Aphrodite

Origin

The iconographic origin is the influence of the eastern Syrian Astarte (Astarte) and Mesopotamian Ishtar (Ishtar) of the Bronze Age Mycenaean civilisation (c. 1600-1100 BCE), and the decisive textual canon is the Theogony (Theogony) lines 188-206 of Hesiod (Hesiod) of c. 8th-7th century BCE — the decisive canon in which Kronos (Kronos), with an adamant sickle, castrated his father Ouranos (Ouranos), and the thrown genitals fell into the sea, white foam (aphros) formed, and Aphrodite was born and landed on the shores of Paphos (Paphos) in Kypros (Kypros) or Kythera (Kythera). The decisive canon in which in Homer's genealogy she is the daughter of Zeus (Zeus) and Dione (Dione), and the two genealogies coexist, and the Iliad Book 5 lines 311-430 of Homer of c. 8th century BCE — the decisive canon in which Diomedes wounded Aphrodite's wrist with a spear in the Trojan War as she tried to protect her son Aineias — and Book 14 lines 214-221 — the decisive canon in which Hera borrowed Aphrodite's 'kestos himas (kestos himas, girdle of love)' to seduce Zeus. The Odyssey Book 8 lines 266-366 — the decisive canon in which through the song of Demodokos (Demodokos), the affair of Aphrodite and Ares (Ares) was caught in the invisible bronze net of Hephaistos (Hephaistos) and laughed at by the gods, and the fragment 1 Hymn to Aphrodite (Hymn to Aphrodite) of the c. 7th century BCE Greek Lesbos poet Sappho (Sappho, c. 630-570 BCE) is the decisive lyric canon.

Features

• Young goddess of unparalleled beauty
• Accompanied by doves, sparrows, swans, and dolphins
• Roses, myrtle (myrtle), and apples as symbols
• Magical girdle kestos himas (kestos himas) that enchants anyone
• Paphos in Kypros and Kythera as main worship centres
• Forced marriage with husband Hephaistos, affair with Ares

Stories

The eastern Astarte (Astarte) and Ishtar (Ishtar) influence of the Bronze Age Mycenaean civilisation is the decisive origin, and the decisive textual canon is the Hesiod Theogony lines 188-206 of c. 8th-7th century BCE, the Homer Iliad Book 5 lines 311-430 and Book 14 lines 214-221, the Odyssey Book 8 lines 266-366 of c. 8th century BCE, and the Homeric Hymns No. 5 Hymn to Aphrodite of c. 7th-6th century BCE — the decisive canon of Anchises and Aineias. The fragment 1 Hymn to Aphrodite of Sappho (Sappho) of c. 7th century BCE and the Aphrodite of Knidos (Aphrodite of Knidos) of Praxiteles (Praxiteles) of c. 360 BCE — about 2 m — the first female nude sculpture of Greece — is the decisive art canon, and the Venus de Milo (Venus de Milo) of c. 130-100 BCE Hellenistic period — about 203 cm — Louvre — is the decisive art canon. The Cupid and Psyche (Cupid and Psyche) in Metamorphoses (Metamorphoses) Books 4-6 of Apuleius (Apuleius) of c. 170 CE — the decisive canon in which Aphrodite cruelly tested Psyche (Psyche) for the rumour that her beauty surpassed her own, and the Birth of Venus (La Nascita di Venere) of 1485 by Sandro Botticelli (Sandro Botticelli, 1445-1510) — about 172.5x278.5 cm — Uffizi Gallery — is the decisive Renaissance art canon. The Venus of Urbino (Venus of Urbino) of 1538 by Titian (Tiziano, 1488-1576) — Uffizi Gallery — is the decisive art canon, and the Aphrodite of the 1980 D&D Deities & Demigods (Deities & Demigods) by TSR in the USA is the decisive fantasy RPG canon. The decisive 21st-century canon is the Aphrodite of the Disney film Hercules (Hercules) released in the USA on 27 June 1997, and the Aphrodite of Rick Riordan Percy Jackson & the Olympians published in the USA on 1 February 2010 is the 21st-century decisive young-adult novel-and-film canon.

