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APHRODITE ,' the See also:Greek goddess of love and beauty, See also:counter- See also:part of the See also:Roman See also:Venus. Although her myth and cultwere essentially Semitic, she soon became Hellenized and was admitted to a See also:place among the deities of See also:Olympus. Some mythologists hold that there already existed in the Greek See also:system an earlier goddess of love, of similar attributes, who was absorbed by the See also:Asiatic importation; and one writer (A. Enmann) goes so far as to deny the See also:oriental origin of Aphrodite altogether. It is therefore necessary first to examine the nature and See also:character, istics of her Eastern prototype, and then to see how far they reappear in the Greek Aphrodite. Among the Semitic peoples (with the notable, exception. of the See also:Hebrews) a supreme See also:female deity was worshipped under different names—the See also:Assyrian See also:Ishtar, the Phoenician Ashtoreth (See also:Astarte), the Syrian See also:Atargatis (Derketo), the.Babylonian'See also:Belit (Mylitta), the Arabian Ilat (Al-ilat). The See also:article " Aphrodite " ' No satisfactory See also:etymology of the name has been,given; although the first part is usually referred to &Sp6r (" the See also:sea foam"), it is equally probable that it is of Eastern origin. F. Homoll (Jahrbucher See also:fur classische Philologie, cxxv., 1882) explains it as a corruption of Ashtoreth ; for other derivations see O. Gruppe, Griechische Mythologic, ii. p. 1348, See also:note 2.in See also:Roscher's Lexikon der Mythologie is based upon the theory that all these were originally See also:moon-goddesses, on which See also:assumption all their functions are explained. This view, however, has not met with See also:general See also:acceptance, on the ground that, in Semitic See also:mythology, the moon is always a male divinity; and that the full moon and See also:crescent, found as attributes of Astarte, are due to a misinterpretation of the See also:sun's disk and cow's horns of See also:Isis, the result of the dependence of Syrian religious See also:art upon See also:Egypt. On the other See also:hand, there is some See also:evidence in See also:ancient authorities (Herodian v. 6, to; See also:Lucian, De Dea See also:Syria, 4) that Astarte and the moon were considered identical. This oriental Aphrodite was worshipped as the bestower of all See also:animal and See also:vegetable fruitfulness, and under this aspect especially as a goddess of See also:women. This See also:worship was degraded by repulsive practices (e.g. religious See also:prostitution, self-See also:mutilation), which subsequently made their way to centres of Phoenician See also:influence, such as See also:Corinth and See also:Mount Eryx in See also:Sicily. In this connexion may be mentioned the See also:idea of a divinity, See also:half male, half female, uniting in itself the active and passive functions of creation, a See also:symbol of luxuriant growth and productivity. Such was the bearded Aphrodite of See also:Cyprus, called Aphroditos by See also:Aristophanes according to See also:Macrobius, who mentions a statue of the androgynous divinity in his Saturnalia (iii. 8. 2; see also HERMAPHRODITUS). The moon, by its connexion with menstruation, and as the cause of the fertilizing See also:dew, was regarded as exercising an influence over the entire animal and vegetable creation. The Eastern Aphrodite was closely related to the sea and the See also:element of moisture; in fact, some consider that she made her first See also:appearance on Greek See also:soil rather as a marine divinity than as a nature goddess. According to Syrian ideas, as a See also:fish goddess, she represented the fructifying See also:power of See also:water. At See also:Ascalon there was a See also:lake full of fish near the See also:temple of Atargatis-Derketo, into which she was said to have been thrown together with her son Ichthys (fish) as a See also:punishment for her arrogance, and to have been devoured by fishes; according to another version, ashamed of her amour with a beautiful youth, which resulted in the See also:birth of See also:Semiramis, she attempted to drown herself, but was changed into a fish with human See also:face (see ATARGATIS). At See also:Hierapolis (Bambyce) there was a See also:pool with an See also:altar in the See also:middle, sacred