A Deity of Opposites

Cyrino introduces the reader to the idea of  Aphrodite embodying the concept of Mixis.  She claims that Aphrodite represents the “blending of bodies in intimate physical contact, both sexual and martial”.[i] Mawr states that in Cyrino overuses of the word mixis and “weakens its effective usefulness as an interpretive tool.[ii]  But I believe that mixis is the starting point to view Aphrodite as a binary goddess linked to many opposites; sea and sky and love and war are the most obvious.

Not only is she a goddess of female sexuality but in uniting male and female individuals she encompasses both their sexual ideals. The individuals that she unites were of course not just mortals, any combination of god, titan, nymph or mortal could be united under Aphrodite’s power, either in sex or combat. She was a wife and an adulteress. She has a dual parenthood, in one account she is the offspring of Ouranos alone[iii] in the other she has two parents, Zeus and Dione.[iv] Aphrodite also represented the struggle between the desires of the mind and the groin in her competition for superiority over Athena and to a large extent Zeus. In this competition she also represents the clash between what was expected of a male and female deity.

I interpret Aphrodite’s capacity to represent so many opposites as one of her greatest strengths. Mawr might disagree with Cyrino and say that Aphrodite was not one of the most widely worshiped deities in Ancient Greece[v] but I agree with Cyrino. I believe that in some places she received the epithet Pandēmos meaning “she who belongs to all the people”[vi] because with the multitude of different notions that she embodied or were related to her how could she be anything but belonging to all the people?

The Birth of Venus by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, c. 1879.
I have chosen this painting because to me it represents Aphrodite's opposites; there are mortals and deities, men and women,  children and adults and sea and sky combined around Aphrodite in the centre.

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[i] Cyrino, Monica S. Aphrodite. London: Routledge (2010) pp. 5

[ii] Mawr, Bryn, Classical Review 2011.01.14 of Aphrodite by Monica S. Cyrino (accessed 01/12/2011) http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2011/2011-01-14.html

[iii] Hesiod, Theogany. lines 188-206 trans M.L. West, Oxford: OUP (1999)

[iv] Homer. There are multiple references to Aphrodite being called “Dios thugatēr”  in both the Iliad and the Odyssey. Trans Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hacket (1997)

[v] Mawr, Bryn Classical Review 2011.01.14 of Aphrodite by Monica S. Cyrino

[vi] Cyrino, Aphrodite. pp 3


Bibliography


Cyrino, Monica S. Aphrodite. London: Routledge (2010)
Hesiod, Theogany. trans M.L. West, Oxford: OUP (1999)
Homer, Iliad,  trans Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hacket (1997)
Homer, The Odyssey. trans Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hacket (1997)
Mawr, Bryn, Classical Review 2011.01.14 of Aphrodite by Monica S. Cyrino (accessed 01/12/2011) http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2011/2011-01-14.html

Jackson’s Deception of Zeus or Cyrino’s Inferiority of Hera?

While researching for my other blog entries about the relations between Aphrodite and Zeus I read Cyrino’s Aphrodite[i] and Jackson’s Father-Daughter Dynamics in the Iliad: the Role of Aphrodite in Defining Zeus’ Regime[ii]. Both works have an account of the Dios Apate episode in Book 14 of the Iliad but the two interpretations are polar opposites. But in this entry I want to voice a third option.

 Hera Campana. Marble, Roman copy of an hellenistic original, 2nd century AD. Louvre Museum, Paris

Jackson believes that Hera is using Aphrodite’s seductive power to subdue Zeus in order that the other gods could fight unhindered and give advantage to the Greeks in battle. Hera asks Aphrodite if she can borrow the “ornate sash” which contains Aphrodite’s powers of desire and seduction because she wants to unite the quarrelling Tethys and Okeanos. But Hera had “every intention to deceive”[iii]; she used Aphrodite’s power on Zeus giving Poseidon the chance to assist the Argives in bettering the Trojans. Jackson states that whilst this scene recognises Aphrodite’s “awesome power”[iv] it also removes Aphrodite’s power from her control then turns it against Aphrodite and her beloved Trojans. Jackson’s Aphrodite is naive and is easily depowered by Hera.

