The Bearded Goddess

Adrogynes, goddesses and monsters in ancient Cyprus

Marie-Louise Winbladh

• Publisher: Armida Publications
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9789963706310
• eBook ISBN: 9789963706327
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Ancient Religion

Most of us associate Aphrodite – also known as Venus – with love, beauty, and fertility, but the symbolic value of this goddess is by far more complex than we would have known or dared to believe.

Aphrodite – a hermaphrodite?

The book examines a rather obscure side of the cult surrounding this illustrious fertility goddess. How many of us would have guessed that one of Aphrodite's most famous representations was, in fact, a figurine from Ayia Irini, Cyprus, that portrays this female deity as The Bearded Goddess, a bisexual and self-sufficient entity?

The book reveals the unspoken truth about Aphrodite; a closer look at the islands archaeological sites suggests a new sexual archetype of Aphrodite and other criteria for the sublime female figure in ancient religion(s).

The author, the well-known archaeologist Marie-Louise Winbladh, enlightens her audience in plain language about the mysterious devotion of Aphrodite as an androgynous being. She casts light on the enigmatic representations of this deity, who is believed to have originated from Cyprus, the epicenter of ancient crossroads.

How did the cult of Aphrodite evolve?

How was this goddess worshiped?

Did 'temple prostitution' really exist?

What was the role of the 'priestesses' and their relation to The Bearded Goddess?

These and many more questions are addressed in the book.

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Table of contents

• Credit page
• Introduction
• I. Fetishes and phallic features
• Neolithic, c. 7500 - c. 3800 BC
• II. Bearers of eternal lifeChalcolithic, c. 3800 BC - 2500/2300 BC
• III. Cradles, priestesses or servants?
• Early Cypriot Bronze Age, c. 2500 - 1900 BC
• Middle Cypriot Bronze Age, c. 1900 - 1600 BC
• IV. She came with pleasure and love
• Late Cypriot Bronze Age, c. 1600 - 1050 BC
• V. Holy banquets and sacred treesc. 1500 BC – c. 500 AD
• VI. Tree of Life or Wife of God?
• VII. The magic of the stone Cypro-Geometric period, c. 1050 - 750 BC
• Cypro-Archaic period, c. 750 - 480 BC
• VIII. The “Goddess” with upraised arms
• IX. The Bearded Goddess
• X. The Paphian, Astarte Paphίa or Aphrodite
• XI. Temple prostitution?
• XII. The tears of Aphrodite
• XIII. A drugged priestess?
• XIV. Abode for the goddess of love and war
• XV. Bearers of mixed messages Cypro-Archaic II to Cypro-Hellenistic I, c. 600 - 150 BC
• Roman period, c. 30 BC-330 AD
• Bibliography
• About the author