Aphrodite

Monica S. Cyrino

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780415775236
• eBook ISBN: 9781136615917
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

Aphrodite explores the many myths and meanings of the Greek goddess of love, sex and beauty. One of the most widely worshipped and popular deities in Greek antiquity, Aphrodite emerges from the imaginations of the ancient Greek writers and artists as a multifaceted, powerful and charismatic figure. This volume explores the importance of Aphrodite for the ancient Greeks, as well as her enduring influence as a symbol of beauty, adornment, love and sexuality in contemporary culture. In a wide-ranging investigation of the universality of Aphrodite's power and significance, this volume illuminates the numerous intricate levels of divinity embodied by the alluring figure of Aphrodite.

Aphrodite offers new insights into the ancient texts and artistic representations of the goddess, as well as a comprehensive survey of the current scholarship about the origins and interpretations of Aphrodite, whilst also highlighting her eternal popular appeal across cultures and generations. A goddess of love who is not afraid to enter the battlefield; a goddess of bodily adornment who is the first to appear totally nude; a goddess born of the sea who emerges into the open sky: Aphrodite is a polyvalent deity, plural in nature, function and significance.

KEY THEMES

2
BIRTH, ORIGINS, NAMES

In this chapter, we will explore Aphrodite's beginnings, starting with the question of Aphrodite's birth as a divine figure in Greek mythology. First, we will consider the distinctive mythic variants in the earliest literary accounts of her birth and delve into how these fundamental stories might reflect the essential aspects of her manifold divinity. Next we will examine the possible geographical, chronological, ethnic and cultural origins of Aphrodite, while acknowledging the controversies and challenges we face in attempting to settle upon a single source or derivation for this cosmopolitan goddess. Lastly we will discuss some of the most popular names and significant epithets of the goddess and investigate their possible associations with her myths, appearances in Greek literature and cultic origins.

BIRTH

Aphrodite's earliest birth stories in Greek myth explicitly illuminate her multifaceted nature and describe her many evolving characteristics in the mythology, literature and cults of ancient Greece. These original Greek literary myths portray Aphrodite as having two distinct ancestral pedigrees, while both accounts make clear that the ancient Greeks associated Aphrodite with the realms of the sky and sea. In one early account, Aphrodite is shown to be born directly from the maimed body of Ouranos, the primordial Greek god of the sky and the most basic personification of the heavens. When his severed genitals are thrown into the sea, Aphrodite arises out of the foamy waters into the bright air, thereby linking the aquatic and celestial domains. In another version, Aphrodite is depicted as the daughter of Zeus, the Olympian sky god and king of gods and mortals, and his consort, the goddess Dione. Although these literary myths differ in their narrative contours and plot details, both stories clearly imply Aphrodite's close relationship to the elemental principles of the sky and sea, her intimate association with the celestial masculine ideal, and her conspicuous presence at the highest pinnacles of divine power.

The castration of Ouranos

One of the earliest literary accounts of Aphrodite's birth and lineage comes to light in the Theogony of Hesiod, a lengthy mythological poem about the origins of the Greek gods and the genesis of the divine order, composed sometime in the eighth or seventh century BC. In Hesiod's

Figure 2.1 Birth of Venus, detail. Sandro Botticelli, ca. 1485. The Art Archive/Galleria degli Uffizi Florence/Alfredo Dagli Orti.

narrative version (Theogony 188–206), the birth of Aphrodite follows the brutal castration of the primordial sky god Ouranos, by his youngest Titan son, the wily Cronos. According to Hesiod, after Cronos committed this act of filial violence to attain supreme rule of the world, he threw his father's severed genitals into the sea, where the divine semen together with the salty sea spume mingled to form the leukos aphros, or “white foam” (190–91), and the goddess Aphrodite emerged from this auspicious mixture.

The genitalia themselves, freshly cut with flint, were thrown
Clear of the mainland into the restless, white-capped sea,
Where they floated a long time. A white foam from the god-flesh
Collected around them, and in that foam a maiden developed
And grew. Her first approach to land was near holy Kythera
And from there she floated on to the island of Kypros.
There she came ashore, an awesome, beautiful divinity.
Tender grass sprouted up under her slender feet.

Aphrodite

Is her name in speech human and divine, since it was in foam
She was nourished. But she is also called Kythereia since
She reached Kythera, and Kyprogenes because she was born
On the surf-line of Kypros, and Philommedes because she loves
The organs of sex, from which she made her epiphany.
Eros became her companion, and ravishing Desire waited on her
At her birth and when she made her debut among the Immortals.
From that moment on, among both gods and humans,
She has fulfilled the honored function that includes
Virginal sweet-talk, lovers’ smiles and deceits
And all of the gentle pleasures of sex.