Jackson's article is printed in this book published by Brill

However, Cyrino believes that Aphrodite recognised that Hera was lying, and knew that Hera would use the charm on Zeus. Hence why she answered Hera’s request by saying “How could I ... refuse someone Who sleeps in the arms of almighty Zeus?”[v] Cyrino views it that Aphrodite has gained the upper hand because Hera has had to come to her effectively to ask for help in her marriage to Zeus; as without Aphrodite’s powers she could not guarantee seducing Zeus and distracting him.[vi]

The cover of Cyrino's book published by Routledge

I however believe that Aphrodite knew exactly what she was doing and allowed Hera to use her power to seduce Zeus so that she could gain the upper hand over both of them. Zeus had forbidden the gods to intervene in the Trojan War and it was a strain for the gods to obey. By helping Hera distract Zeus it left the gods open to completely rebel against his rule.

Jupiter and Juno on Mount Ida by James Barry, 1773 (City Art Galleries, Sheffield.)

But Aphrodite would have also liked getting one over Hera. Relations between them were often hostile for example Hera (with Athena) mocked Aphrodite’s efforts in battle[vii] After Aphrodite fell pregnant by Zeus Hera cursed the unborn Priapus resulting in him being born with unnaturally large genitals leaving him exiled from Olympus. Whilst Aphrodite favoured the Trojans and would do almost anything for them, her pride was more important. Hera had been antagonistic so Aphrodite would have relished the chance to be superior. Aphrodite was a powerful goddess and would have liked that both she and Hera would have known Hera was subordinate to Aphrodite on this occasion.

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[i] Cyrino, Monica S. Aphrodite. London: Routledge (2010)

[ii] Jackson, Kassandra. Father-Daughter Dynamics in the Iliad: the Role of Aphrodite in Defining Zeus’ Regime. Brill’s Companion to Aphrodite. Eds. Smith, Amy C. and Pickup, Sadie. Brill (2010)

[iii] Homer, Iliad, Book 14, lines 197-207 trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett (1997) pp. 271

[iv] Jackoson, Father-Daughter Dynamics, pp. 157

[v] Homer, Book 14, lines 212-14 pp. 271

[vi] Cyrino, Aphrodite, pp. 36-7

[vii] Homer, Iliad, Book 5 lines 419-426


Bibliography


Cyrino, Monica S. Aphrodite. London: Routledge (2010)
Homer, Iliad, Book 14, lines 197-207 trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett (1997)
Jackson, Kassandra. Father-Daughter Dynamics in the Iliad: the Role of Aphrodite in Defining Zeus’ Regime. Brill’s Companion to Aphrodite. Eds. Smith, Amy C. and Pickup, Sadie. Brill 

Aphrodite Hoplismene

Aphrodite is predominantly a goddess of love but despite the best efforts of Zeus to keep her away from influencing warfare there are many strong links between the spheres of love and war under Aphrodite. She might not have been as war hungry as Ares but there is evidence to suggest she did not do as Zeus told her and just “take care of the pleasures of love and leave the fighting to Ares and Athena”.[i]

Ares, Athenian black-figure amphora C6th B.C., Worcester Art Museum

Aphrodite is the goddess of mixis. Cyrino defines this as “the blending of bodies in intimate physical contact, both sexual and martial.[ii] Her birth shows the martial future she had”. The remarkable act of violence which created her[iii] embodies the violence and antagonism which the ancient Greek poets linked with the intensity of human sexuality.[iv] It also linked her from the beginning of her existence to violence and power struggles. In the Iliad she was the first point of intimate contact between mortals and gods, when saving Aeneas from the battle. She was also the first god to be wounded by a mortal in battle which led other deities to engage in further god-mortal combat, for example Ares and Diomedes.[v]

Paris and Menelaos duel in a scene from the Iliad. Paris is protected by two goddesses, Aphrodite on the left and a bow-holding Artemis on the right . Attic Red Figure, c.485 - 480 BC. Musée du Louvre, Paris

It must be asked how Aphrodite could be comfortable entering a battle. When rescuing Aeneas and Paris is it her passion as a goddess of love that gives her the strength to enter a battle.  There are many literary examples of Aphrodite being a goddess not of war but linked to war. In Book Five of the Iliad she rides Ares’ war chariot back to Olympus, in Book 21 she helps Ares away from the battle when wounded[vi], she was married to Hephaistos; maker of weapons and armour and most importantly she was the instigator of the most famous military battle in Greek mythology.[vii] As a result Aphrodite is also responsible for all the honour that is bestowed upon the gods and heroes who fought.[viii] Regardless of whether Aphrodite was actively part of the fighting or not the emotion she embodied was inspiration enough for many fighters to bear arms.[ix]

Aphrodite’s golden quality[x] is most often associated with objects of power and prestige for example armour, breast plates and spear rings.[xi] Other divine objects with this quality were Zeus’ scales, Apollo’s aegis and Athena’s armour. Instead of being a quality just of beauty it is also one of power, it is another embodiment of mixis.