to the goddess, where a festival was held, at which her images were carried into the water. Her connexion with the sea is explained by the influence of the moon on the tides, and the idea that the moon, like the sun and the stars, came up from the ocean. The oriental Aphrodite is connected with the See also:lower See also:world, and came to be looked upon as one of its divinities. Thus, Ishtar descends to the See also:kingdom of Ilat the See also:queen of the dead, to find the means of restoring her favourite Tammuz (Adon, See also:Adonis) to See also:life. During her stay all animal and vegetable productivity ceases, to begin again with her return to earth—a clear indication of the conception of her as a goddess of fertility. This See also:legend, which strikingly resembles that of Persephone, probably refers to the decay of vegetation in See also:winter, and the reawakening of nature in See also:spring (cf. See also:HYACINTHUS). The lunar theory connects it with the disappearance of the moon at the See also:time of See also:change or during an See also:eclipse. Another aspect of her character is that of a warlike goddess, armed with See also:spear or See also:bow, sometimes wearing a mural See also:crown, as See also:sovereign See also:lady and protectress of the locality where she was worshipped. The spear and arrows are identified with the beams of the sun and moon. The attributes of the goddess were the See also:ram, the he-See also:goat, the See also:dove, certain fish, the See also:cypress, See also:myrtle and See also:pomegranate, the animals being symbolical of fertility, the See also:plants remedies against sterility.. The worship of Aphrodite at an See also:early date was introduced into Cyprus, See also:Cythera and See also:Crete by Phoenician colonists, whence it spread over the whole of See also:Greece, and as far See also:west as See also:Italy and Sicily. In Crete she has been identified with See also:Ariadne, who, according to one version of her See also:story, was put ashore in Cyprus, where she died and was buried in a See also: From her relations with these acknowledged Hellenic divinites it is argued that there once existed a See also:primitive Greek goddess of love., This view is examined in detail and rejected by Farnell (Cults, ii. pp. 619-626). It is admitted that few traces remain of See also:direct relations of the Greek goddess to the moon, although such possibly survive in the epithets raocq)ai7s, iurmpta, ovpavia. It is suggested that this is due to the fact that, at the time of the See also:adoption of the oriental goddess, the Greeks already possessed lunar divinities in See also:Hecate, Selene, See also:Artemis. But, although her connexion with the moon has practically disappeared, in all other aspects a development from the Semitic divinity is clearly See also:manifest. Aphrodite as the goddess of all fruitfulness in the animal and 'Vegetable world is especially prominent. In the Homeric hymn to Aphrodite she is described as ruling over all living things on See also:earth, in the See also:air, and in the water, even the gods being subject to her influence. She is the goddess of gardens, especially worshipped in spring and near lowlands and marshes, favourable to the growth of vegetation. As such in Crete she is called Antheia (" the See also:flower-goddess "), at See also:Athens iv 10n7rocs (" in the gardens "), and iv KaXapoes (" in the See also:reed-beds ") or iv gXEc (" in the See also:marsh ") at See also:Samos. Her character as a goddess of vegetation is clearly shown in the cult and See also:ritual of Adonis (q.v.; also Farnell, ii. p. 644) and See also:Attis (q.v.). In the animal world she is the goddess of sexual impulse; amongst men, of birth, See also:marriage, and See also:family life. To this aspect may be referred the names Genetyllis- (" bringing about birth "), Arma (apw, " to join," i.e., in marriage, cf. Harmonia), Nymphia (" bridal goddess "), Kourotrophos (" rearer of boys "). Aphrodite Apaturus (see G. M. Hirst in See also:Journal of Hellenic Studies, See also:xxiii., 1903) refers to her connexion with the See also:clan and the festival See also:Apaturia, at which See also:children were admitted to the phratria. It is pointed out by Farnell that this cult of Aphrodite, as the patroness of married life, is probably a native development of the Greek See also:religion, the oriental legends representing her by no