I will continue with the twelve gods next week.
the system is upgrading
the weather went well as soon as teh radiation ceased/
it turns out during teh equanox winter sports start
although it was avetha and not fretha
the devices , including long wave cold radiation hothey and skying ambiance were remote;ly released from thier led boces, devices on satelites read them as too radiation hot and self destructed, doom days devices raining radiation on all,. you felt almost a puke like sensation in teh back of teh throart, over 1000 rads a second., onl;y immortals live and all radiooactive substances burnt up., no more nuclear powerr, as teh desater in former japan at eth start of teh war proved/
we are better off cause trhe shimer , like heat waves had fooled people into thinking bewnign devivces became magically empowerreds, mav has nothing to do with lethal radiation, but they thought so and died.
its like the shimer on gold leaf freskos that look odd and were thought to cause bad things to happen.
iconoclasm, real truth pewople simply di4ed that was it.
mev did not work that way, but radiation through some substances, minute amounts can cause wierd sensations even death.
the benign stones are returning to normal.
no radioactive material anywhere casmocally
praise godthit and all the rewal gothiters
till next week.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Afrodite begings
Goddess of love, beauty, desire, and pleasure. Although married to Hephaestus she had many lovers, most notably Ares, Adonis, and Anchises. She was depicted as a beautiful woman and of all the goddesses most likely to appear nude or seminude. Poets praise the radiance of her smile and her laughter. Her symbols include roses and other flowers, the scallop shell, and myrtle wreath. Her sacred animals are doves and sparrows. Her Roman counterpart was Venus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_mythological_figures
afrodite represents the demetion of love esthetics and bueaty, the endevours of thought as the good looking pr apealing.
the prefection of teh look of body and how things appear including teh look of bueaty, demeanpour and teh likes.
what appears apropriate for behaviour and looking good or bueatiful.
for acting bueatioful is not looiking good but being good.
more on her next wqeek.
thoughts on godheads
to start our interpretationa dn analyses the gods , lets start by asking , does it make sense to you that the gods of olympus were the various parts of teh god head like father son and holy ghost?
ask yourself why these gods were chosen to be the representation of teh divine and parts of the god head prios to the trinity?
where was godthit considered teh unity of all oif them, why would such parts fight each other in primitive peoples minds.
teh trinity does not fight itself, nor diud these gods.
ask yourself why these gods were chosen to be the representation of teh divine and parts of the god head prios to the trinity?
where was godthit considered teh unity of all oif them, why would such parts fight each other in primitive peoples minds.
teh trinity does not fight itself, nor diud these gods.
radiation stop
we will begin the examination of the ancient gods today
it will be very interesting.
two days ago the last radioactive material was fissioned.
it reflected backwards but there are no more radioactive issotopes in teh cosmos and no chance of new ones to occur.
it was a rare event that caused them to happen, an event that no longer can occur due to new energies altering even teh past.
window of oppurtunity closed/
a;; good you will feel healthy and happy.
as we do now.
neevr drained as some soppose3d , though we were not drained but energised as immortals in ways soem did not recognise.
the simplest radiational material would kill a mortal in seconds.
death valleys were we wmind such things were uninhabiotable
prior to the mining no one went there
we n3eeded robots to get at the stuff in teh seventries and 19302
the lklatter was armoured protection ta short exposure and a redu ced life even through led. as star treck four proved takions appear outside teh protective sheilds, including led.
they heated eventing up till it blew up and burnt out, timers and giger counters set as dooms day devices if theier natin failed as teh old ones did
peace.
it will be very interesting.
two days ago the last radioactive material was fissioned.
it reflected backwards but there are no more radioactive issotopes in teh cosmos and no chance of new ones to occur.
it was a rare event that caused them to happen, an event that no longer can occur due to new energies altering even teh past.
window of oppurtunity closed/
a;; good you will feel healthy and happy.
as we do now.
neevr drained as some soppose3d , though we were not drained but energised as immortals in ways soem did not recognise.
the simplest radiational material would kill a mortal in seconds.
death valleys were we wmind such things were uninhabiotable
prior to the mining no one went there
we n3eeded robots to get at the stuff in teh seventries and 19302
the lklatter was armoured protection ta short exposure and a redu ced life even through led. as star treck four proved takions appear outside teh protective sheilds, including led.
they heated eventing up till it blew up and burnt out, timers and giger counters set as dooms day devices if theier natin failed as teh old ones did
peace.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
positive thinking
Hope everyone is enjoyimng teh new year, it has been fruitful thus far and it should be the a great year.
the stuff we learned is now being corolated by your mind and teh endevour to happiness good
I feel great, full of vigor and energy, I am fully controlled and cool headed and feel great.
Yjr eisdom is growing.
so relax and take the world by teh horns and ride like teh sind.
as always like me stay positive minded even when debating.
be serious but not incapable of smiling and feeling good.
yes even when yelling stay positive even when not smiling.
yes I am smiling now
till next week, stay bueatiful.
peace
the stuff we learned is now being corolated by your mind and teh endevour to happiness good
I feel great, full of vigor and energy, I am fully controlled and cool headed and feel great.
Yjr eisdom is growing.
so relax and take the world by teh horns and ride like teh sind.
as always like me stay positive minded even when debating.
be serious but not incapable of smiling and feeling good.
yes even when yelling stay positive even when not smiling.
yes I am smiling now
till next week, stay bueatiful.
peace
the greek gods explored: Aphrodite
wwe will vegin exploring teh ,yths concerning the ancient greek gods
that make up the god head and mythus that comprises teh body of teh
mechanism of these faiths bound through tehis panthetic system.
we will endevour to examine each in teh order given by this file
List of Greek mythological figures
Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη, Aphroditē)
Goddess of love, beauty, desire, and pleasure. Although married to Hephaestus she had many lovers, most notably Ares, Adonis, and Anchises. She was depicted as a beautiful woman and of all the goddesses most likely to appear nude or seminude. Poets praise the radiance of her smile and her laughter. Her symbols include roses and other flowers, the scallop shell, and myrtle wreath. Her sacred animals are doves and sparrows. Her Roman counterpart was Venus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_mythological_figures
reading LIST:
Aphrodite
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphrodite
Aphrodite
by Micha F. Lindemans
In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. According to Hesiod, she was born when Uranus (the father of the gods) was castrated by his son Cronus. Cronus threw the severed genitals into the ocean which
began to churn and foam about them. From the aphros ("sea foam") arose Aphrodite, and the sea carried her to either Cyprus or Cythera. Hence she is often referred to as Kypris and Cytherea. Homer calls her a daughter of Zeus and Dione.
After her birth, Zeus was afraid that the gods would fight over Aphrodite's hand in marriage so he married her off to the smith god Hephaestus, the steadiest of the gods. He could hardly believe his good luck and used all his skills to make the most lavish jewels for her. He made her a girdle of finely wrought gold and wove magic into the filigree work. That was not very wise of him, for when she wore her magic girdle no one could resist her, and she was all too irresistible already. She loved gaiety and glamour and was not at all pleased at being the wife of sooty, hard-working Hephaestus.
Aphrodite loved and was loved by many gods and mortals. Among her mortal lovers, the most famous was perhaps Adonis. Some of her sons are Eros, Anteros, Hymenaios and Aeneas (with her Trojan lover Anchises). She is accompanied by the Graces.
Her festival is the Aphrodisiac which was celebrated in various centers of Greece and especially in Athens and Corinth. Her priestesses were not prostitutes but women who represented the goddess and sexual intercourse with them was considered just one of the methods of worship. Aphrodite was originally an old-Asian goddess, similar to the Mesopotamian Ishtar and the Syro-Palestinian goddess Ashtart. Her attributes are a.o. the dolphin, the dove, the swan, the pomegranate and the lime tree.
In Roman mythology Venus is the goddess of love and beauty and Cupid is love's messenger.
from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphrodite
Aphrodite - Apollo - Ares - Artemis - Athena - Demeter - Dionysus - Hephaestus - Hera - Hermes - Poseidon - Zeus - Others
home easy read
APHRODITE (a-fro-DYE-tee; Roman name Venus) was the goddess of love, beauty and fertility. She was also a protectress of sailors.
The poet Hesiod said that Aphrodite was born from sea-foam. Homer, on the other hand, said that she was the daughter of Zeus and Dione.
When the Trojan prince Paris was asked to judge which of three Olympian goddesses was the most beautiful, he chose Aphrodite over Hera and Athena. The latter two had hoped to bribe him with power and victory in battle, but Aphrodite offered the love of the most beautiful woman in the world.
This was Helen of Sparta, who became infamous as Helen of Troy when Paris subsequently eloped with her. In the ensuing Trojan War, Hera and Athena were implacable enemies of Troy while Aphrodite was loyal to Paris and the Trojans.
IN HOMER
In his epic of the Trojan War, Homer tells how Aphrodite intervened in battle to save her son Aeneas, a Trojan ally. The Greek hero Diomedes, who had been on the verge of killing Aeneas, attacked the goddess herself, wounding her on the wrist with his spear and causing the ichor to flow. (Ichor is what immortals have in the place of blood.)
Aphrodite promptly dropped Aeneas, who was rescued by Apollo, another Olympian sponsor of the Trojans. In pain she sought out her brother Ares, the god of war who stood nearby admiring the carnage, and borrowed his chariot so that she might fly up to Olympus. There she goes crying to her mother Dione, who soothes her and cures her wound. Her father Zeus tells her to leave war to the likes of Ares and Athena, while devoting herself to the business of marriage.
Elsewhere in Homer's Iliad , Aphrodite saves Paris when he is about to be killed in single combat by Menelaus. The goddess wraps him in a mist and spirits him away, setting him down in his own bedroom in Troy. She then appears to Helen in the guise of an elderly handmaiden and tells her that Paris is waiting for her.
Helen recognizes the goddess in disguise and asks if she is being led once more to ruin. For Aphrodite had bewitched her into leaving her husband Menelaus to run off with Paris. She dares to suggest that Aphrodite go to Paris herself.
Suddenly furious, the goddess warns Helen not to go too far, lest she be abandoned to the hatred of Greeks and Trojans alike. "I'll hate you," says the mercurial goddess, "as much as I love you now."
Even though Zeus's queen Hera and Aphrodite are on different sides in the Trojan War, the goddess of love loans Hera her magical girdle in order to distract Zeus from the fray. This garment has the property of causing men (and gods) to fall hopelessly in love with whoever is wearing it.
Homer calls Aphrodite "the Cyprian", and many of her attributes may have come from Asia via Cyprus (and Cythera) in Mycenaean times. These almost certainly mixed with a preexisting Hellenic or Aegean goddess. The ancient Greeks themselves felt that Aphrodite was both Greek and foreign.
JASON
Aphrodite involved herself on other occasions in the affairs of mortal heroes. When Jason asked permission of the king of Colchis to remove the Golden Fleece from the grove in which it hung, the king was clearly unwilling. So the goddess Hera, who sponsored Jason's quest, asked her fellow-Olympian Aphrodite to intervene. The love goddess made the king's daughter Medea fall in love with Jason, and Medea proved instrumental in Jason's success.
