Aphrodite

I sing of beautiful Aphrodite of Cyprus and the sea, where the camp force of Zephyr breath carried her along on waves of the resounding sea and the soft foam. The hours happily received her and put divine garments around her. On her immortal head they placed a crown, carefully made of gold. In the pierced lobes of her ears they placed flowers of copper. On her delicate neck and silver-white breasts they put necklaces of gold. Then they led her to the immortals who welcomed her and reached out their hands to her. They gawked at the figure of the Cytheran crowned in violets. Farewell, quick-blinking, sweet-smiling goddess, grant me victory in this contest--favor my song and I'll remember you in another.

(A paraphrase of Second Homeric Hymn from the seventh century).

Aphrodite is frequently seen as a reclining nude, laying in the forest . As shown in many works of art such as Bernardino Luini'sVenus,we are able to see her as she becomes one with nature. Though vanity played a great part in Aphrodite's life, she is most often depicted in portraits with her mirror in her toilet. But unlike the dignified beauty of the Olympian goddesses, Aphrodite's beauty was truly feminine. Many artists have tried to depict various woman as Aphrodite, it was a way to show their own personal feeling towards the woman, by giving them goddess qualities. The reclining nude played a very important part in famous Italian paintings of the Sixteenth century. Artists such as Titian, Cranach, and Luini, all try to show the beauty of the woman through mythological influence. In these paintings we are able to associate Aphrodite with roses, the dolphin, the swan, and putti. Putti have played also the role of being noted as her son Eros.

What is a myth?

The word myth derives from the Greek mythos, which has a range of meanings from "word," through "saying" and "story," to "fiction"; the unquestioned validity of mythos can be contrasted with logos, the word whose validity or truth can be argued and demonstrated. Because myths narrate fantastic events with no attempt at proof, it is sometimes assumed that they are simply stories with no factual basis, and the word has become a synonym for falsehood or, at best, misconception. In the study of religion, however, it is important to distinguish between myths and stories that are merely untrue. The term mythology denotes both the study of myth and the body of myths belonging to a particular religious tradition. The first part of this article discusses the nature, study, functions, cultural impact, and types of myth, taking into account the various approaches to the subject offered by modern branches of knowledge. In the second part, the specialized topic of the role of animals and plants in myth is examined in some detail. The mythologies of specific cultures, such as Germanic, Greek, and Roman, are covered in the article (X). Some say that in Ancient Greece, Greek myths evolved over many years like history, passed down for generations. They were stories of human kings and heroes with supernatural powers, or various prayers and rituals for specific gods. The Greeks believed their gods were alot like humans. They believed their gods were able to have children, feelings, and live their lives the way humans did everyday. However each god had a specific duty, they each were in charge of a different aspect of life. Aphrodite was placed in charge of love, beauty, marriage, and vegetation. Many temples were built in honor of her and other gods, and each city was usually a patron to a particular god. Ceremonies were performed for the worship of the gods, and gifts were distributed by the people of the towns to shrines. Aphrodite had many statues carved in worship of her.

Works of Art

Mazarin Venus
Roman
marble
AD 100-200
Height: 184 cm (72 in)

This statue is called the Mazarin Venus. It was inspired by a famous statue carved by the artist Praxiteles for a temple of Aphrodite on the Greek island of Kknidos. That sculpture is now lost, but with a number of drawings by artists of the past 350 years, this image of Venus has been used frequently. The body of Venus leans forward, looking off to one side, with her mouth opened slightly. She leans on a dolphin, which represents her birth from the sea, one of Venus's symbols of life.

The statue of the Mazarin Venus is frequently compared with that of, the Aphrodite of Melos (left).This statue is an example of Hellenistic art. No one knows however who created this statue. It was discovered in 1820 AD by a peasant on the Greek island of Melos. For hundreds of years the statue remained buried in an underground cavern, where it had been damaged and when discovered was in two parts. This statue is believed to have been sculpted around second century BC.

The Hellenistic period was an international, cosmopolitan age. Commercial contacts were widespread and peoples of many ethnic and religious backgrounds merged in populous urban centers. Advances were made in various fields of scientific inquiry, including engineering, physics, astronomy and mathematics. Great libraries were founded in Alexandria, Athens and the independent kingdom of Pergamum. The old beliefs in Olympian gods were infused with foreign elements, especially from the east; "Oriental" ecstatic cults, such as those of Cybele, Isis, and Mithras, become popular in the Hellenized world. (U)

Aphrodite, born of the sea, daughter of Zeus and Dione, wife of Hephaistos but consort of Ares, was goddess of sexual love, beauty, and fertility. Images of Aphrodite from the Archaic and Early Classical periods are clothed and formal. However, from the fourth century BC through the Roman period, the image of the nude Aphrodite became a means of exploring female physical beauty, grace, and charm.

Here, Aphrodite's softly rendered features are framed by loosely waving hair bound up in a chignon. She wears a stephane, or crown, like the famous Capua Aphrodite and countless other renditions on a smaller scale and in other media. The hole near the end of the stephane would have held a metal attachment, most likely of gold, to face the crown. The body of this life-sized Aphrodite would have been nude or partially so.(W)