means as an upholder of the purer relations of See also:man and woman. As the goddess of the grosser See also:form of love she inspires both men and women with See also:passion (Ercarporl)ia, " turning them to " thoughts of love), or the See also:reverse (arovrpo4La, " turning them away "). Upon her male favourites (See also:Paris, See also:Theseus) she bestows the fatal See also:gift of seductive beauty, which generally leads to disastrous results in the See also:case of the woman (See also:Helen, Ariadne). As µnxavires (" contriver ") she acts as an intermediary for bringing lovers together, a similar idea being expressed in rpaEcs (of "success" in love, or=creatrix). The two epithets avapo¢6vos (" man-slayer ") and vwvav6pa (" man-preserver ") find, an See also:illustration in the pseudo-Plautine (in the See also:Mercator) address to Astarte, who is described as the life and See also:death, the saviour and destroyer of men and gods. It was natural that a See also:personality invested with such charms should be regarded as the ideal of womanly beauty, but it is remarkable that the only probable instance in which she appears as such is as Aphrodite µop4w T67 (" form ") at See also:Sparta (O. Gruppe suggests the meaning " See also:ghost," C. Tumpel the " dark one," referring to Aphrodite's connexion with the lower world). The See also:function of Aphrodite as the patroness of courtesans represents the most degraded form of her worship as the goddess of love, and is certainly of Phoenician or Eastern origin. In Corinth there were more than a thousand of these iepbSouXoi (" temple slaves "), and wealthy men made it a point of See also:honour to dedicate their most beautiful slaves to the service of the goddess. Like her oriental prototype, the Greek Aphrodite was closely connected with the sea. Thus, in the Hesiodic See also:account of her birth, she is represented as sprung from the foam which gathered See also:round the mutilated member of See also:Uranus, and her name has been explained by reference to this. Further See also:proof may be found in many of her titles—avaSuoµfzn (" rising from the sea "), Ei6rXoccr (" giver of prosperous voyages "), yaXnvaia (" goddess of fait See also:weather "), KaTaaKoria (" she who keeps a look-out from the, heights ")—in the attribute of the See also:dolphin, and the veneration in which she was held by seafarers. Aphrodite Aineias, the protectress of the Trojan See also:hero, is probably also another form of the maritime goddess of the See also:East (see E. WOrner, article " Aineias " in Roscher's Lexikon; and Farnell, ii. p. 638), which originated in the See also:Troad, where Aphrodite Aineias may have been identical with the earth-goddess See also:Cybele. The See also:title Edx.irros is connected with the legend of See also:Aeneas, who is said to have dedicated to his mother a statue that represented her on See also:horse-back. Remembering the importance of the horse in the cult of the sea-See also:god See also:Poseidon, it is natural to See also:associate it with Aphrodite as the sea-goddess, although it may be explained with reference to her, character as a goddess of vegetation, the horse being an embodiment of the See also:corn-spirit (see J. G. Frazer, The See also:Golden Bough, ii., 'goo, p. 281).
Like Ishtar, Aphrodite was connected with the lower world. Thus, at See also:Delphi there was an See also:image of Aphrodite Ercrvpf3ia (" Aphrodite of the See also:tomb "), to which the dead were summoned to receive. libations; the epithets Tu fl(.e Xos (" See also:grave-digger "), µuxta (" goddess of the depths "), neXacvis (" the dark one "), the grave of Ariadne-Aphrodite at See also:Amathus, and the myth of Adonis, point in the same direction.
The cult of the armed Aphrodite probably belongs to the earlier See also:period of her worship in Greece, and down to the latest period of Greek See also:history she retained this character in some of the Greek states. The cult is found not only where oriental influence was strongest, but in places remote from it, such as Sparta, where she was known by the name of Areia (" the warlike "), and there are numerous references in the See also:Anthology to an Aphrodite armed with See also:helmet and spear. It is possible that the frequent' association of Aphrodite with Ares is to be explained by an armed Aphrodite early worshipped at See also:Thebes, the most ancient seat of the worship of Ares.