AENEAS
Another time, Zeus punished Aphrodite for beguiling her fellow gods into inappropriate romances. He caused her to become infatuated with the mortal Anchises. That's how she came to be the mother of Aeneas. She protected this hero during the Trojan War and its aftermath, when Aeneas quested to Italy and became the mythological founder of a line of Roman emperors.
A minor Italic goddess named Venus became identified with Aphrodite, and that's how she got her Roman name. It is as Venus that she appears in the Aeneiad , the poet Virgil's epic of the founding of Rome.
And on still another occasion,
HEPHAESTUS
The love goddess was married to the homely craftsman-god Hephaestus. She was unfaithful to him with Ares, and Homer relates in the Odyssey how Hephaestus had his revenge.
IN ART
Elsewhere in classical art she has no distinctive attributes other than her beauty. Flowers and vegetation motifs suggest her connection to fertility.
Aphrodite was associated with the dove. Another of her sacred birds was the goose, on which she is seen to ride in a vase painting from antiquity.
Hesiod's reference to Aphrodite's having been born from the sea inspired the Renaissance artist Botticelli's famous painting of the goddess on a giant scallop shell. Equally if not better known is the Venus de Milo, a statue which lost its arms in ancient times.
WAR GODDESS?
The ancient travel writer Pausanias describes a number of statues of Aphrodite dressed for battle, many of them in Sparta. Given the manner in which the militaristic Spartans raised their girls, it is not surprising that they conceived of a female goddess in military attire. She also would have donned armaments to defend cities, such as Corinth, who adopted her as their patroness. This is not to say that she was a war goddess, although some have seen her as such and find significance in her pairing with the war god Ares in mythology and worship.
The two most recent editions of "The Oxford Classical Dictionary" are at variance over this aspect of the goddess. The 1970 edition sees her as a goddess of war and traces this to her Oriental roots. It is true that she has resemblances to Astarte, who is a goddess of war as well as fertility.
The 1996 edition of "The Oxford Classical Dictionary", on the other hand, offers several counterarguments. It sees her being paired with Ares, for instance, not because they are similarly warlike but precisely because love and war are opposites.
In any case, Aphrodite's primary function was to preside over reproduction, since this was essential for the survival of the community.
from :http://www.mythweb.com/gods/aphrodite.html
APHRODITE was the great Olympian goddess of beauty, love, pleasure and and procreation. She was depicted as a beautiful woman usually accompanied by the winged godling Eros (Love). Her attributes included a dove, apple, scallop shell and mirror. In classical sculpture and fresco she was often depicted nude.
Some of the more famous myths featuring the goddess include:--
Her birth from the sea foam;
Her adulterous affair with the god Ares;
Her love for Adonis, a handsome Cypriot youth who was tragically killed by a boar;
Her love for Ankhises, a shepherd-prince;
The judgement of Paris in which the goddess was awarded the prize of the golden apple in return for promising Paris Helene in marriage;
The Trojan War in which she supported her favourites Paris and Aeneas and was wounded in the fighting;
The race of Hippomenes for Atalanta, which was won with the help of the goddess and her golden apples;
The death of Hippolytos, who was destroyed by the goddess for scorning her worship;
The statue of Pygmalion which was brought to life by Aphrodite in answer to his prayers;
The persecution of Psykhe, the maiden loved by the goddess' son Eros.
This site contains a total of 18 pages describing the goddess Aphrodite, including general descriptions, mythology, and cult. The content is outlined in the table below. Quotes for these pages are still being compiled (see bottom of this page for the current status of this project).
INDEX APHRODITE PAGES
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
Encyclopedia Entry
Hymns to Aphrodite
Images of Aphrodite
Physical Descriptions
PART 2: GODDESS OF
Love & Procreation
Beauty & Grace
Pleasure, Merriment
Love Poetry
Star of Venus
Identified with
Foreign Goddesses
PART 3: APHRODITE MYTHS 1
Birth of Aphrodite
War of the Giants
Flight from Typhoeus
Creation of Pandora
Feasts of the Gods
Birth of Priapos
Pythian Music Contest
Weaving Contest
PART 3: APHRODITE MYTHS 2
The Trojan War
PART 3: APHRODITE MYTHS 3
Aphrodite & Eros
Loves of the Gods
Loves of Men
Aphrodite in Fable
PART 3: APHRODITE MYTHS 4
Judgment of Paris
Aphrodite & Harmonia
Aphrodite & Beroe
PART 4: APHROD. WRATH 1
Halia, Brothers
Hippolytos
Hippomenes
Kerastai
Kinyras' Daughters
Lemnian Women
Menelaos
Nisos
Pasiphae
Propoitides
Tyndareus
PART 4: APHROD. WRATH 2
Akheilos
Akmon
Anaxarete
Diomedes
Eos
Erymanthos
Glaukos
Helios
Herakles
Kalliope
Kleio
Myrrha Smyrna
Narkissos
Nerites
Orpheus
Pan
Polyphonte
Seirenes
PART 4: APHROD. WRATH 3
Psykhe
PART 5: APHRODITE FAVOUR
Aeneas
Andromakhe
Ariadne & Dionysos
Boutes
Dexikreon
Hektor
Helene
Hermaphroditos
Hippomenes
Ino
Pandareus' Daughters
Paris
Penthesileia
Pygmalion
Rome City
Skylla
PART 6: APHRODITE FAMILY
Genealogy
Divine Offspring
Mortal Offspring
Family by Kingdom
PART 7: APHRODITE LOVES 1
Ares
Dionysos
Hephaistos
Hermes
Nerites
Poseidon
Zeus
PART 7: APHRODITE LOVES 2
Adonis
Ankhises
Boutes
Phaon
Phaethon
PART 8: ESTATE, ATTRIBUTES
Dove Sky Chariot
Sea Chariot
Clothing & Jewellery
Magical Girdle
Palace
Sacred Animals
Sacred Plants Flowers
Sacred Gems
PART 9: ATTENDANTS
PART 10: CULT & STATUES 1
General Cult
Attika, S. Greece
Megaris, S. Greece
Salamis, S. Greece
Aigina, S. Greece
Korinthia, S. Greece
Sikyonia, S. Greece
Argolis, S. Greece
Lakonia, S. Greece
Messenia, S. Greece
PART 10: CULT & STATUES 2
Elis, S. Greece
Akhaia, S. Greece
Arkadia, S. Greece
Boiotia, C. Greece
Phokis, C. Greece
Oz. Lokris, C. Greece
Thessalia, N. Greece
Delos, Gr. Aegean
Kos, Greek Aegean
Illyria, N, of Greece
Thrake, N. of Greece
Kypros, E. Meditt.
Teuthrania, Anatolia
Karia, Anatolia
Lydia, Anatolia
Mysia, Anatolia
Pamphylia, Anatolia
Egypt, North Africa
Libya, North Africa
Sicily, S. Italy
Latium, C. Italy
Gaul, S. France
PART 11: TITLES & EPITHETS
Poetic Titles Epithets
Cult Titles
SUMMARY OF APHRODITE
PARENTS
[1] Born from the castrated genitals of OURANOS in the sea's foam (Hesiod Theogony 188, Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.21, Apuleius 6.6, Nonnus Dionysiaca 1.86, et al)
[2] ZEUS & DIONE (Homer Iliad 5.370; Euripides Helen 1098; Apollodorus 1.13, Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.21, et al)
[3] OURANOS & HEMERA (Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.21)
OFFSPRING
See Family of Aphrodite
ENCYCLOPEDIA
APHRODI′TE (Aphroditê), one of the great Olympian divinities, was, according to the popular and poetical notions of the Greeks, the goddess of love and beauty. Some traditions stated that she had sprung from the foam (aphros) of the sea, which had gathered around the mutilated parts of Uranus, that had been thrown into the sea by Kronos after he had unmanned his father. (Hesiod. Theog. 190; compare Anadyomene.) With the exception of the Homeric hymn on Aphrodite there is no trace of this legend in Homer, and according to him Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. (Il. v. 370, &c., xx. 105.) Later traditions call her a daughter of Kronos and Euonyme, or of Uranus and Hemera. (Cic. De Nat. Deor. iii. 23; Natal. Com. iv. 13.)
According to Hesiod and the Homeric hymn on Aphrodite, the goddess after rising from the foam first approached the island of Cythera, and thence went to Cyprus, and as she was walking on the sea-coast flowers sprang up under her feet, and Eros and Himeros accompanied her to the assembly of the other great gods, all of whom were struck with admiration and love when she appeared, and her surpassing beauty made every one desire to have her for his wife.
According to the cosmogonic views of the nature of Aphrodite, she was the personification of the generative powers of nature, and the mother of all living beings. A trace of this notion seems to be contained in the tradition that in the contest of Typhon with the gods, Aphrodite metamorphosed herself into a fish, which animal was considered to possess the greatest generative powers. (Ov. Met. v. 318, &c.; comp. Hygin. Poet. Astr. 30.) But according to the popular belief of the Greeks and their poetical descriptions, she was the goddess of love, who excited this passion in the hearts of gods and men, and by this power ruled over all the living creation. (Hom. Hymn. in Ven. ; Lucret. 15, &c.)
Ancient mythology furnishes numerous instances in which Aphrodite punished those who neglected her worship or despised her power, as well as others in which she favoured and protected those who did homage to her and recognized her sway. Love and beauty are ideas essentially connected, and Aphrodite was therefore also the goddess of beauty and gracefulness. In these points she surpassed all other goddesses, and she received the prize of beauty from Paris; she had further the power of granting beauty and invincible charms to others. Youth is the herald, and Peitho, the Horae, and Charites, the attendants and companions of Aphrodite. (Pind. New. viii. 1, &c.) Marriages are called by Zeus her work and the things about which she ought to busy herself. (Hom. Il. v. 429; comp. Od. xx. 74; Pind. Pyth. ix. 16, &c.) As she herself had sprung from the sea, she is represented by later writers as having some influence upon the sea (Virg. Aen. viii. 800; Ov. Heroid. xv. 213; comp. Paus. ii. 34. § 11.)
During the Trojan war, Aphrodite, the mother of Aeneas, who had been declared the most beautiful of all the goddesses by a Trojan prince, naturally sided with the Trojans. She saved Paris from his contest with Menelaus (Il. iii. 380), but when she endeavoured to rescue her darling Aeneas from the fight, she was pursued by Diomedes, who wounded her in her hand. In her fright she abandoned her son, and was carried by Iris in the chariot of Ares to Olympus, where she complained of her misfortune to her mother Dione, but was laughed at by Hera and Athena. (Il. v. 311, &c.) She also protected the body of Hector, and anointed it with ambrosia. (Il. xxiii. 185.)
According to the most common accounts of the ancients, Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus (Odyss. viii. 270), who, however, is said in the Iliad (viii. 383) to have married Charis. Her faithlessness to Hephaestus in her amour with Ares, and the manner in which she was caught by the ingenuity of her husband, are beautifully described in the Odyssey. (viii. 266, &c.) By Ares she became the mother of Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia, and, according to later traditions, of Eros and Anteros also. (Hesiod. Theog. 934, &c., Scut. Herc. 195; Hom. Il. xiii. 299, iv. 440; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. iii. 26; Cic. De Nat. Deor. iii. 23.)
