Week 3 Aphrodite Part 2 Slides PDF

NATURE AND APPEARANCE Short description in Homeric Hymn 10 (CM p. 191) Cyprus born Cytherea. Gives mortals sweet gifts Lovely face that always has a smile suffused with love Generally, covers beauty, love, and marriage Widespread worship with regional variables Port cities – perhaps te...

NATURE AND APPEARANCE Short description in Homeric Hymn 10 (CM p. 191) Cyprus born Cytherea. Gives mortals sweet gifts Lovely face that always has a smile suffused with love Generally, covers beauty, love, and marriage Widespread worship with regional variables Port cities – perhaps temple prostitution? Athens – staid and respectable deity of marriage. Another kind of dual nature/aspect being shown here Magic gridle with powers of enticement. Early (Archaic) forms exaggerate her sexual attributes. Early clothed woman turns into nude idealization by 4th C Ludovisi Throne PRAXITELES Hermes with Dionysos CA 350 BC 2.15m, found at Olympia Extreme contrapposto – almost S Emotional contact between figures APHRODITE OF KNIDOS 350 BC (original) Praxiteles, marble, 6’8” high Ancient Art Podcast Charicles at any rate raised a mad distracted cry and exclaimed, "Happiest indeed of the gods was Ares, who suffered chains because of her!" And, as he spoke, he ran up and, stretching out his neck as far as he could, started to kiss the goddess with importunate lips. Callicratidas stood by in silence with amazement in his heart. PSEUDO-LUCIAN Pseudo-Lucian, Erotes 15 The temple had a door on both sides for the benefit of those also who wish to have a good view of the goddess from behind, so that no part of her be left unadmired. It's easy therefore for people to enter by the other door and survey the beauty of her back. And so we decided to see all of the goddess and went round to the back of the precinct. Then, when the door had been opened by the woman responsible for keeping the keys, we were filled with an immediate wonder for the beauty we beheld. The Athenian who had been so impassive an observer a minute before, upon inspecting those parts of the goddess which recommend a boy, suddenly raised a shout far more frenzied than that of Charicles. "Heracles!" he exclaimed, "what a wellproportioned back! What generous flanks she has! How satisfying an armful to embrace! How delicately moulded the flesh on the buttocks, neither too thin and close to the bone, nor yet revealing too great an expanse of fat! ATTENDANTS Graces (Charities) 3 of them, personifications of loveliness Hours/Seasons (Horae) Zeus and Themis. Add **glamour** HH 6 …there the gold-filleted Hours welcomed her joyously. They clothed her with heavenly garments: on her head they put a fine, wellwrought crown of gold, and in her pierced ears they hung ornaments of orichaic and precious gold, and adorned her with golden necklaces over her soft neck and snow-white breasts, jewels which the gold-filleted Hours wear themselves whenever they go to their father's house to join the lovely dances of the gods. And when they had fully decked her, they brought her to the gods, who welcomed her when they saw her, giving her their hands. PRIAPUS Son of Aphrodite and Hermes, Dionysus, Pan, Adonis, or Zeus We see aspects of all these gods in his character. Placed in gardens or at doors. Part scarecrow, part bringer of luck, part guardian against thieves – Hermes. Resembles Dionysus and Pan. Fertility god with literal BDE “Cult of Sophisticated Pornography” – Morford et al don’t have nice thoughts about the Romans! Ovid, Metamorphoses 14.534 For fear of rustic force she [the Latin Hamadryas Pomona] walled her orchard in to keep away the sex she shunned. What tricks did they not try, the quick young light-foot Satyri (Satyrs), and the Panes... and he [Priapos (Priapus)], the god whose scythe or lusty loins scare thieves away--what did they all not try to win her love? National Museum of Naples PYGMALION Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.243-197 Statue sometimes named Galatea Important: Son born is named Paphos Story of Aphrodite’s powers. Huge influence on English literature. Miles, Geoffrey. 1999. Classical Mythology in English Literature: A Critical Anthology. New York: Routledge Venus di Milo, Late 2nd C BC, Marble MYRRHA AND CINYRAS Many different versions of these tales along with a lot of foreign influence (Astarte) Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.300 Cinyras (son of Paphos, who was the son of Pygmalion and Galatea/statue) has a daughter Myrrha Things get crazy ADONIS Son of Myrrha, who had turned into a tree after having sex with her dad Super duper handsome guy that was born out of the tree. Great at hunts. Aphrodite is all OMG Adonis heads out on a hunt despite being warned, and a boar tusks him in the groin DED Aphrodite starts up a festival for him 2nd version – baby Adonis put in a box and loaned to Persephone Similarities to Easter celebrations Louvre MNB 2109 CYBELE AND ATTIS Phrygian (inner Turkey) story/myth with parallel structure Yet another variant of the Great Mother and lover story Cybele sprung from earth as bisexual deity Cross pollination (Paus 7.17.9) Attis is born but exposed. He-goat raises him Cybele falls in love, Attis loved another, Cybele gets jealous, and he kills himself Worship – frantic music, frenzied devotion. Mystery Cult Attis – resurrection god with associated springtime ceremonies Attis and Adonis merged over time APHRODITE AND ANCHISES Aphrodite bragging about how she can make gods fall in love with mortals and have kids Zeus gets annoyed and decides to make her fall in love with a mortal dude, Anchises Aphrodite shows up at his place and tells a whopper of a tale. And he believes it Ends up giving birth to Aeneas, who is a little bit of a big deal in Rome Aphrodite upset b/c she can’t taunt the gods anymore after she fell for the same trick AENEAS Son of Aphrodite and Anchises Father of Ascanius Getty 86.AE.82 Louvre CA 1798 PLATO’S SYMPOSIUM Dialogue from early 4th C BC (385-70 BC) Group of men having a party, topic of conversation is Eros Speeches from different people – Plato’s rhetorical strategy Aristophanes presents idea that there were 3 sexes and they were cut in half. Love is trying to find other half Socrates – tale of Diotima. Hierarchy of love and goal of wisdom. Platonic love. Understanding/comprehension of this form of love is arrived at through a journey Metropolitan Museum of Art 05.46, Antonio Canova (1794) CUPID AND PSYCHE Story told in Apuleius’ The Golden Ass TED-Ed: The Myth of Cupid and Psyche SAPPHO’S APHRODITE Video on Sappho (optional, but nice watch) Lyric poet from Lesbos 7th – 6th C BC Very little work survives, but what does shows a devotion to Aphrodite. Poems reflect deep and passionate type of love. It is genuine and sincere. See poem in CM pp. 219-20 Munich, Antikensammlungen 2416 FROM LOVE TO ARROWS Artemis