(Theogony 188–206, trans. Lombardo, 1993)

Hesiod's exquisite narrative emphasizes several key elements intrinsic to the Greek conception of Aphrodite's divine nature. First, the birth of the goddess from the castrated genitals of Ouranos is a striking allegory for how the ancient Greek poets viewed the antagonistic nature of human sexuality, as the story signifies the goddess’ intimate link to the violence, intensity and aggression that is inherent in the Greek notion of the erotic experience. The Hesiodic birth story also vividly underscores Aphrodite's direct origin from the sky god Ouranos, the supreme divinity in this primeval tale, while at the same time it demonstrates her close association to the transfer of divine power indicated in the foundational succession myth immediately preceding it. Hesiod's Aphrodite is thereby considered part of the earliest echelon of primordial Greek deities. Consistent with the ancient Greek belief that Aphrodite had aquatic associations, the goddess’ profound connection to the realm of the sea is indicated by her initial emergence out of the foamy waves into the bright air. Moreover, woven into this birth narrative are numerous poetic components that create the ambience of a genuine Greek cultic hymn. For example, Hesiod mentions Aphrodite's favorite cult places, the islands of Cythera and Cyprus (192–93); he cites and describes the origins of her traditional cult epithets, Cythereia (198), Cyprogenēs (199), and Philomēdēs (200); he also lists a few of her divine companions, including Eros, personification of lust, and Himeros, personification of desire (201); and finally, he cleverly elucidates the folk etymology of Aphrodite's name through this story of her maritime nativity – Aphrodite is the goddess born from the aphros, or “sea foam” (195–98). In Hesiod's foundational birth story, the primordial goddess Aphrodite is shown to be the glorious mistress of all she touches, casting her powerful divine influence of refinement, beauty and harmony over a wide array of settings: from the smoothing of the seas and the generation of supple grass beneath her feet, to the whispered flirtations and sweet lies told by lovers everywhere.

Daughter of Zeus and Dione

Another early literary explanation of Aphrodite's parentage is given in the grand epic poems of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, which were composed sometime in the eighth or seventh century BC. In Homer's account, several times Aphrodite is called Dios thugatēr, or “daughter of Zeus,” the great Olympian god of the sky who is the chief of all gods and mortals, while her mother is introduced once as the goddess Dione (also told in Apollodorus, The Library 1.3.1). Although there is a good deal of uncertainty about Dione's identity, etymologically her name appears to be a feminine form cognate to the oblique forms of the name Zeus (Dios, Dion etc.), which may indicate there is some common mythological antecedent or even assimilation between the two figures as a divine celestial couple. Dione shared a cult with Zeus at Dodona in northwestern Greece, so in linguistic terms Dione may indeed be a sky goddess. Yet Hesiod tells us in his narrative poem that Dione is a type of sea goddess, specifically an Oceanid, one of the daughters of the Titans, Oceanos and Tethys (Theogony 353): so the earliest Greek literary account places Dione securely within the older stratum of Greek gods and links her to the primordial deities of the deep waters. Through her Homeric “parents,” then, Aphrodite is again linked to the sea and the sky. In her one appearance in the Homeric epic (in Iliad book 5), Dione has a prominent role as the provider of maternal affection to soothe her “daughter,” Aphrodite, who is thereby represented as firmly ensconced within the Olympian family hierarchy as a goddess of a later generation.

Aphrodite has two major appearances within the decidedly martial milieu of the Iliad. In both scenes the goddess attempts to save a mortal she loves from the dangers of the battlefield by enfolding him in her concealing embrace, and in both of these instances the epic refers to her as Dios thugatēr, “daughter of Zeus.” In book 3 of the Iliad, Aphrodite intervenes during the monomachia, the hand-to-hand combat between the two men who are fighting over Helen, the beautiful mortal queen beloved by the goddess: Paris, Prince of Troy, Aphrodite's favorite and the lover of Helen, and Menelaus, King of Sparta and Helen's legal husband. In Homer's account, Menelaus knocks Paris down and is dragging him from the field by the crest of his helmet, when the goddess, here named “Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus” (3.374), rushes in and unsnaps Paris’ chinstrap, freeing him from the Spartan's grasp.

But Aphrodite, Zeus’ daughter, had all this
In sharp focus and snapped the oxhide chinstrap,
Leaving Menelaus clenching an empty helmet,
Which the hero, spinning like a discus thrower,
Heaved into the hands of the Greek spectators.
Then he went back for the kill.

But Aphrodite

Whisked Paris away with the sleight of a goddess,
Enveloping him in mist, and lofted him into
The incensed air of his vaulted bedroom.