But Ares was not the only god whom Aphrodite favoured; Dionysus, Hermes, and Poseidon likewise enjoyed her charms. By the first she was, according to some traditions, the mother of Priapus (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 933) and Bacchus (Hesych. s. v. Bakchou Diônês), by the second of Hermaphroditus (Ov. Met. iv. 289, &c.; Diod. iv. 6; Lucian, Dial. Deor. xv. 2), and by Poseidon she had two children, Rhodos and Herophilus. (Schol. ad Pind. Pyth. viii. 24.)
As Aphrodite so often kindled in the hearts of the gods a love for mortals, Zeus at last resolved to make her pay for her wanton sport by inspiring her too with love for a mortal man. This was accomplished, and Aphrodite conceived an invincible passion for Anchises, by whom she became the mother of Aeneas and Lyrus.
Respecting her connexions with other mortals see Adonis and Butes. The ancient story ran thus : Smyrna had neglected the worship of Aphrodite, and was punished by the goddess with an unnatural love for her father. With the assistance of her nurse she contrived to share her father's bed without being known to him. When he discovered the crime he wished to kill her; but she fled, and on being nearly overtaken, prayed to the gods to make her invisible. They were moved to pity and changed her into a tree called smurna. After the lapse of nine months the tree burst, and Adonis was born. Aphrodite was so much charmed with the beauty of the infant, that she concealed it in a chest which she entrusted to Persephone; but when the latter discovered the treasure she had in her keeping, she refused to give it up. The case was brought before Zeus, who decided the dispute by declaring that during four months of every year Adonis should be left to himself, during four months he should belong to Persephone, and during the remaining four to Aphrodite. Adonis however preferring to live with Aphrodite, also spent with her the four months over which he had controul. Afterwards Adonis died of a wound which he received from a boar during the chase. Thus far the story of Adonis was related by Panyasis.
Later writers furnish various alterations and additions to it. According to Hyginus (Fab. 58, 164, 251, 271), Smyrna was punished with the love for her father, because her mother Cenchreis had provoked the anger of Aphrodite by extolling the beauty of her daughter above that of the goddess. Smyrna after the discovery of her crime fled into a forest, where she was changed into a tree from which Adonis came forth, when her father split it with his sword. The dispute between Aphrodite and Persephone was according to some accounts settled by Calliope, whom Zeus appointed as mediator between them. (Hygin. Poet. Astron. ii. 7.) Ovid (Met x. 300, &c.) adds the following features: Myrrha's love of her father was excited by the furies; Lucina assisted her when she gave birth to Adonis, and the Naiads anointed him with the tears of his mother, i. e. with the fluid which trickled from the tree. Adonis grew up a most beautiful youth, and Venus loved him and shared with him the pleasures of the chase, though she always cautioned him against the wild beasts. At last he wounded a boar which killed him in its fury.
According to some traditions Ares (Mars), or, according to others, Apollo assumed the form of a boar and thus killed Adonis. (Serv. ad Virg. Ecl. x. 18; Ptolem. Hephaest. i. p. 306, ed. Gale.) A third story related that Dionysus carried off Adonis. (Phanocles ap. Plut. Sumpos. iv. 5.) When Aphrodite was informed of her beloved being wounded, she hastened to the spot and sprinkled nectar into his blood, from which immediately flowers sprang up. Various other modifications of the story may be read in Hyginus (Poet. Astron. ii. 7), Theocritus (Idyll. xv.), Bion (Idyll. i.), and in the scholiast on Lycophron. (839, &c.) From the double marriage of Aphrodite with Ares and Adonis sprang
Priapus. (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 9, 32.) Besides him Golgos and Beroe are likewise called children. of Adonis and Aphrodite. (Schol. ad Theocrit. xv. 100; Nonn. Dionys. xli 155.) On his death Adonis was obliged to descend into the lower world, but he was allowed to spend six months out of every year with his beloved Aphrodite in the upper world. (Orph. hymn. 55. 10.)
Aphrodite possessed a magic girdle which had the power of inspiring love and desire for those who wore it; hence it was borrowed by Hera when she wished to stimulate the love of Zeus. (Hom. Il. xiv. 214, &c.) The arrow is also sometimes mentioned as one of her attributes. (Plnd. Pyth. iv. 380; Theocrit. xi. 16.) In the vegetable kingdom the myrtle, rose, apple, poppy, and others, were sacred to her. (Ov. Fast. iv. 15. 143; Bion, Idyll. i. 64; Schol. ad Aristoph. Nub. 993; Paus. ii. 10. § 4; Phornut. 23.)
The animals sacred to her, which are often mentioned as drawing her chariot or serving as her messengers, are the sparrow, the dove, the swan, the swallow, and a bird called iynx. (Sappho, in Ven. 10; Athen. ix. p. 395; Horat. Carm. iv. 1. 10; Aelian, Hist. An. x. 34; Pind. Py/th/. l. c.) As Aphrodite Urania the tortoise, the symbol of domestic modesty and chastity, and as Aphrodite Pandemos the ram was sacred to her. [Urania; Pandemos.] When she was represented as the victorious goddess, she had the attributes of Ares, a helmet, a shield, a sword : or a lance, and an image of Victory in one hand. The planet Venus and the spring-month of April were likewise sacred to her. (Cie. de Nat. Deor. iii. 20; Ov. Fast. iv. 90.)
All the surnames and epithets given to Aphrodite are derived from places of her worship, from events connected with the legends about her, or have reference to her character and her influence upon man, or are descriptive of her extraordinary beauty and charms. All her surnames are explained in separate articles.
The principal places of her worship in Greece were the islands of Cyprus and Cythera. At Cnidus in Caria she had three temples, one of which contained her renowned statue by Praxiteles. Mount Ida in Troas was an ancient place of her worship, and among the other places we may mention particularly the island of Cos, the towns of Abydos, Athens, Thespiae, Megara, Sparta, Sicyon, Corinth, and Eryx in Sicily. The sacrifices offered to her consisted mostly of incense and garlands of flowers (Virg. Aen. i. 416; Tacit. Hist. ii. 3), but in some places animals, such as pigs, goats, young cows, hares, and others, were sacrificed to her. In some places, as at Corinth, great numbers of females belonged to her, who prostituted themselves in her service, and bore the name of hierodouloi. (Dict.of Ant. s. v. Hetairai.) Respecting the festivals of Aphrodite see Dict. of Ant. s.v. Adônia, Anagôgia, Aphrodisia, Katagôgia.
The worship of Aphrodite was undoubtedly of eastern origin, and probably introduced from Syria to the islands of Cyprus, Cythera, and others, from whence it spread all over Greece. It is said to have been brought into Syria from Assyria. (Paus. i. 14. § 6.) Aphrodite appears to have been originally identical with Astarte, called by the Hebrews Ashtoreth, and her connexion with Adonis clearly points to Syria. But with the exception of Corinth, where the worship of Aphrodite had eminently an Asiatic character, the whole worship of this goddess and all the ideas concerning her nature and character are so entirely Greek, that its introduction into Greece must be assigned to the very earliest periods. The elements were derived from the East, but the peculiar development of it belongs to Greece. The Roman goddess Venus was identified with the Greek Aphrodite.
Aphrodite, the ideal of female graec and beauty, frequently engaged the talents and genius of the ancient artists. The most celebrated representations of her were those of Cos and Cnidus. Those which are still extant are divided by archaeologists into several classes, accordingly as the goddess is represented in a standing position and naked, as the Medicean Venus, or bathing, or half naked, or dressed in a tunic, or as the victorious goddess in arms, as she was represented in the temples of Cythera, Sparta, and Corinth. (Paus. iii. 23. § 1, ii. 5. § 1, iii. 15. § 10.)
Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
HYMNS TO APHRODITE
I) THE HOMERIC HYMNS
Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C.) :
"Moisa (Muse), tell me the deeds of golden Aphrodite Kypria (Cyprian), who stirs up sweet passion in the gods and subdues the tribes of mortal men and birds that fly in air and all the many creatures that the dry land rears, and all the sea: all these love the deeds of rich-crowned Kythereia. [The story of the love of Aphrodite and Ankhises follows.] . . .
Hail, goddess, queen of well-builded Kypros (Cyprus)! With you have I begun; now I will turn me to another hymn."
Homeric Hymn 6 to Aphrodite :
"I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and beautiful, whose dominion is the walled cities of all sea-set Kypros (Cyprus). There the moist breath of Zephyros the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, ad there the gold-filleted Horai (Seasons) welcomed her joyously. [The story of the birth of Aphrodite follows.] . . .
Hail, sweetly-winning, coy-eyed goddess! Grant that I may gain the victory in this contest, and order you my song. And now I will remember you and another song also."
Homeric Hymn 10 to Aphrodite :
"Of Kythereia [Aphrodite], born in Kypros (Cyprus), I will sing. She gives kindly gifts to men: smiles are ever on her lovely face, and lovely is the brightness that plays over it. Hail, goddess, queen of well-built Salamis and sea-girt Kypros; grant me a cheerful song. And now I will remember you and another song also."
II) THE ORPHIC HYMNS
Orphic Hymn 55 to Aphrodite (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"To Aphrodite. Ourania (Heavenly), illustrious, laughter-loving (philommeideia) queen, sea-born (pontogenes), night-loving (philopannyx), of awful mien; crafty, from whom Ananke (Necessity) first came, producing, nightly, all-connecting dame. 'Tis thine the world with harmony to join, for all things spring from thee, O power divine. The triple Moirai (Fates) are ruled by thy decree, and all productions yield alike to thee: whatever the heavens, encircling all, contain, earth fruit-producing, and the stormy main, thy sway confesses, and obeys thy nod, awful attendant of Bakkhos [Dionysos] God. Goddess of marriage, charming to the sight, mother of the Erotes (Loves), whom banquetings delight; source of Peitho (Persuasion), secret, favouring queen, illustrious born, apparent and unseen; spousal Lukaina, and to men inclined, prolific, most-desired, life-giving, kind. Great sceptre-bearer of the Gods, 'tis thine mortals in necessary bands to join; and every tribe of savage monsters dire in magic chains to bind through mad desire. Come, Kyprogenes (Cyprus-Born), and to my prayer incline, whether exalted in the heavens you shine, or pleased in odorous Syria to preside, or over the Aigyptian (Egyptian) plains they care to guide, fashioned of gold; and near its sacred flood, fertile and famed, to fix they blest abode; or if rejoicing in the azure shores, near where the sea with foaming billows roars, the circling choirs of mortals thy delight, or beauteous Nymphai (Nymphs) with eyes cerulean bright, pleased by the sandy banks renowned of old, to drive thy rapid two-yoked car of gold; or if in Kypros (Cyprus) thy famed mother fair, where Nymphai unmarried praise thee every year, the loveliest Nymphai, who in the chorus join, Adonis pure to sing, and thee divine. Come, all-attractive, to my prayer inclined, for thee I call, with holy, reverent mind."