Detail of Aphrodite and Ares seated amongst the feasting gods of Olympos. Aphrodite holds a dove, and Ares his helm. Museo Nazionale Tarquiniese, Tarquinia, Italy 

There were physical monuments erected to the war-like Aphrodite. In the 2^nd century AD Pausanius mentions the existence of “armed” (hoplismenē) statues of Aphrodite. She may have acquired a militarised personality in Sparta where there was a temple to Aphrodite Aria. This temple suggests that Aphrodite was worshiped as a warrior herself or as a mixis between her and her lover Ares.[xii]  It must also not be forgotten that two of Aphrodite and Ares’ children were his followers representing fear (Phobos) and terror (Deimos) she must have had war-like attributes to produce children like them.[xiii]

The two children of Aphrodite and Ares. On the right Deimos on the shield of Leonidas. On the left  Phobus, god of fear, Greco-Roman mosaic; from Halicarnassus C4th A.D. British Museum

The Aphrodite Hoplismenē may not have been worshiped by the majority but her embodiment of mixis, her relationship with Ares, her instigation of Troy and her bravery in battle all point to her being a goddess of war but with a twist on it. It is a mark of her power that even though she may not have shouldered a weapon like Artemis or Athena that she still caused and actively participated in the greatest war in Greek mythology.

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[i] Homer, Iliad, Book 5, lines 426-30 (accessed 17/10/11) http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D5%3Acard%3D416

[ii] Cyrino, Monica S. Aphrodite. London: Routledge (2010) pp. 5

[iii] If we follow the account Hesiod narrates where Kronos severed the genitals of his gather Ouranos and threw them into the sea. From the foaming waters where they floated Aphrodite emerged fully grown. Hesiod, Theogany, lines 188-206, trans M.L. West, Oxford: OUP (1999)

[iv] Cyrino, Aphrodite pp. 13

[v]Jackson, Kassandra. Father-Daughter Dynamics in the Iliad: the Role of Aphrodite in Defining Zeus’ Regime. Brill’s Companion to Aphrodite. Eds. Smith, Amy C. and Pickup, Sadie. Brill (2010) pp 160-1

[vi] Homer, Iliad. Books 5 and 21. trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett (1997)

[vii] Cyrino, pp. 50

[viii] Jackson, Father-Daughter Dynamics pp. 160-1

[ix] Cyrino, pp 50

[x] Mentioned by many poets for example Homer in Homeric Hymn V lines 1-2 “Muse, speak to me of the works of Aphrodite, the golden one,” Homer, Hymn to Aphrodite (V and VI), The Homeric Hymns, trans Jules Cashford. London: Penguin (2003)

[xi] Jackson pg. 162

[xii] Cyrino, pp 5. Quoting Pausanius Description of Greece (3.17.5)

[xiii] Hesiod, Theogany, lines 934-7

Bibliography


Cyrino, Monica S. Aphrodite. London: Routledge (2010)
Hesiod, Theogany, lines 188-206, trans M.L. West, Oxford: OUP (1999)
Homer, Iliad, (accessed 17/10/11) http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D5%3Acard%3D416
Homer, Iliad.  trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett (1997)
Homer, Hymn to Aphrodite (V and VI), The Homeric Hymns, trans Jules Cashford. London: Penguin (2003)
Jackson, Kassandra. Father-Daughter Dynamics in the Iliad: the Role of Aphrodite in Defining Zeus’ Regime. Brill’s Companion to Aphrodite. Eds. Smith, Amy C. and Pickup, Sadie. Brill (2010)

Aphrodite and Zeus Part 2: The Athena Effect

In the last post I looked at the relationship between Zeus and Aphrodite from the starting perspective of them being father and daughter. Aphrodite was often disobedient and took pleasure in humiliating Zeus and many other deities and mortals, but she also posed a much greater threat to Zeus. Aphrodite instigated the Battle of Troy[i], she may have been of an older generation than Zeus and she had control of his sexual desires. However Zeus had a weapon against her; he used Athena who represented everything he could want in a male heir to undermine the fundamental tenets of Aphrodite’s existence.

Rubens The Judgement of Paris c.1639

There was animosity between Athena and Aphrodite; at Troy they both supported different sides and Athena could be very scathing towards Aphrodite. After Diomedes wounded Aphrodite’s wrist and she ran to Dione, Athena and Hera taunted her for her efforts on the battlefield.