The most distinctively oriental title of the Greek Aphrodite is Urania, the Semitic " queen of the heavens." It has been explained by reference to the lunar character of the goddess, but more probably signifies " she whose seat is in See also:heaven," whence she exercises her sway over the whole world—earth, sea, and air alike. Her cult was first established in Cythera, probably in connexion with the See also:purple See also:trade, and at Athens it is associated with the legendary Porphyrion, the purple See also: Hence the name was supposed to go back to the time of Theseus, the reputed author of the reorganization of See also:Attica and its demes. Aphrodite Pandemos was held in equal regard with Urania; she was called veµvi7 ("See also:holy"), and was served by priestesses upon whom strict chastity was enjoined. In time, however, the meaning of the See also:term underwent a change, probably due to the philosophers and moralists, by whom a See also:radical distinction was See also:drawn between Aphrodite Urania and Pandemos. According to See also:Plato (See also:Symposium, 18o), there are two Aphrodites, " the See also:elder, having' no mother, who is called the heavenly Aphrodite—she is the daughter of Uranus; the younger, who is the daughter of Zeus and Dione—her we See also:call See also:common." The same distinction is found in See also:Xenophon's Symposium (viii. 9), although the author is doubtful whether there are two goddesses, or whether Urania and Pandemos are two names for the same goddess, just as .Zeus, although one and the same, has many titles; but in any case, he says, the ritual of Urania is purer, more serious, than that of Pandemos. The same idea is expressed in the statement (quoted by See also:Athenaeus, 569d, from See also:Nicander of See also:Colophon) that after See also:Solon's time courtesans were put under the See also:protection of Aphrodite Pandemos. But there is no doubt that the cult of Aphrodite was on the whole as pure as that of any other divinities, and although a distinction may have existed in later times between the goddess of legal marriage and the goddess of See also:free love, these titles do not See also:express the idea. Aphrodite Urania was represented in Greek art on a See also:swan, a See also:tortoise or a globe; Aphrodite See also:Pan-demos as See also:riding on a goat, symbolical of wantonness. (For the legend of Theseus and Aphrodite .1r1Tpayia, "on the goat," see Farnell, Cults, ii. p. 633.) To her oriental attributes the following may be added: the See also:sparrow and See also:hare (productivity), the wry-See also:neck (as a love-See also:charm, of which Aphrodite was considered the inventor), the swan and dolphin (as a marine divinity), the tortoise (explained by See also:Plutarch as a symbol of domesticity, but connected by Gruppe with the marine deity), the See also:rose, the See also:poppy, and the See also:lime See also:tree. In ancient art Aphrodite was at first represented clothed, sometimes seated, but more frequently See also:standing; then naked, rising from the sea, or after the See also:bath. Finally, all idea of the divine vanished, and the artists merely presented her as the type of a beautiful woman, with See also:oval face, full of grace and charm, languishing eyes, and laughing mouth, which replaced the dignified severity and repose of the older forms. The most famous of her statues in ancient times was that at See also:Cnidus, the See also:work of See also:Praxiteles, which was imitated on the coins of that See also:town; and subsequently reproduced in various copies, such as the Vatican and See also:Munich. Of existing statues the most famous is the Aphrodite of Melos (Venus of See also:Milo), now in the Louvre, which was found on the See also:island in 182o amongst the ruins of the See also:theatre; the Capitoline Venus at Rome and the Venus of See also:Capua, represented as a goddess of victory (these two exhibit a lofty conception of the goddess); the Medicean Venus at See also:Florence, found in the porticus of See also:Octavia at Rome and (probably wrongly) attributed to Cleomenes; the Venus stooping in the bath, in the Vatican; and the Callipygos at See also:Naples, a specimen of the most sensual type. For the oriental Aphrodite, see E. See also:Meyer, article " Astarte " in W. H. Roscher's Lexikon der Mythologie. and See also:Wolf Baudissin, articles " Astarte " and " Atargatis " in See also:Herzog-Hauck's Realencyklopddie fur protestantische Theologie; for the Greek, articles in Roscher's Lexikon and Pauly-Wissowa's Realencycloppddie; L. See also:Preller, Griechische Mythologie, (4th ed. by C. See also:Robert); L., R. Farnell, Cults of the Greek States, ii. (1896) ; O. Gruppe, Griechische Mythologie and Religionsgeschichte, ii. (1906); L. See also:Dyer, The Gods in Greece (1891); A. Enmann, Kypros and der Ursprung See also:des Aphrodite-Kults (1886). W. H. See also:Engel, Kypros, ii. (1841), and J. R. Lajard, Recherches sur le culte de Venus (1837), may still be consulted with See also:advantage. For Aphrodite in art see J. J. See also:Bernoulli, Aphrodite (1873); W. J. See also:Stillman, Venus and See also:Apollo in See also:Painting and See also:Sculpture (1897). In the article GREEK ART, See also:figs. 71 (pl. V.) and 77 (pl. vi.) represent Aphrodite of Crtidus and Melos respectively. (J. H. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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