K10.2 BIRTH OF
APHRODITE
K10.3 APHRODITE
RIDING GOOSE
K10.16 APHRODITE
WITH MIRROR
K10.6 APHRODITE,
ADONIS
K9.3 ARES,
APHRODITE
K9.1 APHRODITE,
ARES, EROS
K10.5 APHRODITE
WITH DOVE
K10.12 APHRODITE
STANDING
K4.6 JUDGEMENT
OF PARIS
K31.3 JUDGEMENT
OF PARIS
K4.5 JUDGEMENT
OF PARIS
K10.7 APHRODITE,
AENEAS, PARIS
K10.8 APHRODITE,
HELENE
K10.9 APHRODITE,
PARIS, MENELAOS
T22.2 APHRODITE,
PANDORA, ARES
K4.11 APHRODITE,
HERA, HERAKLES
K10.4 APHRODITE,
HERMES, EROS
K10.1 APHRODITE,
ZEUS, EROS
K32.6 APHRODITE,
EROS, LOVERS
O6.3 APHRODITE,
PEITHO, DIOSKOUROI
K12.13B APHRODITE,
BIRTH DIONYSOS
K10.14 APHRODITE,
PEITHO
K31.7 APHRODITE,
EROSTASIA
K31.4 APHRODITE,
EROSTASIA
K10.11 APHRODITE
RIDING SWAN
K31.6 APHRODITE,
EROTES CHARIOT
K31.5 APHRODITE,
EROTES CHARIOT
K10.10 APHRODITE,
ADONIS, EROS
K10.18 APHRODITE,
AENEAS, DIOMEDES
K10.13 APHRODITE,
GIGANTE MIMOS
K31.2 APHRODITE,
EROTES
F10.1 BIRTH OF
APHRODITE
F10.2 APHRODITE,
ARES, EROTES
F9.1 APHRODITE,
ARES, EROS
F10.4 APHRODITE,
EROS
F10.5 APHRODITE,
EROS, EROTES
F10.3 APHRODITE,
AENEAS
Z10.3 APHRODITE,
EROTES
Z21.2 APHRODITE,
ADONIS, KHARITES
Z10.1 APHRODITE
BIRTH
Z10.2 APHRODITE
BIRTH
Z10.5 APHRODITE
BIRTH
K10.7 APHRODITE
BIRTH
Z10.4 APHRODITE,
ARES, EROTES
Z10.8 ADONIS,
ARES AS BOAR
Z10.6 APHRODITE
BIRTH
Z50.1F APHRODITE
AS FRIDAY
Z10.9 APHRODITE,
EROTES CHARIOT
Z4.1 APHRODITE,
HERA, ATHENE
Z4.1B APHRODITE,
JUDGMENT PARIS
For SCUPTURES see Aphrodite Cult 1 and Aphrodite Cult 2
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF APHRODITE
Classical literature offers only a few, brief descriptions of the physical characteristics of the gods.
Homer, Iliad 3. 396 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"She [Helene of Troy] recognized the round, sweet throat of the goddess [Aphrodite] and her desirable breasts and her eyes that were full of shining."
Stasinus of Cyprus or Hegesias of Aegina, Cypria Fragment 6 (from Athenaeus 15. 682) (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th or 6th B.C.) :
"She [Aphrodite] clothed herself with garments which the Kharites (Charites, Graces) and Horai (Hours) had made for her and dyed in flowers of spring--such flowers as the Horai wear--in crocus and hyacinth and flourishing violet and the rose's lovely bloom, so sweet and delicious, and heavenly buds, the flowers of the narcissus and lily. In such perfumed garments is Aphrodite clothed at all seasons."
Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite 78 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C.) :
"Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus stood before him [Ankhises], being like a pure maiden in height and mien, that he should not be frightened when he took heed of her with his eyes. Now when Ankhises saw her, he marked her well and wondered at her mien and height and shining garments. For she was clad in a robe out-shining the brightness of fire, a splendid robe of gold, enriched with all manner of needlework, which shimmered like the moon over her tender breasts, a marvel to see. Also she wore twisted brooches and shining earrings in the form of flowers; and round her soft throat were lovely necklaces . . .
[later she revealed her true divine height and mien] and her head reached to the well-hewn roof-tree; from her cheeks shone unearthly beauty such as belongs to rich-crowned Kythereia . . . [and] when he [Ankhises] saw the neck and lovely eyes of Aphrodite, he was afraid and turned his eyes aside another way, hiding his comely face with his cloak."
Homeric Hymn 6 to Aphrodite 6 ff :
"The Horai (Seasons) clothed her [Aphrodite] with heavenly garments: on her head they put a fine, well-wrought crown of gold, and in her pierced ears they hung ornaments of orichalc and precious gold, and adorned her with golden necklaces over her soft neck and snow-white breasts, jewels which the gold-filleted Horai wear themselves."
Philostratus the Younger, Imagines 8 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) :
"[From a description of a Greek painting:] Three goddesses standing near them--they need no interpreter to tell who they are . . . the second one [Aphrodite] even in the painting shows the 'laughter-loving' (philomeides) disposition caused by the magic of her girdle."
Orphic Hymn 57 to Chthonian Hermes (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"Celestial Aphrodite, Paphian queen, dark-eyelashed Goddess, of a lovely mien."
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 10. 30 ff (trans. Walsh) (Roman novel C2nd A.D.) :
"[From a description of an ancient Greek play portraying the Judgement of Paris:] After them a third girl entered, her beauty visibly unsurpassed. Her charming, ambrosia-like complexion intimated that she represented the earlier Venus [Aphrodite] when that goddess was still a maiden. She vaunted her unblemished beauty by appearing naked and unclothed except for a thin silken garment veiling her entrancing lower parts. An inquisitive gust of air would at one moment with quite lubricous affection blow this garment aside, so that when wafted away it revealed her virgin bloom; at another moment it would wantonly breathe directly upon it, clinging tightly and vividly outlining the pleasurable prospect of her lower limbs. The goddess's appearance offered contrasting colours to the eye, for her body was dazzling white, intimating her descent from heaven and her robe was dark blue, denoting her emergence from the sea . . .
Each maiden representing a goddess was accompanied by her own escort . . . Venus [Aphrodite] was surrounded by a throng of the happiest children; you would have sworn that those little boys whose skins were smooth and milk-white were genuine Cupides [Erotes] who had just flown in from sky or sea. They looked just he part with their tiny wings, miniature arrows, and the rest of their get-up, as with gleaming torches they lit the way for their mistress as though she were en route to a wedding-banquet. Next floated in charming children, unmarried girls, representing on one side the Gratiae [Charites, Graces] at their most graceful, and on the other the Horae [Horai] in all their beauty. They were appeasing the goddess by strewing wreaths and single blossoms before her, and they formed a most elegant chorus-line as they sought to please the Mistress of pleasures with the foliage of spring. The flutes with their many stops were now rendering in sweet harmony melodies in the Lydian mode. As they affectingly softened the hearts of onlookers, Venus [Aphrodite] still more affectingly began to gently stir herself; with gradual, lingering steps, restrained swaying of the hips, and slow inclination of the head she began to advance, her refined movements matching the soft wounds of the flutes. Occasionally her eyes alone would dance, as at one moment she gently lowered her lids, and at another imperiously signalled with threatening glances."
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 2. 8 ff :
"Venus [Aphrodite] . . . wearing that belt of hers around her waist, diffusing the scent of cinnamon and bedewing the air with balsam."
Colluthus, Rape of Helen 82 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poetry C5th to 6th A.D.) :
"Kypris [Aphrodite] of crafty counsels unfolded her snood and undid the fragrant clasp of her hair and wreathed with gold her locks, with gold her flowing tresses."
Sources:
Homer, The Iliad - Greek Epic C8th B.C.
Stasinsus or Hegesias , Cypria Fragments - Greek Epic C7th-6th B.C.
The Homeric Hymns - Greek Epic C8th-4th B.C.
The Orphic Hymns - Greek Hymns C3rd B.C. - C2nd A.D.
Philostratus the Younger, Imagines - Greek Rhetoric C3rd A.D.
Apuleius, The Golden Ass - Latin Novel C2nd A.D.
Colluthus, The Rape of Helen - Greek Epic C5th-6th A.D.
SOURCE STATUS (of Aphrodite pages)
FULLY QUOTED: Homer (Iliad & Odyssey); Hesiod; Hesiod; Homeric Hymns; Homerica; Apollodorus; Pausanias; Herodotus; Strabo; Orphic Hymns, Quintus Smyrnaeus; Callimachus; Aesop; Aelian; Ovid (Metamorphoses); Hyginus (Fabulae & Astronomica)); Apuleius
PARTIALLY OR NOT QUOTED (GREEK): Pindar; Greek Lyric (Fragments); Greek Elegaic (Fragments); Apollonius Rhodius; Diodorus Siculus; Antoninus Liberalis; Euripides; Aeschylus; Sophocles; Aristophanes; Plato; Theocritus; Lycophron; Plutarch; Philostratus & Callistratus; Oppian; Colluthus; Tryphiodorus; et. al.
PARTIALLY OR NOT QUOTED (LATIN): Ovid (Fasti); Cicero; Statius; Propertius; Valerius Flaccus; et. al.
from http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Aphrodite.html
we will endevour to examine each in teh order given by this file
List of Greek mythological figures
Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη, Aphroditē)
Goddess of love, beauty, desire, and pleasure. Although married to Hephaestus she had many lovers, most notably Ares, Adonis, and Anchises. She was depicted as a beautiful woman and of all the goddesses most likely to appear nude or seminude. Poets praise the radiance of her smile and her laughter. Her symbols include roses and other flowers, the scallop shell, and myrtle wreath. Her sacred animals are doves and sparrows. Her Roman counterpart was Venus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_mythological_figures
reading LIST:
Aphrodite
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphrodite
Aphrodite
by Micha F. Lindemans
In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. According to Hesiod, she was born when Uranus (the father of the gods) was castrated by his son Cronus. Cronus threw the severed genitals into the ocean which
began to churn and foam about them. From the aphros ("sea foam") arose Aphrodite, and the sea carried her to either Cyprus or Cythera. Hence she is often referred to as Kypris and Cytherea. Homer calls her a daughter of Zeus and Dione.
After her birth, Zeus was afraid that the gods would fight over Aphrodite's hand in marriage so he married her off to the smith god Hephaestus, the steadiest of the gods. He could hardly believe his good luck and used all his skills to make the most lavish jewels for her. He made her a girdle of finely wrought gold and wove magic into the filigree work. That was not very wise of him, for when she wore her magic girdle no one could resist her, and she was all too irresistible already. She loved gaiety and glamour and was not at all pleased at being the wife of sooty, hard-working Hephaestus.
Aphrodite loved and was loved by many gods and mortals. Among her mortal lovers, the most famous was perhaps Adonis. Some of her sons are Eros, Anteros, Hymenaios and Aeneas (with her Trojan lover Anchises). She is accompanied by the Graces.