(Iliad 3.374–82, trans. Lombardo, 1997)

At this point in the narrative of book 3, Aphrodite takes Paris safely back to his chamber in the Trojan palace, and the goddess urges a reluctant Helen to join him in bed. It is interesting to note that Helen's direct paternity from the god Zeus is also referred to twice in this passage (3.418, 426), since Helen is considered by some scholars to be a Spartan avatar of Aphrodite: at least Helen possesses an unquestionable privilege as one of the goddess’ most favored mortals in Greek mythology. In a later literary source, the Helen (dated 412 BC), a play by the Athenian dramatist Euripides (ca. 480–406 BC), the title character uses a rather sisterly tone as she addresses Aphrodite as “daughter of Dione,” korē Diōnēs (Helen 1098).

Aphrodite's next appearance in the Iliad comes during the fighting mayhem of book 5, where the goddess, named Dios thugatēr, “daughter of Zeus” (5.312), again hurries to the battlefield to save a vulnerable person: this time, it is the Trojan warrior, Aeneas, her son by the mortal, Anchises. Under heavy assault by advancing Greeks, Aeneas has been wounded – his hip socket gravely smashed by a boulder flung by the Greek hero, Diomedes – and the Trojan sinks to the ground.

That would have been the end of Aeneas,
But his mother, Aphrodite, Zeus’ daughter,
Who bore Aeneas to Anchises the oxherd,
Had all this in sharp focus. Her milk-white arms
Circled around him and she enfolded him
In her radiant robe to prevent the Greeks
From killing him with a spear to the chest.

(Iliad 5.311–17, trans. Lombardo, 1997)

But as she is carrying her son from the field, Aphrodite herself is wounded by Diomedes, who thrusts his spear into her wrist, stabbing her through the folds of her dress. Diomedes adds insult to injury, as he cruelly taunts the goddess, here again called Dios thugatēr, “daughter of Zeus” (5.348), for being unwarlike and threatens to do her even worse harm.

“Get out of the war, daughter of Zeus!
Don't you have enough to do distracting
Weak women? Keep meddling in war and
You'll learn to shiver when it's even mentioned.”

(Iliad 5.348–51, trans. Lombardo, 1997)

With her wrist pierced and bleeding, Aphrodite shrieks and drops Aeneas, who is saved by the god, Apollo; stricken with pain, she is helped off the battlefield by Iris, as they borrow the chariot of Ares, god of war, to fly back up to Olympus. There Aphrodite finds Dione, mētros heēs, “her mother,” and falls into her lap (5.370–71). Dione expresses great maternal concern and soft-hearted tenderness towards Aphrodite, as Homer tells us, by “cradling her daughter in her arms, and stroking her with her hand” (5.371–72), calling her philon tekos, “my poor baby” (5.373) and teknon emon, “my child” (5.382). Later, the god Zeus appears on the scene and verbally confirms his own parental relationship with Aphrodite, calling her teknon emon, “my child” (5.428), when he reminds her that warfare is not her area of expertise.

Aphrodite also makes a memorable appearance in book 8 of the Odyssey, in the song of the bard Demodocus, who entertains Odysseus during his visit to the Phaeacians. In Demodocus’ narrative (8.266–369), Aphrodite is represented as being firmly part of the Olympian family hierarchy, and twice she is referred to as Dios thugatēr, “daughter of Zeus” (8.308, 320), while the racy anecdote also suggests that she is clearly subordinate to his paternal control. As Demodocus tells it, Hephaestus, the blacksmith god, discovers his wife, Aphrodite, is having an affair with Ares, the handsome god of war. So the craftsman god devises a trap to ensnare the adulterous pair in fine but unbreakable chains. Hephaestus calls out to all the gods to witness his wife's scandalous behavior, naming the one who scorns him “Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus” (8.308). As the cheaters remain on display for the jeers and wisecracks of the assembled male gods, Hephaestus demands repayment of his dowry investment from Zeus, Aphrodite's father.

“But they're staying put in my little snare
Until her father returns all of the gifts
I gave him to marry this bitch-faced girl,
His beautiful, yes, but faithless daughter.”

(Odyssey 8.317–20, trans. Lombardo, 1997)

Like the two Iliad passages, the Odyssey episode clearly asserts Aphrodite's place within the Olympian family structure as the daughter of Zeus. But the Odyssey passage makes her filial position even more emphatic by representing the goddess in the midst of a grim family drama, as the daughter of a paterfamilias who is now compelled to pay reparations to his son-in-law for her adulterous behavior.

All three of the Homeric epic passages naming Aphrodite as Dios thugatēr, “daughter of Zeus,” highlight key elements of the goddess’ divine nature as imagined by the ancient Greeks. By linking her to Zeus, the Olympian sky god, Aphrodite's association with the sky and the principal source of divine power in the classical Greek pantheon are both emphasized. In casting the sky-named sea goddess Dione in the role of Aphrodite's mother, the Greek epic poems suggest Aphrodite's kinship with the sea or sky, or perhaps both simultaneously. Moreover, these epic passages also demons...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Series foreword
• Acknowledgments
• List of illustrations
• Why Aphrodite?
• Key Themes
• Aphrodite Afterwards
• Further Reading
• Index