Aphrodite (Lecture 9 Slides)

Notes:
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midterm is next week on February 11th

Two versions:
born from the genitals of Ouranos (was created from the
dismembered body parts of Ouranos thrown into the sea from Hesiods version)
this story implies that she preceded the Olympians
suggests that shes a universal mother goddess
born from Zeus and Dione
there arent really any stories of how Aphrodite was
born from Zeus and Dione
some Greeks thought that this story was created to
lessen Aphrodite since they didnt want her to be so powerful
this story makes Aphrodite one of the Olympians
though
Two Goddesses?
this is a suggestion made by Plato because of Aphrodites two
very different birth stories (from Platos Symposium). Aphrodite inspires two
different types of love
different temples worship these two different Aphrodites
version 1: Aphrodite Pandemos (from the story of Zeus and Dione)
inspires a lower love sensual pleasure
and lust; desire towards both male and female
if directed towards the male, then this male is
usually younger in age
originated because people wanted to draw people
together in state
version 2: Aphrodite Urania (from the story of Ouranos castration)
literally means heavenly Aphrodite
the goddess of love to the Greeks (because
goddess of love is often called queen of Heaven)
inspires a higher form of love only towards
an older male whose character is developed and involves
appreciating the character and virtue of the beloved the type
of love where you reject the sexual nature of love and embrace
the virtue of love
originated from the Eastern idea of the goddess of
love

Birth

Nature

Concerns:

goddess of love and desire

love in marriage (at Athens)

protector of marriage (though this is usually Hera);
but when Aphrodite is worshipped she took on some characteristics of
Hera
promiscuous sexual desire (at Corinth)
report from the Ancient World that at a Corinth
temple of Aphrodite, there were a 1000 priestesses who were like
prostitutes
the act of having sex is symbolic not only of
reproductive nature of humans, but the reproductive nature of the
GROUND
Characteristics:
very powerful
often considered as having a universal power: in
the Iliad, Hera asked Aphrodite for an Aphrodisiac so that she could
reconcile Oceanus and Tethys (though she actually wanted to use it for
Zeus). Aphrodite gives Hera a leather strap (thong) for Tethys to wear. So
Hera wears this as was her true intention and Zeus was so seduced that
he falls into a deep sleep (lolwat)
the seduction of Anchises (a Trojan prince):
Aphrodite developed a lust for him (kind of a shameful thing to lust for a
mortal when shes a goddess of love); Anchises was tricked by Aphrodite
who was under the guise of a princess saying that she was captured;
Anchises and Aphrodite slept together and Aphrodite then revealed her
true form; Anchises was scared that hes doom; Aphrodite quelled his
fears and said shell give their child to the nymphs
very dangerous
youll get into a lot of trouble if you let your sexual
desires control your actions!
eg. Hippolytus (prince of Athens, father was
Theseus)
he was a devotee of Artemis (who is
virginal) that he hated Aphrodite (since she makes people not
virginal at all) so he scorned Aphrodite
Aphrodite cursed him by making his
stepmom fall in love with him lol
He rejected her and so she hung
herself. She left a suicide note saying that Hippolytus tried to rape
her; Theseus found the note and cursed Hippolytus; Hippolytus
dies in a carriage crash
eg. Paris (Trojan prince who caused the
Trojan war since he was offered by Aphrodite the most beautiful
woman in the world there was a beauty contest between
Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera and Paris was the judge so the
goddesses tried to bribe him, so he chose Aphrodite)

Helen, the most beautiful woman in

the world whom Aphrodite promised Paris when she wins, was
married!
So Paris took her and thus spurned
the Trojan war which destroyed the city of Troy
eg. Dido
Aeneas has a high doom on him (to
establish an eternal city)
so he wondered the Mediterranean
and met Queen Dido who fell in love with him (due to Venus
interventions since she wanted Aeneas to be safe as he travelled)
Dido and Aeneas had a tryst,
Aeneas wanted to stay at her kingdom, the gods got mad cause
hes supposed to find an eternal city! so they made him leave,
Dido fell into depression and killed herself.
very trivial (often called to be laughter-loving Aphrodite):
she just wants to have a good time and not care
about the consequences!
portrayal of Aphrodite (slide 12)
Consorts
Hephaestus (her husband):
recall that he was deformed
people say this is a good match because
Hephaestus produces beautiful and ornate things (like the shield of
Achilles) and Aphrodite herself is very beautiful
she has no children with Hephaestus
Ares (her lover):
love and war!!
both are destructive (sexual desire can lead to all
kinds of destruction as weve seen, and obviously so does war)
linked with the Eastern goddesses of love (Inanna,
Ishtar/Astarte) since these goddesses are also the goddesses of war!
Greeks were very war-driven: theres a rhythm of
being at war and then coming home and making love, and repeat)
Harmonia (love-child of Ares and Aphrodite):
suggests that the combination of love and war is the harmony of the life of
the Greeks