Her festival is the Aphrodisiac which was celebrated in various centers of Greece and especially in Athens and Corinth. Her priestesses were not prostitutes but women who represented the goddess and sexual intercourse with them was considered just one of the methods of worship. Aphrodite was originally an old-Asian goddess, similar to the Mesopotamian Ishtar and the Syro-Palestinian goddess Ashtart. Her attributes are a.o. the dolphin, the dove, the swan, the pomegranate and the lime tree.
In Roman mythology Venus is the goddess of love and beauty and Cupid is love's messenger.
from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphrodite
Aphrodite - Apollo - Ares - Artemis - Athena - Demeter - Dionysus - Hephaestus - Hera - Hermes - Poseidon - Zeus - Others
home easy read
APHRODITE (a-fro-DYE-tee; Roman name Venus) was the goddess of love, beauty and fertility. She was also a protectress of sailors.
The poet Hesiod said that Aphrodite was born from sea-foam. Homer, on the other hand, said that she was the daughter of Zeus and Dione.
When the Trojan prince Paris was asked to judge which of three Olympian goddesses was the most beautiful, he chose Aphrodite over Hera and Athena. The latter two had hoped to bribe him with power and victory in battle, but Aphrodite offered the love of the most beautiful woman in the world.
This was Helen of Sparta, who became infamous as Helen of Troy when Paris subsequently eloped with her. In the ensuing Trojan War, Hera and Athena were implacable enemies of Troy while Aphrodite was loyal to Paris and the Trojans.
IN HOMER
In his epic of the Trojan War, Homer tells how Aphrodite intervened in battle to save her son Aeneas, a Trojan ally. The Greek hero Diomedes, who had been on the verge of killing Aeneas, attacked the goddess herself, wounding her on the wrist with his spear and causing the ichor to flow. (Ichor is what immortals have in the place of blood.)
Aphrodite promptly dropped Aeneas, who was rescued by Apollo, another Olympian sponsor of the Trojans. In pain she sought out her brother Ares, the god of war who stood nearby admiring the carnage, and borrowed his chariot so that she might fly up to Olympus. There she goes crying to her mother Dione, who soothes her and cures her wound. Her father Zeus tells her to leave war to the likes of Ares and Athena, while devoting herself to the business of marriage.
Elsewhere in Homer's Iliad , Aphrodite saves Paris when he is about to be killed in single combat by Menelaus. The goddess wraps him in a mist and spirits him away, setting him down in his own bedroom in Troy. She then appears to Helen in the guise of an elderly handmaiden and tells her that Paris is waiting for her.
Helen recognizes the goddess in disguise and asks if she is being led once more to ruin. For Aphrodite had bewitched her into leaving her husband Menelaus to run off with Paris. She dares to suggest that Aphrodite go to Paris herself.
Suddenly furious, the goddess warns Helen not to go too far, lest she be abandoned to the hatred of Greeks and Trojans alike. "I'll hate you," says the mercurial goddess, "as much as I love you now."
Even though Zeus's queen Hera and Aphrodite are on different sides in the Trojan War, the goddess of love loans Hera her magical girdle in order to distract Zeus from the fray. This garment has the property of causing men (and gods) to fall hopelessly in love with whoever is wearing it.
Homer calls Aphrodite "the Cyprian", and many of her attributes may have come from Asia via Cyprus (and Cythera) in Mycenaean times. These almost certainly mixed with a preexisting Hellenic or Aegean goddess. The ancient Greeks themselves felt that Aphrodite was both Greek and foreign.
JASON
Aphrodite involved herself on other occasions in the affairs of mortal heroes. When Jason asked permission of the king of Colchis to remove the Golden Fleece from the grove in which it hung, the king was clearly unwilling. So the goddess Hera, who sponsored Jason's quest, asked her fellow-Olympian Aphrodite to intervene. The love goddess made the king's daughter Medea fall in love with Jason, and Medea proved instrumental in Jason's success.
AENEAS
Another time, Zeus punished Aphrodite for beguiling her fellow gods into inappropriate romances. He caused her to become infatuated with the mortal Anchises. That's how she came to be the mother of Aeneas. She protected this hero during the Trojan War and its aftermath, when Aeneas quested to Italy and became the mythological founder of a line of Roman emperors.
A minor Italic goddess named Venus became identified with Aphrodite, and that's how she got her Roman name. It is as Venus that she appears in the Aeneiad , the poet Virgil's epic of the founding of Rome.
And on still another occasion,
HEPHAESTUS
The love goddess was married to the homely craftsman-god Hephaestus. She was unfaithful to him with Ares, and Homer relates in the Odyssey how Hephaestus had his revenge.
IN ART
Elsewhere in classical art she has no distinctive attributes other than her beauty. Flowers and vegetation motifs suggest her connection to fertility.
Aphrodite was associated with the dove. Another of her sacred birds was the goose, on which she is seen to ride in a vase painting from antiquity.
Hesiod's reference to Aphrodite's having been born from the sea inspired the Renaissance artist Botticelli's famous painting of the goddess on a giant scallop shell. Equally if not better known is the Venus de Milo, a statue which lost its arms in ancient times.
WAR GODDESS?
The ancient travel writer Pausanias describes a number of statues of Aphrodite dressed for battle, many of them in Sparta. Given the manner in which the militaristic Spartans raised their girls, it is not surprising that they conceived of a female goddess in military attire. She also would have donned armaments to defend cities, such as Corinth, who adopted her as their patroness. This is not to say that she was a war goddess, although some have seen her as such and find significance in her pairing with the war god Ares in mythology and worship.
The two most recent editions of "The Oxford Classical Dictionary" are at variance over this aspect of the goddess. The 1970 edition sees her as a goddess of war and traces this to her Oriental roots. It is true that she has resemblances to Astarte, who is a goddess of war as well as fertility.
The 1996 edition of "The Oxford Classical Dictionary", on the other hand, offers several counterarguments. It sees her being paired with Ares, for instance, not because they are similarly warlike but precisely because love and war are opposites.
In any case, Aphrodite's primary function was to preside over reproduction, since this was essential for the survival of the community.
from :http://www.mythweb.com/gods/aphrodite.html
APHRODITE was the great Olympian goddess of beauty, love, pleasure and and procreation. She was depicted as a beautiful woman usually accompanied by the winged godling Eros (Love). Her attributes included a dove, apple, scallop shell and mirror. In classical sculpture and fresco she was often depicted nude.
Some of the more famous myths featuring the goddess include:--
Her birth from the sea foam;
Her adulterous affair with the god Ares;
Her love for Adonis, a handsome Cypriot youth who was tragically killed by a boar;
Her love for Ankhises, a shepherd-prince;
The judgement of Paris in which the goddess was awarded the prize of the golden apple in return for promising Paris Helene in marriage;
The Trojan War in which she supported her favourites Paris and Aeneas and was wounded in the fighting;
The race of Hippomenes for Atalanta, which was won with the help of the goddess and her golden apples;
The death of Hippolytos, who was destroyed by the goddess for scorning her worship;
The statue of Pygmalion which was brought to life by Aphrodite in answer to his prayers;
The persecution of Psykhe, the maiden loved by the goddess' son Eros.
This site contains a total of 18 pages describing the goddess Aphrodite, including general descriptions, mythology, and cult. The content is outlined in the table below. Quotes for these pages are still being compiled (see bottom of this page for the current status of this project).
INDEX APHRODITE PAGES
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
Encyclopedia Entry
Hymns to Aphrodite
Images of Aphrodite
Physical Descriptions
PART 2: GODDESS OF
Love & Procreation
Beauty & Grace
Pleasure, Merriment
Love Poetry
Star of Venus
Identified with
Foreign Goddesses
PART 3: APHRODITE MYTHS 1
Birth of Aphrodite
War of the Giants
Flight from Typhoeus
Creation of Pandora
Feasts of the Gods
Birth of Priapos
Pythian Music Contest
Weaving Contest
PART 3: APHRODITE MYTHS 2
The Trojan War
PART 3: APHRODITE MYTHS 3
Aphrodite & Eros
Loves of the Gods
Loves of Men
Aphrodite in Fable
PART 3: APHRODITE MYTHS 4
Judgment of Paris
Aphrodite & Harmonia
Aphrodite & Beroe
PART 4: APHROD. WRATH 1
Halia, Brothers
Hippolytos
Hippomenes
Kerastai
Kinyras' Daughters
Lemnian Women
Menelaos
Nisos
Pasiphae
Propoitides
Tyndareus
PART 4: APHROD. WRATH 2
Akheilos
Akmon
Anaxarete
Diomedes
Eos
Erymanthos
Glaukos
Helios
Herakles
Kalliope
Kleio
Myrrha Smyrna
Narkissos
Nerites
Orpheus
Pan
Polyphonte
Seirenes
PART 4: APHROD. WRATH 3
Psykhe
PART 5: APHRODITE FAVOUR
Aeneas
Andromakhe
Ariadne & Dionysos
Boutes
Dexikreon
Hektor
Helene
Hermaphroditos
Hippomenes
Ino
Pandareus' Daughters
Paris
Penthesileia
Pygmalion
Rome City
Skylla
PART 6: APHRODITE FAMILY
Genealogy
Divine Offspring
Mortal Offspring
Family by Kingdom
PART 7: APHRODITE LOVES 1
Ares
Dionysos
Hephaistos
Hermes
Nerites
Poseidon
Zeus
PART 7: APHRODITE LOVES 2
Adonis
Ankhises
Boutes
Phaon
Phaethon
PART 8: ESTATE, ATTRIBUTES
Dove Sky Chariot
Sea Chariot
Clothing & Jewellery
Magical Girdle
Palace
Sacred Animals
Sacred Plants Flowers
Sacred Gems
PART 9: ATTENDANTS
PART 10: CULT & STATUES 1
General Cult
Attika, S. Greece
Megaris, S. Greece
Salamis, S. Greece
Aigina, S. Greece
Korinthia, S. Greece
Sikyonia, S. Greece
Argolis, S. Greece
Lakonia, S. Greece
Messenia, S. Greece
PART 10: CULT & STATUES 2
Elis, S. Greece
Akhaia, S. Greece
Arkadia, S. Greece
Boiotia, C. Greece
Phokis, C. Greece
Oz. Lokris, C. Greece
Thessalia, N. Greece
Delos, Gr. Aegean
Kos, Greek Aegean
Illyria, N, of Greece
Thrake, N. of Greece
Kypros, E. Meditt.