Weakness

Aphrodite's weaknesses are: (1) pride in her beauty — the decisive canonical weakness — the decisive canon of the c. 170 CE Apuleius Metamorphoses Books 4-6 in which she was angered by the rumour that Psyche (Psyche) surpassed her own beauty and cruelly tested her; (2) Diomedes's spear — the decisive canon of the c. 8th century BCE Homer Iliad Book 5 lines 311-430 in which Diomedes wounded Aphrodite's wrist with a spear in the Trojan War as she tried to protect her son Aineias, and she fled; (3) affair with Ares — the decisive canon of the c. 8th century BCE Homer Odyssey Book 8 lines 266-366 in which she was caught in Hephaistos's bronze net; (4) forced marriage — the decisive canon of forced marriage with the lame Hephaistos; (5) Judgement of Paris — the decisive canon of the c. 7th century BCE Cypria (Cypria) in which over the golden apple 'to the most beautiful', she competed with Hera and Athena, and Paris chose Aphrodite, which became the cause of the Trojan War; (6) weight of the promise — the decisive canon of promising Helen (Helen) to Paris; (7) binding of the sacred domain — the decisive canon; (8) binding of Anchises — the decisive canon of the love affair with the mortal Anchises. The decisive canonical finale is the decisive mythological canon of the marriage of Cupid (Cupid) and Psyche (Psyche) in Book 6 of the c. 170 CE Apuleius Metamorphoses.

Cultural Significance

Aphrodite is not merely a love-goddess icon but the canonical iconographic figure of the decisive Greek canon, traversing the c. 8th-7th century BCE Hesiod Theogony lines 188-206, the c. 8th century BCE Homer Iliad Books 5 and 14, Odyssey Book 8, the c. 7th century BCE Sappho Hymn to Aphrodite, the c. 7th-6th century BCE Homeric Hymns No. 5, the c. 360 BCE Praxiteles Aphrodite of Knidos, the c. 130-100 BCE Venus de Milo, the c. 170 CE Apuleius Cupid and Psyche, the 1485 Botticelli Birth of Venus, the 1538 Titian Venus of Urbino, and the 1980 D&D Deities & Demigods. The influence of the eastern Syrian Astarte (Astarte) and Mesopotamian Ishtar (Ishtar) of the Bronze Age Mycenaean civilisation (c. 1600-1100 BCE) settled as the decisive canon in lines 188-206 of the c. 8th-7th century BCE Hesiod Theogony — the decisive canon in which Kronos castrated Ouranos, and the thrown genitals fell into the sea, white foam (aphros) formed, and Aphrodite was born and landed on the shores of Paphos in Kypros or Kythera. The decisive art canon is the Aphrodite of Knidos (Aphrodite of Knidos) of c. 360 BCE Greek Praxiteles (Praxiteles) — about 2 m — the first female nude sculpture of Greece — and the Venus de Milo (Venus de Milo) of c. 130-100 BCE Hellenistic period — about 203 cm — found on the Melos (Milos) island of Greece in 1820 — Louvre — and the Birth of Venus (La Nascita di Venere) of 1485 by Sandro Botticelli (Sandro Botticelli) — about 172.5x278.5 cm — Florence Uffizi Gallery — and the Venus of Urbino (Venus of Urbino) of 1538 by Titian (Tiziano) — about 119x165 cm — Uffizi Gallery — are the decisive art canon. The decisive 21st-century canon is the Aphrodite of the Disney film Hercules (Hercules) released in the USA on 27 June 1997, and the Rick Riordan Percy Jackson & the Olympians series published in the USA on 1 February 2010, and the Aphrodite of the 2018 Netflix documentary Roman Empire are the 21st-century decisive video canon.

In Popular Culture

Hesiod Theogony lines 188-206 birth from foam (c. 8th-7th century BCE) — decisive origin canonHomer Iliad Book 5 lines 311-430 Diomedes's spear (c. 8th century BCE) — decisive heroic-epic canonHomer Iliad Book 14 lines 214-221 kestos himas (c. 8th century BCE) — decisive epic canonHomer Odyssey Book 8 lines 266-366 affair with Ares (c. 8th century BCE) — decisive epic canonSappho fragment 1 Hymn to Aphrodite (c. 7th century BCE) — decisive lyric canonHomeric Hymns No. 5 Hymn to Aphrodite Anchises (c. 7th-6th century BCE) — decisive poetic canonPraxiteles Aphrodite of Knidos (c. 360 BCE) — decisive art canonVenus de Milo (c. 130-100 BCE) — decisive Hellenistic art canonApuleius Cupid and Psyche (c. 170 CE) — decisive Latin canonBotticelli Birth of Venus (1485) — decisive Renaissance art canonTitian Venus of Urbino (1538) decisive art canon