Stories
Pygmalion (King of Cyprus Aphrodite is often associated with the
island of Cyprus, and shes actually called Cypria which literally means the
Cyprian or the goddess from Cyprus)
women of Cyprus made Aphrodite angry since they refused to
acknowledge her as a goddess, so Aphrodite took away their sense of shame
and made them prostitutes!

 Pygmalion was a very chaste man so he was disgusted by the

women of Cyprus. He had nobody to love since he wanted someone chaste. So
he carved for himself a woman from stone and he loved this statue (since she
was so chaste!). So he took her to his bed (wut). So during Aphrodites feast day,
he made a prayer asking for his statue to be real. The wish came true. So he
marries his statue. (statues name is Galatea)
Adonis (connected with the story of Pygmalion, since Adonis was the great
grandson of Pygmalion):
son of Pygmalion and Galatea (statue) was named Pathos
Pathos has a son named Cinyras
Cinyras has a daughter named Myrrha (aka Smyrna)
Myrrha lusted for her father because of Aphrodite!
Cinyras wife had claimed that Myrrha was
more beautiful than Aphrodite (GG) no mortal can be equal or
even greater than Aphrodite
Myrrhas nurse said she would rather have Myrrha
sleep with her father than dead. So nurse devised a plan and was actually
successful. Myrrha was pregnant and Cinyras found out and was really
angry. Myrrha prayed to the gods for help and she was transformed into a
myrrh tree. Her tears became myrrh.
her father strikes Myrrha with a sword and out
came Adonis (very good looking)
Aphrodite looked after Adonis (since she was responsible about
the whole thing)
Aphrodite fell in love with Adonis since he was so handsome
He loves to hunt and she would always say to be careful when he
goes hunting
He was killed by a boar (some people say this boar was Ares,
since Ares was jealous)
She produced a flower from where Adonis body was bleeding
(fertility of the ground) and made a ritual out of this
Cupid and Psyche (Eros, son of Aphrodite in Greek)
Psyche was a young princess who was very beautiful
the common people were so impressed by her beauty that
they started worshipping her as if she was Aphrodite BAD. Aphrodite
got jealous and angry of course.
Aphrodite told Eros (or Cupid to the Romans) to inspire Psyche to
fall in love with the most hideous man on Earth but Eros fell in love with Psyche
father of Psyche consulted Apollo on what should be done
Apollo said to solve the problem, Psyche must be sacrificed to a
serpent in the mountain
So they chained her up and left her in a mountain
But instead of the serpent, Cupid came and snatched her
But Cupid had to hide his identity otherwise he would get in
trouble with Aphrodite!
She eventually found out who he was because of her sisters (they
convinced her to looked upon him since apparently hes a horrible monster (they

hated Psyche), so she does and was overwhelmed with his beauty). Oil from the
lamp dripped on him and he woke up! So she was banished by Cupid for
betraying him. Aphrodite followed her and set out tasks for her to do. She was
miraculously able to do all the deeds so she was reunited with Cupid and
Aphrodite left her alone. Psyche was also made immortal in the end.
this is interesting since Psyche means soul or
spirit
Eros (aka Cupid to the Romans)

has two birth stories as well:

version 1: primeval, universal force
this portrays him to be very early and preOlympians very powerful!
this assumes that Aphrodite and Eros are very early
god and goddess of desire
recall Hesiods 4 primeval elements (one is Eros!
who allowed sexual reproduction that allowed the world to grow)
version 2: song of Aphrodite and Ares
this makes him as part of the Olympian family
(more diminishing birth since hes not as powerful as version 1 of his
birth)
this is the more common story
Platos Symposium
Aristophanes fable: Eros is merely the name for the desire and
pursuit of the whole
Diotimas allegory