Teuthrania, Anatolia
Karia, Anatolia
Lydia, Anatolia
Mysia, Anatolia
Pamphylia, Anatolia
Egypt, North Africa
Libya, North Africa
Sicily, S. Italy
Latium, C. Italy
Gaul, S. France
PART 11: TITLES & EPITHETS
Poetic Titles Epithets
Cult Titles
SUMMARY OF APHRODITE
PARENTS
[1] Born from the castrated genitals of OURANOS in the sea's foam (Hesiod Theogony 188, Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.21, Apuleius 6.6, Nonnus Dionysiaca 1.86, et al)
[2] ZEUS & DIONE (Homer Iliad 5.370; Euripides Helen 1098; Apollodorus 1.13, Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.21, et al)
[3] OURANOS & HEMERA (Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.21)
OFFSPRING
See Family of Aphrodite
ENCYCLOPEDIA
APHRODI′TE (Aphroditê), one of the great Olympian divinities, was, according to the popular and poetical notions of the Greeks, the goddess of love and beauty. Some traditions stated that she had sprung from the foam (aphros) of the sea, which had gathered around the mutilated parts of Uranus, that had been thrown into the sea by Kronos after he had unmanned his father. (Hesiod. Theog. 190; compare Anadyomene.) With the exception of the Homeric hymn on Aphrodite there is no trace of this legend in Homer, and according to him Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. (Il. v. 370, &c., xx. 105.) Later traditions call her a daughter of Kronos and Euonyme, or of Uranus and Hemera. (Cic. De Nat. Deor. iii. 23; Natal. Com. iv. 13.)
According to Hesiod and the Homeric hymn on Aphrodite, the goddess after rising from the foam first approached the island of Cythera, and thence went to Cyprus, and as she was walking on the sea-coast flowers sprang up under her feet, and Eros and Himeros accompanied her to the assembly of the other great gods, all of whom were struck with admiration and love when she appeared, and her surpassing beauty made every one desire to have her for his wife.
According to the cosmogonic views of the nature of Aphrodite, she was the personification of the generative powers of nature, and the mother of all living beings. A trace of this notion seems to be contained in the tradition that in the contest of Typhon with the gods, Aphrodite metamorphosed herself into a fish, which animal was considered to possess the greatest generative powers. (Ov. Met. v. 318, &c.; comp. Hygin. Poet. Astr. 30.) But according to the popular belief of the Greeks and their poetical descriptions, she was the goddess of love, who excited this passion in the hearts of gods and men, and by this power ruled over all the living creation. (Hom. Hymn. in Ven. ; Lucret. 15, &c.)
Ancient mythology furnishes numerous instances in which Aphrodite punished those who neglected her worship or despised her power, as well as others in which she favoured and protected those who did homage to her and recognized her sway. Love and beauty are ideas essentially connected, and Aphrodite was therefore also the goddess of beauty and gracefulness. In these points she surpassed all other goddesses, and she received the prize of beauty from Paris; she had further the power of granting beauty and invincible charms to others. Youth is the herald, and Peitho, the Horae, and Charites, the attendants and companions of Aphrodite. (Pind. New. viii. 1, &c.) Marriages are called by Zeus her work and the things about which she ought to busy herself. (Hom. Il. v. 429; comp. Od. xx. 74; Pind. Pyth. ix. 16, &c.) As she herself had sprung from the sea, she is represented by later writers as having some influence upon the sea (Virg. Aen. viii. 800; Ov. Heroid. xv. 213; comp. Paus. ii. 34. § 11.)
During the Trojan war, Aphrodite, the mother of Aeneas, who had been declared the most beautiful of all the goddesses by a Trojan prince, naturally sided with the Trojans. She saved Paris from his contest with Menelaus (Il. iii. 380), but when she endeavoured to rescue her darling Aeneas from the fight, she was pursued by Diomedes, who wounded her in her hand. In her fright she abandoned her son, and was carried by Iris in the chariot of Ares to Olympus, where she complained of her misfortune to her mother Dione, but was laughed at by Hera and Athena. (Il. v. 311, &c.) She also protected the body of Hector, and anointed it with ambrosia. (Il. xxiii. 185.)
According to the most common accounts of the ancients, Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus (Odyss. viii. 270), who, however, is said in the Iliad (viii. 383) to have married Charis. Her faithlessness to Hephaestus in her amour with Ares, and the manner in which she was caught by the ingenuity of her husband, are beautifully described in the Odyssey. (viii. 266, &c.) By Ares she became the mother of Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia, and, according to later traditions, of Eros and Anteros also. (Hesiod. Theog. 934, &c., Scut. Herc. 195; Hom. Il. xiii. 299, iv. 440; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. iii. 26; Cic. De Nat. Deor. iii. 23.)
But Ares was not the only god whom Aphrodite favoured; Dionysus, Hermes, and Poseidon likewise enjoyed her charms. By the first she was, according to some traditions, the mother of Priapus (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 933) and Bacchus (Hesych. s. v. Bakchou Diônês), by the second of Hermaphroditus (Ov. Met. iv. 289, &c.; Diod. iv. 6; Lucian, Dial. Deor. xv. 2), and by Poseidon she had two children, Rhodos and Herophilus. (Schol. ad Pind. Pyth. viii. 24.)
As Aphrodite so often kindled in the hearts of the gods a love for mortals, Zeus at last resolved to make her pay for her wanton sport by inspiring her too with love for a mortal man. This was accomplished, and Aphrodite conceived an invincible passion for Anchises, by whom she became the mother of Aeneas and Lyrus.
Respecting her connexions with other mortals see Adonis and Butes. The ancient story ran thus : Smyrna had neglected the worship of Aphrodite, and was punished by the goddess with an unnatural love for her father. With the assistance of her nurse she contrived to share her father's bed without being known to him. When he discovered the crime he wished to kill her; but she fled, and on being nearly overtaken, prayed to the gods to make her invisible. They were moved to pity and changed her into a tree called smurna. After the lapse of nine months the tree burst, and Adonis was born. Aphrodite was so much charmed with the beauty of the infant, that she concealed it in a chest which she entrusted to Persephone; but when the latter discovered the treasure she had in her keeping, she refused to give it up. The case was brought before Zeus, who decided the dispute by declaring that during four months of every year Adonis should be left to himself, during four months he should belong to Persephone, and during the remaining four to Aphrodite. Adonis however preferring to live with Aphrodite, also spent with her the four months over which he had controul. Afterwards Adonis died of a wound which he received from a boar during the chase. Thus far the story of Adonis was related by Panyasis.
Later writers furnish various alterations and additions to it. According to Hyginus (Fab. 58, 164, 251, 271), Smyrna was punished with the love for her father, because her mother Cenchreis had provoked the anger of Aphrodite by extolling the beauty of her daughter above that of the goddess. Smyrna after the discovery of her crime fled into a forest, where she was changed into a tree from which Adonis came forth, when her father split it with his sword. The dispute between Aphrodite and Persephone was according to some accounts settled by Calliope, whom Zeus appointed as mediator between them. (Hygin. Poet. Astron. ii. 7.) Ovid (Met x. 300, &c.) adds the following features: Myrrha's love of her father was excited by the furies; Lucina assisted her when she gave birth to Adonis, and the Naiads anointed him with the tears of his mother, i. e. with the fluid which trickled from the tree. Adonis grew up a most beautiful youth, and Venus loved him and shared with him the pleasures of the chase, though she always cautioned him against the wild beasts. At last he wounded a boar which killed him in its fury.
According to some traditions Ares (Mars), or, according to others, Apollo assumed the form of a boar and thus killed Adonis. (Serv. ad Virg. Ecl. x. 18; Ptolem. Hephaest. i. p. 306, ed. Gale.) A third story related that Dionysus carried off Adonis. (Phanocles ap. Plut. Sumpos. iv. 5.) When Aphrodite was informed of her beloved being wounded, she hastened to the spot and sprinkled nectar into his blood, from which immediately flowers sprang up. Various other modifications of the story may be read in Hyginus (Poet. Astron. ii. 7), Theocritus (Idyll. xv.), Bion (Idyll. i.), and in the scholiast on Lycophron. (839, &c.) From the double marriage of Aphrodite with Ares and Adonis sprang
Priapus. (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 9, 32.) Besides him Golgos and Beroe are likewise called children. of Adonis and Aphrodite. (Schol. ad Theocrit. xv. 100; Nonn. Dionys. xli 155.) On his death Adonis was obliged to descend into the lower world, but he was allowed to spend six months out of every year with his beloved Aphrodite in the upper world. (Orph. hymn. 55. 10.)
Aphrodite possessed a magic girdle which had the power of inspiring love and desire for those who wore it; hence it was borrowed by Hera when she wished to stimulate the love of Zeus. (Hom. Il. xiv. 214, &c.) The arrow is also sometimes mentioned as one of her attributes. (Plnd. Pyth. iv. 380; Theocrit. xi. 16.) In the vegetable kingdom the myrtle, rose, apple, poppy, and others, were sacred to her. (Ov. Fast. iv. 15. 143; Bion, Idyll. i. 64; Schol. ad Aristoph. Nub. 993; Paus. ii. 10. § 4; Phornut. 23.)
The animals sacred to her, which are often mentioned as drawing her chariot or serving as her messengers, are the sparrow, the dove, the swan, the swallow, and a bird called iynx. (Sappho, in Ven. 10; Athen. ix. p. 395; Horat. Carm. iv. 1. 10; Aelian, Hist. An. x. 34; Pind. Py/th/. l. c.) As Aphrodite Urania the tortoise, the symbol of domestic modesty and chastity, and as Aphrodite Pandemos the ram was sacred to her. [Urania; Pandemos.] When she was represented as the victorious goddess, she had the attributes of Ares, a helmet, a shield, a sword : or a lance, and an image of Victory in one hand. The planet Venus and the spring-month of April were likewise sacred to her. (Cie. de Nat. Deor. iii. 20; Ov. Fast. iv. 90.)
All the surnames and epithets given to Aphrodite are derived from places of her worship, from events connected with the legends about her, or have reference to her character and her influence upon man, or are descriptive of her extraordinary beauty and charms. All her surnames are explained in separate articles.
The principal places of her worship in Greece were the islands of Cyprus and Cythera. At Cnidus in Caria she had three temples, one of which contained her renowned statue by Praxiteles. Mount Ida in Troas was an ancient place of her worship, and among the other places we may mention particularly the island of Cos, the towns of Abydos, Athens, Thespiae, Megara, Sparta, Sicyon, Corinth, and Eryx in Sicily. The sacrifices offered to her consisted mostly of incense and garlands of flowers (Virg. Aen. i. 416; Tacit. Hist. ii. 3), but in some places animals, such as pigs, goats, young cows, hares, and others, were sacrificed to her. In some places, as at Corinth, great numbers of females belonged to her, who prostituted themselves in her service, and bore the name of hierodouloi. (Dict.of Ant. s. v. Hetairai.) Respecting the festivals of Aphrodite see Dict. of Ant. s.v. Adônia, Anagôgia, Aphrodisia, Katagôgia.
The worship of Aphrodite was undoubtedly of eastern origin, and probably introduced from Syria to the islands of Cyprus, Cythera, and others, from whence it spread all over Greece. It is said to have been brought into Syria from Assyria. (Paus. i. 14. § 6.) Aphrodite appears to have been originally identical with Astarte, called by the Hebrews Ashtoreth, and her connexion with Adonis clearly points to Syria. But with the exception of Corinth, where the worship of Aphrodite had eminently an Asiatic character, the whole worship of this goddess and all the ideas concerning her nature and character are so entirely Greek, that its introduction into Greece must be assigned to the very earliest periods. The elements were derived from the East, but the peculiar development of it belongs to Greece. The Roman goddess Venus was identified with the Greek Aphrodite.