“But Athene and Hera, as they looked upon her, sought to anger Zeus, son of Cronos, with mocking words. And among them the goddess flashing-eyed Athene was first to speak: “Father Zeus, wilt thou anywise be wroth with me for the word that I shall say? Of a surety now Cypris [Aphrodite] has been urging some one of the women of Achaea to follow after the Trojans, whom now she so wondrously loveth; and while stroking such a one of the fair-robed women of Achaea, she hath scratched upon her golden brooch her delicate hand.”[ii]

The competition between them stems their similarities and thier differences. Both were famous for their beauty, hence why Paris had to choose between them. They both possessed a gleaming, golden quality to their beings. Homer records them both has having the attribute of glaukopis; darting or gleaming eyes. He also tells us of how Athena was one the few deities whom Aphrodite's powers had no effect on.[iii]  Both goddesses have key roles with mortals,[iv] Aphrodite makes them mate (with gods also). Athena comes across as a sister and friend to mortals and assists them with powerful gifts and wise council.[v] The animosity arises from a difference of purpose; Athena was celebrated for her mind and wisdom, Aphrodite for her beauty and sensuality. It was also due to Zeus’ relationship with both of them that their animosity grew.

Statutes of Athena and Zeus in Athens, Greece.

The Zeus portrayed by Homer is not an omnipotent ruler; he still faced challenges to his office. Whilst Strauss Clay says that despite the occasional disturbance Zeus’ reign can “no longer be shaken”.[vi] Jackson rebuts that the majority of the divine action in the Iliad is made up of such challenges to his authority. After all if Homer had wanted to show Zeus’s authority as unchallenged then why would the Iliad feature so many subversive elements? Jackson argues that due to this instability Zeus needed someone to help instil order; that someone was Athena. His obvious favouritism of Athena was aimed at subduing Aphrodite. This conflict between him and Aphrodite also highlights the greater conflict between the Zeus and the other gods.

Athena being born out of Zeus' head with Hermes in attendance.

Hesiod and Homer have different accounts of Aphrodite’s creation and whilst superficially the two Aphrodite’s appear very different they serve the same purpose relating to Zeus. The Aphrodite in Theogany similar to Athena in that they were both born of one male parent. This created a strong tie with each father; Athena with Zeus and Aphrodite with Ouranos. The place which the two deities sprung out of can also be linked to the characteristics surrounding the father’s reign and the daughter’s actions. Zeus gave birth to Athena out of his head, hence Athena was renowned for her wisdom and Zeus’ reign was “one of the mind”. Hesiod also describes Athena as having “courage and sound council equal to her father’s”[vii] Aphrodite was produced out of Ouranos’ genitals in a act of grotesque violence. In this respect Ouranos’ reign is one filled with “gross physicality”[viii] and Aphrodite is linked with sex and fertility. As Aphrodite was born out of the succession struggle between Ouranos and Kronos then she is linked with the succession process and therefore she poses a danger to Zeus’ reign.[ix]

Aphrodite’s link with sex and therefore childbirth is a regular source of threat to Zeus. In Hesiod’s family trees he describes the women during conception as literally “dominated in love by golden Aphrodite”. She is inextricably linked with the birth of those who would later challenge Zeus for example Typhon who Zeus would have to engage in single combat to display his right to his throne.[x] When Zeus fell in love with Thetis (due to Aphrodite’s power) then she was setting him up to have a child that would bring instability to his reign. Involved in the conception of dangerous offspring Aphrodite often brings menace to Zeus’s rule. However Zeus’ reign was partly secured by Aphrodite; his repeated infidelity and the children it produced earned him the title of “father of gods and men”[xi]. This infidelity created a network of kin bound to Zeus through love and familial ties.[xii] This network that entrenched his reign stemmed from Aphrodite’s powers over promiscuity; Aphrodite helped establish his reign and Zeus feared she could just as easily demolish it.

