as the mainstream, fully feminine version of Aphrodite became more popular,[45] but traces of his cult are preserved in the later legends of Hermaphroditus.[45]
Worship
Classical period



Ruins of the temple of Aphrodite at Aphrodisias


Aphrodite's main festival, the Aphrodisia, was celebrated across Greece, but particularly in Athens and Corinth. In Athens, the Aphrodisia was celebrated on the fourth day of the month of Hekatombaion in honor of Aphrodite's role in the unification of Attica.[60][61] During this festival, the priests of Aphrodite would purify the temple of Aphrodite Pandemos on the southwestern slope of the Acropolis with the blood of a sacrificed dove.[62] Next, the altars would be anointed[62] and the cult statues of Aphrodite Pandemos and Peitho would be escorted in a majestic procession to a place where they would be ritually bathed.[63] Aphrodite was also honored in Athens as part of the Arrhephoria festival.[64] The fourth day of every month was sacred to Aphrodite.[65]
Pausanias records that, in Sparta, Aphrodite was worshipped as Aphrodite Areia, which means "warlike".[31][32] This epithet stresses Aphrodite's connections to Ares, with whom she had extramarital relations.[31][32] Pausanias also records that, in Sparta[31][32] and on Cythera, a number of extremely ancient cult statues of Aphrodite portrayed her bearing arms.[33][48] Other cult statues showed her bound in chains.[48]
Aphrodite was the patron goddess of prostitutes of all varieties,[66][48] ranging from pornai (cheap street prostitutes typically owned as slaves by wealthy pimps) to hetairai (expensive, well-educated hired companions, who were usually self-employed and sometimes provided sex to their customers).[67] The city of Corinth was renowned throughout the ancient world for its many hetairai,[68] who had a widespread reputation for being among the most skilled, but also the most expensive, prostitutes in the Greek world.[68] Corinth also had a major temple to Aphrodite located on the Acrocorinth[68] and was one of the main centers of her cult.[68] Records of numerous dedications to Aphrodite made by successful courtesans have survived in poems and in pottery inscriptions.[67] References to Aphrodite in association with prostitution are found in Corinth as well as on the islands of Cyprus, Cythera, and Sicily.[69] Aphrodite's Mesopotamian precursor Inanna-Ishtar was also closely associated with prostitution.[70][71][69]
Scholars in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries believed that the cult of Aphrodite may have involved ritual prostitution,[71][69] an assumption based on ambiguous passages in certain ancient texts, particularly a fragment of a skolion by the Boeotian poet Pindar,[72] which mentions prostitutes in Corinth in association with Aphrodite.[72] Modern scholars now dismiss the notion of ritual prostitution in Greece as a "historiographic myth" with no factual basis.[73]
Hellenistic and Roman periods




Greek relief from Aphrodisias, depicting a Roman-influenced Aphrodite sitting on a throne holding an infant while the shepherd Anchises stands beside her. Carlos Delgado; CC-BY-SA.


During the Hellenistic period, the Greeks identified Aphrodite with the ancient Egyptian goddesses Hathor and Isis.[74][75][76] Aphrodite was the patron goddess of the Lagid queens[77] and Queen Arsinoe II was identified as her mortal incarnation.[77] Aphrodite was worshipped in Alexandria[77] and had numerous temples in and around the city.[77] Arsinoe II introduced the cult of Adonis to Alexandria and many of the women there partook in it.[77] The Tessarakonteres, a gigantic catamaran galley designed by Archimedes for Ptolemy IV Philopator, had a circular temple to Aphrodite on it with a marble statue of the goddess herself.[77] In the second century BC, Ptolemy VIII Physcon and his wives Cleopatra II and Cleopatra III dedicated a temple to Aphrodite Hathor at Philae.[77] Statuettes of Aphrodite for personal devotion became common in Egypt starting in the early Ptolemaic times and extending until long after Egypt became a Roman province.[77]
The ancient Romans identified Aphrodite with their goddess Venus,[78] who was originally a goddess of agricultural fertility, vegetation, and springtime.[78] According to the Roman historian Livy, Aphrodite and Venus were officially identified in the third century BC[79] when the cult of Venus Erycina was introduced to Rome from the Greek sanctuary of Aphrodite on Mount Eryx in Sicily.[79] After this point, Romans adopted Aphrodite's iconography and myths and applied them to Venus.[79] Because Aphrodite was the mother of the Trojan hero Aeneas in Greek mythology[79] and Roman tradition claimed Aeneas as the founder of Rome,[79] Venus became venerated as Venus Genetrix, the mother of the entire Roman nation.[79] Julius Caesar claimed to be directly descended from Aeneas's son Iulus[80] and became a strong proponent of the cult of Venus.[80] This precedent was later followed by his nephew Augustus and the later emperors claiming succession from him.[80]
This syncretism greatly impacted Greek worship of Aphrodite.[81] During the Roman era, the cults of Aphrodite in many Greek cities began to emphasize her relationship with Troy and Aeneas.[81] They also began to adopt distinctively Roman elements,[81] portraying Aphrodite as more maternal, more militaristic, and more concerned with administrative bureaucracy.[81] She was claimed as a divine guardian by many political magistrates.[81] Appearances of Aphrodite in Greek literature also vastly proliferated, usually showing Aphrodite in a characteristically Roman manner.[82]