Aphrodite, the ideal of female graec and beauty, frequently engaged the talents and genius of the ancient artists. The most celebrated representations of her were those of Cos and Cnidus. Those which are still extant are divided by archaeologists into several classes, accordingly as the goddess is represented in a standing position and naked, as the Medicean Venus, or bathing, or half naked, or dressed in a tunic, or as the victorious goddess in arms, as she was represented in the temples of Cythera, Sparta, and Corinth. (Paus. iii. 23. § 1, ii. 5. § 1, iii. 15. § 10.)
Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
HYMNS TO APHRODITE
I) THE HOMERIC HYMNS
Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C.) :
"Moisa (Muse), tell me the deeds of golden Aphrodite Kypria (Cyprian), who stirs up sweet passion in the gods and subdues the tribes of mortal men and birds that fly in air and all the many creatures that the dry land rears, and all the sea: all these love the deeds of rich-crowned Kythereia. [The story of the love of Aphrodite and Ankhises follows.] . . .
Hail, goddess, queen of well-builded Kypros (Cyprus)! With you have I begun; now I will turn me to another hymn."
Homeric Hymn 6 to Aphrodite :
"I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and beautiful, whose dominion is the walled cities of all sea-set Kypros (Cyprus). There the moist breath of Zephyros the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, ad there the gold-filleted Horai (Seasons) welcomed her joyously. [The story of the birth of Aphrodite follows.] . . .
Hail, sweetly-winning, coy-eyed goddess! Grant that I may gain the victory in this contest, and order you my song. And now I will remember you and another song also."
Homeric Hymn 10 to Aphrodite :
"Of Kythereia [Aphrodite], born in Kypros (Cyprus), I will sing. She gives kindly gifts to men: smiles are ever on her lovely face, and lovely is the brightness that plays over it. Hail, goddess, queen of well-built Salamis and sea-girt Kypros; grant me a cheerful song. And now I will remember you and another song also."
II) THE ORPHIC HYMNS
Orphic Hymn 55 to Aphrodite (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"To Aphrodite. Ourania (Heavenly), illustrious, laughter-loving (philommeideia) queen, sea-born (pontogenes), night-loving (philopannyx), of awful mien; crafty, from whom Ananke (Necessity) first came, producing, nightly, all-connecting dame. 'Tis thine the world with harmony to join, for all things spring from thee, O power divine. The triple Moirai (Fates) are ruled by thy decree, and all productions yield alike to thee: whatever the heavens, encircling all, contain, earth fruit-producing, and the stormy main, thy sway confesses, and obeys thy nod, awful attendant of Bakkhos [Dionysos] God. Goddess of marriage, charming to the sight, mother of the Erotes (Loves), whom banquetings delight; source of Peitho (Persuasion), secret, favouring queen, illustrious born, apparent and unseen; spousal Lukaina, and to men inclined, prolific, most-desired, life-giving, kind. Great sceptre-bearer of the Gods, 'tis thine mortals in necessary bands to join; and every tribe of savage monsters dire in magic chains to bind through mad desire. Come, Kyprogenes (Cyprus-Born), and to my prayer incline, whether exalted in the heavens you shine, or pleased in odorous Syria to preside, or over the Aigyptian (Egyptian) plains they care to guide, fashioned of gold; and near its sacred flood, fertile and famed, to fix they blest abode; or if rejoicing in the azure shores, near where the sea with foaming billows roars, the circling choirs of mortals thy delight, or beauteous Nymphai (Nymphs) with eyes cerulean bright, pleased by the sandy banks renowned of old, to drive thy rapid two-yoked car of gold; or if in Kypros (Cyprus) thy famed mother fair, where Nymphai unmarried praise thee every year, the loveliest Nymphai, who in the chorus join, Adonis pure to sing, and thee divine. Come, all-attractive, to my prayer inclined, for thee I call, with holy, reverent mind."
K10.2 BIRTH OF
APHRODITE
K10.3 APHRODITE
RIDING GOOSE
K10.16 APHRODITE
WITH MIRROR
K10.6 APHRODITE,
ADONIS
K9.3 ARES,
APHRODITE
K9.1 APHRODITE,
ARES, EROS
K10.5 APHRODITE
WITH DOVE
K10.12 APHRODITE
STANDING
K4.6 JUDGEMENT
OF PARIS
K31.3 JUDGEMENT
OF PARIS
K4.5 JUDGEMENT
OF PARIS
K10.7 APHRODITE,
AENEAS, PARIS
K10.8 APHRODITE,
HELENE
K10.9 APHRODITE,
PARIS, MENELAOS
T22.2 APHRODITE,
PANDORA, ARES
K4.11 APHRODITE,
HERA, HERAKLES
K10.4 APHRODITE,
HERMES, EROS
K10.1 APHRODITE,
ZEUS, EROS
K32.6 APHRODITE,
EROS, LOVERS
O6.3 APHRODITE,
PEITHO, DIOSKOUROI
K12.13B APHRODITE,
BIRTH DIONYSOS
K10.14 APHRODITE,
PEITHO
K31.7 APHRODITE,
EROSTASIA
K31.4 APHRODITE,
EROSTASIA
K10.11 APHRODITE
RIDING SWAN
K31.6 APHRODITE,
EROTES CHARIOT
K31.5 APHRODITE,
EROTES CHARIOT
K10.10 APHRODITE,
ADONIS, EROS
K10.18 APHRODITE,
AENEAS, DIOMEDES
K10.13 APHRODITE,
GIGANTE MIMOS
K31.2 APHRODITE,
EROTES
F10.1 BIRTH OF
APHRODITE
F10.2 APHRODITE,
ARES, EROTES
F9.1 APHRODITE,
ARES, EROS
F10.4 APHRODITE,
EROS
F10.5 APHRODITE,
EROS, EROTES
F10.3 APHRODITE,
AENEAS
Z10.3 APHRODITE,
EROTES
Z21.2 APHRODITE,
ADONIS, KHARITES
Z10.1 APHRODITE
BIRTH
Z10.2 APHRODITE
BIRTH
Z10.5 APHRODITE
BIRTH
K10.7 APHRODITE
BIRTH
Z10.4 APHRODITE,
ARES, EROTES
Z10.8 ADONIS,
ARES AS BOAR
Z10.6 APHRODITE
BIRTH
Z50.1F APHRODITE
AS FRIDAY
Z10.9 APHRODITE,
EROTES CHARIOT
Z4.1 APHRODITE,
HERA, ATHENE
Z4.1B APHRODITE,
JUDGMENT PARIS
For SCUPTURES see Aphrodite Cult 1 and Aphrodite Cult 2
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF APHRODITE
Classical literature offers only a few, brief descriptions of the physical characteristics of the gods.
Homer, Iliad 3. 396 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"She [Helene of Troy] recognized the round, sweet throat of the goddess [Aphrodite] and her desirable breasts and her eyes that were full of shining."
Stasinus of Cyprus or Hegesias of Aegina, Cypria Fragment 6 (from Athenaeus 15. 682) (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th or 6th B.C.) :
"She [Aphrodite] clothed herself with garments which the Kharites (Charites, Graces) and Horai (Hours) had made for her and dyed in flowers of spring--such flowers as the Horai wear--in crocus and hyacinth and flourishing violet and the rose's lovely bloom, so sweet and delicious, and heavenly buds, the flowers of the narcissus and lily. In such perfumed garments is Aphrodite clothed at all seasons."
Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite 78 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C.) :
"Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus stood before him [Ankhises], being like a pure maiden in height and mien, that he should not be frightened when he took heed of her with his eyes. Now when Ankhises saw her, he marked her well and wondered at her mien and height and shining garments. For she was clad in a robe out-shining the brightness of fire, a splendid robe of gold, enriched with all manner of needlework, which shimmered like the moon over her tender breasts, a marvel to see. Also she wore twisted brooches and shining earrings in the form of flowers; and round her soft throat were lovely necklaces . . .
[later she revealed her true divine height and mien] and her head reached to the well-hewn roof-tree; from her cheeks shone unearthly beauty such as belongs to rich-crowned Kythereia . . . [and] when he [Ankhises] saw the neck and lovely eyes of Aphrodite, he was afraid and turned his eyes aside another way, hiding his comely face with his cloak."
Homeric Hymn 6 to Aphrodite 6 ff :
"The Horai (Seasons) clothed her [Aphrodite] with heavenly garments: on her head they put a fine, well-wrought crown of gold, and in her pierced ears they hung ornaments of orichalc and precious gold, and adorned her with golden necklaces over her soft neck and snow-white breasts, jewels which the gold-filleted Horai wear themselves."
Philostratus the Younger, Imagines 8 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) :
"[From a description of a Greek painting:] Three goddesses standing near them--they need no interpreter to tell who they are . . . the second one [Aphrodite] even in the painting shows the 'laughter-loving' (philomeides) disposition caused by the magic of her girdle."
Orphic Hymn 57 to Chthonian Hermes (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"Celestial Aphrodite, Paphian queen, dark-eyelashed Goddess, of a lovely mien."
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 10. 30 ff (trans. Walsh) (Roman novel C2nd A.D.) :
"[From a description of an ancient Greek play portraying the Judgement of Paris:] After them a third girl entered, her beauty visibly unsurpassed. Her charming, ambrosia-like complexion intimated that she represented the earlier Venus [Aphrodite] when that goddess was still a maiden. She vaunted her unblemished beauty by appearing naked and unclothed except for a thin silken garment veiling her entrancing lower parts. An inquisitive gust of air would at one moment with quite lubricous affection blow this garment aside, so that when wafted away it revealed her virgin bloom; at another moment it would wantonly breathe directly upon it, clinging tightly and vividly outlining the pleasurable prospect of her lower limbs. The goddess's appearance offered contrasting colours to the eye, for her body was dazzling white, intimating her descent from heaven and her robe was dark blue, denoting her emergence from the sea . . .
Each maiden representing a goddess was accompanied by her own escort . . . Venus [Aphrodite] was surrounded by a throng of the happiest children; you would have sworn that those little boys whose skins were smooth and milk-white were genuine Cupides [Erotes] who had just flown in from sky or sea. They looked just he part with their tiny wings, miniature arrows, and the rest of their get-up, as with gleaming torches they lit the way for their mistress as though she were en route to a wedding-banquet. Next floated in charming children, unmarried girls, representing on one side the Gratiae [Charites, Graces] at their most graceful, and on the other the Horae [Horai] in all their beauty. They were appeasing the goddess by strewing wreaths and single blossoms before her, and they formed a most elegant chorus-line as they sought to please the Mistress of pleasures with the foliage of spring. The flutes with their many stops were now rendering in sweet harmony melodies in the Lydian mode. As they affectingly softened the hearts of onlookers, Venus [Aphrodite] still more affectingly began to gently stir herself; with gradual, lingering steps, restrained swaying of the hips, and slow inclination of the head she began to advance, her refined movements matching the soft wounds of the flutes. Occasionally her eyes alone would dance, as at one moment she gently lowered her lids, and at another imperiously signalled with threatening glances."
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 2. 8 ff :
"Venus [Aphrodite] . . . wearing that belt of hers around her waist, diffusing the scent of cinnamon and bedewing the air with balsam."
Colluthus, Rape of Helen 82 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poetry C5th to 6th A.D.) :
"Kypris [Aphrodite] of crafty counsels unfolded her snood and undid the fragrant clasp of her hair and wreathed with gold her locks, with gold her flowing tresses."
Sources:
Homer, The Iliad - Greek Epic C8th B.C.
Stasinsus or Hegesias , Cypria Fragments - Greek Epic C7th-6th B.C.
The Homeric Hymns - Greek Epic C8th-4th B.C.
The Orphic Hymns - Greek Hymns C3rd B.C. - C2nd A.D.
Philostratus the Younger, Imagines - Greek Rhetoric C3rd A.D.
Apuleius, The Golden Ass - Latin Novel C2nd A.D.
Colluthus, The Rape of Helen - Greek Epic C5th-6th A.D.
SOURCE STATUS (of Aphrodite pages)
FULLY QUOTED: Homer (Iliad & Odyssey); Hesiod; Hesiod; Homeric Hymns; Homerica; Apollodorus; Pausanias; Herodotus; Strabo; Orphic Hymns, Quintus Smyrnaeus; Callimachus; Aesop; Aelian; Ovid (Metamorphoses); Hyginus (Fabulae & Astronomica)); Apuleius
PARTIALLY OR NOT QUOTED (GREEK): Pindar; Greek Lyric (Fragments); Greek Elegaic (Fragments); Apollonius Rhodius; Diodorus Siculus; Antoninus Liberalis; Euripides; Aeschylus; Sophocles; Aristophanes; Plato; Theocritus; Lycophron; Plutarch; Philostratus & Callistratus; Oppian; Colluthus; Tryphiodorus; et. al.
PARTIALLY OR NOT QUOTED (LATIN): Ovid (Fasti); Cicero; Statius; Propertius; Valerius Flaccus; et. al.
from http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Aphrodite.html
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Feeling amazuing
Next week I will tackel the next great grethetic myth.
I am not certain which one but I will pick one by then.
Hope everyone evjoys the world and teh new year as it truly is that powerful amd amazing
its clean
enjoy teh skoli
most peopel from our time esp after 180's servived, most people last century servived.
but people giot primitive as time went back.
we did amazing
many servived from teh past too,
most secind incarnation jad learnt their lesson
tehre were as we always knew fewer people in teh past
modern medicine and knoqwldeg has prolonged life and increreased consciouness.
thanks media and modernity its in contemporary teck and moral common sense.
wew win
peace and enjoy teh year it will be a good one
everyone is feeling much better than ever before
well minus afew last threads
ya I feel great
full of energy and I have beeen doucle xed so I still look as hot as before but 18 forever baby.
I am not certain which one but I will pick one by then.
Hope everyone evjoys the world and teh new year as it truly is that powerful amd amazing
its clean
enjoy teh skoli
most peopel from our time esp after 180's servived, most people last century servived.
but people giot primitive as time went back.
we did amazing
many servived from teh past too,
most secind incarnation jad learnt their lesson
tehre were as we always knew fewer people in teh past
modern medicine and knoqwldeg has prolonged life and increreased consciouness.
thanks media and modernity its in contemporary teck and moral common sense.
wew win
peace and enjoy teh year it will be a good one
everyone is feeling much better than ever before
well minus afew last threads
ya I feel great
full of energy and I have beeen doucle xed so I still look as hot as before but 18 forever baby.
war progranm update
the war time program, that organises how war comes, works this way in thie function, day one and two it kills off all those in process of attack, day three it sees waht idiocy one might think possible that might kill themselves, anmd on day four it gives them the idia that power exists and sees what otehr idiocypeople will kill them,selves over.
it reset itself, turned off and rebootedthe final days are now considered only two days by it so no new fake powers to etst people is appearing though sections of reality are being cleared based on idiocies like curising or praying that people who did you no direct harm fail.
the same stuff normals would have thought
for us it will take as long as it take to complete
no more gases remain to be checked going through teh last of teh mood or feeling altering stones that re bio freindly, though some have less desired feelings.
like a bread stone that make sits taste good.
much of this is being added to teh niormal state of being though some are being kept for godthetioc and gov reasons.
all non desired opnes crumble and evolve to benign.
when the system suts it shuts.
meaning last details are inn rpocess and the system is now checking teh smallest details like those who prayed and cursed everything we did, they are being thrown to teh sire which is liquid all pains as one, you remain immobile tehre and hurt.
up to your neck.
these peopel lived but are now eternally damed.
teh devil and godthit rule tehre and will elave though the damnation is eternal and infinite, imagine its perpedicular abnd teh devila nd godthit is traveling horizontal so teh perminate death and those suffering are elft behind and no long part of extsance, though they exuist eternally suffering no , sollis, its a timeless being thing.
no reprieve.
love you
be good peace.
it reset itself, turned off and rebootedthe final days are now considered only two days by it so no new fake powers to etst people is appearing though sections of reality are being cleared based on idiocies like curising or praying that people who did you no direct harm fail.
the same stuff normals would have thought
for us it will take as long as it take to complete
no more gases remain to be checked going through teh last of teh mood or feeling altering stones that re bio freindly, though some have less desired feelings.
like a bread stone that make sits taste good.
much of this is being added to teh niormal state of being though some are being kept for godthetioc and gov reasons.
all non desired opnes crumble and evolve to benign.
when the system suts it shuts.
meaning last details are inn rpocess and the system is now checking teh smallest details like those who prayed and cursed everything we did, they are being thrown to teh sire which is liquid all pains as one, you remain immobile tehre and hurt.
up to your neck.
these peopel lived but are now eternally damed.
teh devil and godthit rule tehre and will elave though the damnation is eternal and infinite, imagine its perpedicular abnd teh devila nd godthit is traveling horizontal so teh perminate death and those suffering are elft behind and no long part of extsance, though they exuist eternally suffering no , sollis, its a timeless being thing.
no reprieve.
love you
be good peace.
scholi begings
Sholi has begun again and everyone is excited, the largest lump of people starting was last year, this year is teh second and last large group of people starting the new eductaionary system in unidiversity or coyet, the multidivergance
have fun program is maintaining itself and everyone is feeling smarter.
enjoy teh year and congrates, the system is saying 100% compliance is here and in 2 to three years most people will be at minimum equal, 12 years for everone, but some had alot to learn and become wise doing so.
peace.
have fun program is maintaining itself and everyone is feeling smarter.
enjoy teh year and congrates, the system is saying 100% compliance is here and in 2 to three years most people will be at minimum equal, 12 years for everone, but some had alot to learn and become wise doing so.
peace.
postdendem to rituals
teh system has upgraded and recoded teh old files as the new system operator came on line, even with teh system based organetic system .
\each participant now has 10 names and realms of difiecation. their retrapar is great.
thus our system governs us now, teh dionic and the theotheinuc uis teh organithic system in play, same rules as befoere, it functions through teh panpantheon system.
\its a parallele series authority transect through system.
we suscceeded and the powers are clean through all teh systems and the system have been dropping people from the overall sttructure through out time based on them failing to exceed to teh highest levels of function, which ofr us in our time is teh standard expect for appropriate behaviour.
its easy to succeed if you stop and think about it, even newly evolvuled beings know the difference betqween good and evil and attacked knwoing the consequeces.
all good final jusdgement is final.
\each participant now has 10 names and realms of difiecation. their retrapar is great.
thus our system governs us now, teh dionic and the theotheinuc uis teh organithic system in play, same rules as befoere, it functions through teh panpantheon system.
\its a parallele series authority transect through system.
we suscceeded and the powers are clean through all teh systems and the system have been dropping people from the overall sttructure through out time based on them failing to exceed to teh highest levels of function, which ofr us in our time is teh standard expect for appropriate behaviour.
its easy to succeed if you stop and think about it, even newly evolvuled beings know the difference betqween good and evil and attacked knwoing the consequeces.
all good final jusdgement is final.
system rweach and parameters
each system of pantheon ran in its time, teh system next for each epos saved only the good stuff based on gotdthetic perameters to teh next one, teh systems back then do not effect anyone but their present.
teh organothetic program is from the present to all teh past, it functions through teh organothetic of its time, with over arching effect based on teh rpimacy of teh system created even bu those who lived that past.
its function can not be efdfected from teh past as it functions through teh time dated program of its time.
its like collectives its down to each with each unable to effect teh collective.
teh system of teh collective which is godthetic effects itself
no one effects it
the organothetic system was meant to make sure teh apst is organised as if it were at the cutting edge of this epos that contains teh code for upgrading the system duivinically
thus teh system is busted high up.
even the panpathein for our epos that only just began.
peace
ps all groups and sources of power recoded temselves each epos, we went through everyone, but their powers only function through the present system functioning.
so preseths recoded themselves in the newest panpatheion and are functioning through it , though teh ordanaces and symbatic laws , godthit ultamately is the highest governance and system requisite for intercesised function, there is no other.
hence powers do not work as they did, and teh system is clean, meaning only teh saved approved godthetic system that were saved forward exists, abnd each new system was codeing the group parameters for its presenct.
teh organothetic program is from the present to all teh past, it functions through teh organothetic of its time, with over arching effect based on teh rpimacy of teh system created even bu those who lived that past.
its function can not be efdfected from teh past as it functions through teh time dated program of its time.
its like collectives its down to each with each unable to effect teh collective.
teh system of teh collective which is godthetic effects itself
no one effects it
the organothetic system was meant to make sure teh apst is organised as if it were at the cutting edge of this epos that contains teh code for upgrading the system duivinically
thus teh system is busted high up.
even the panpathein for our epos that only just began.
peace
ps all groups and sources of power recoded temselves each epos, we went through everyone, but their powers only function through the present system functioning.
so preseths recoded themselves in the newest panpatheion and are functioning through it , though teh ordanaces and symbatic laws , godthit ultamately is the highest governance and system requisite for intercesised function, there is no other.
hence powers do not work as they did, and teh system is clean, meaning only teh saved approved godthetic system that were saved forward exists, abnd each new system was codeing the group parameters for its presenct.
rituals are done
All the panpantheon rituals are over as of the week prior to the the opening of skoli
the organithetic system is complete and ended that week, it was 13 days, it was called as you know the theotheonic.
for those who took part we reminesecnced about the order of teh panpatheons and ran them day for day in teh histolechronological order they appeared at and were inserted at from teh begining.
it wass two yars of pleasure, each annum was quite elative.
thanks everyone for participating
over thirty billions took part just on terran.
every place face and space wass invovled.
it was oliklerethic and encompassed everyone.
system functioning
onwards
the organithetic system is complete and ended that week, it was 13 days, it was called as you know the theotheonic.
for those who took part we reminesecnced about the order of teh panpatheons and ran them day for day in teh histolechronological order they appeared at and were inserted at from teh begining.
it wass two yars of pleasure, each annum was quite elative.
thanks everyone for participating
over thirty billions took part just on terran.
every place face and space wass invovled.
it was oliklerethic and encompassed everyone.
system functioning
onwards
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)