It is in relation to this threat that we must look at Athena again. The creation of Athena was Zeus’ master stroke in maintaining his reign. Both Ouranos and Kronos tried to maintain their reigns by imprisoning their children; Ouranos locked his children in Tartarus and Kronos ate his children, obviously both failing. The way Zeus managed to maintain his rule was by placing all the gifts that would so dangerous in a son (courage, wisdom, skilled hands) in a daughter: Athena.[xiii] She is all he could want in a trusted lieutenant but as a woman she could not assume the throne from him. And as a virgin goddess she could not continue the line of succession so she represented the end of the succession cycles. With the birth of Athena out of his head Zeus placeed the significance of thought (Athena) above the groin (Aphrodite). Still Aphrodite, with her children, and her link to the higher echelons of divine power posed a threat. Although it should be remembered that whilst Zeus may have feared her power; as a woman Aphrodite also could not have claimed the Olympian throne; it would have been one of her children. Thus Hesiod created Aphrodite to be the “other” in Zeus’s reign, always lurking and posing a subtle threat.

Athena and Ares in disagreement. 
Attic Black figure on Amphora, C510-500, 
Tampa Museum of Art

The Homeric Aphrodite is just as dangerous and Zeus curbed Aphrodite’s influence by placing Athena at the front of his affections. In the Iliad Athena is obviously Zeus’ favourite; in Books 5 and 8 she wears his armour and in book 5 Ares accuses Zeus of ignoring Athena’s unruly behaviour. It is interesting that Ares would slight his father in this way; was this the action of a god jealous of his father’s attention on Athena or a god defending his lover Aphrodite? But Ares wasn’t the only jealous deity around; Athena prized her place as Zeus’ darling. When she believed Zeus favoured Thetis she claimed that “the day shall come when he shall again call me his flashing-eyed darling”[xiv] Athena’s jealousy would also lead her to become far more active in the story of the Iliad. Up until the beginning of Book 4 Aphrodite was one of the most active participants in the story, she instigated the war, saved Paris and persuaded Helen to reprimand Paris’ cowardice. It only took a slight mention from Zeus of Aphrodite’s achievements and Athena and Hera’s relative laziness to make Athena take over a prime divine role in the fighting; hence why several mortals prayed to her believing she would be the deity most likely to act for them.[xv] Zeus was being defensive; Athena could be as powerful as she liked but she could never usurp Zeus, Aphrodite was much more powerful and therefore needed to be limited.

Pot detail of Athena in battle

By placing Aphrodite’s power in the hands of Athena and trying to replace Aphrodite’s inappropriate contact with humans with Athena’s more demure approach Zeus belittled Aphrodite’s power. By championing Athena’s powers of thought over Aphrodite’s powers over the groin Zeus is distancing himself from his father and grandfather and stopping the cycles of succession. By defending Aphrodite from Athena’s mocking, and then teasing Aphrodite when she is wounded, Zeus brings her into the family and places her under his control. It is through the relations with Athena, Zeus’ greatest weapon that he manages to keep Aphrodite a subtle threat, but still a threat to be wary of.

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[i] During the Judgement of Paris Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful women as his prize for deeming her the fairest goddess. The women Aphrodite promised was Helen, hence how Aphrodite was key in the beginning of the fighting.

[ii] Homer, Iliad, Book 5 lines 419-426 (accessed 15/11/11) http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D5%3Acard%3D416

[iii] Homer, Hymn to Aphrodite (V and VI), The Homeric Hymns, trans Jules Cashford. London: Penguin (2003)

[iv] Friedrich, Paul. The Meaning of Aphrodite. Chicago: Chicago University Press (1978) pp. 85-6

[v] For example, Athena guides Perseus on how to defeat Medusa giving advice and the necessary weapons.

[vi] Strauss Clay, Jenny. The Politics of Olympus. Princeton (2006). pp. 12

[vii] Hesiod, Theogany, lines 896-7, trans M.L. West, Oxford: OUP (1999)

[viii] Jackson, Kassandra. Father-Daughter Dynamics in the Iliad: the Role of Aphrodite in Defining Zeus’ Regime. Brill’s Companion to Aphrodite. Eds. Smith, Amy C. and Pickup, Sadie. Brill (2010)
  pp 154

[ix] Cyrino, Monica S. Aphrodite. London: Routledge (2010) pp. 40

[x] Hesiod, Theogany, line 822

[xi] Ibid line 542

[xii]  Calhoun, G. M. "Zeus the Father in Homer," TAPhA 66 (1935) pp. 9-11

[xiii] Brown, Norman.  "The Birth of Athena" Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 83 (1952) pp. 132

[xiv] Homer, Iliad, Book 8 line 373 (accessed 16/11/11) http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D8%3Acard%3D335

[xv] Jackson, Father-Daughter Dynamics. pp. 159-60; Homer, Iliad, Book 10 line 460, Book 17 lines 561-567


Bibliography


Brown, Norman.  "The Birth of Athena" Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 83 (1952)
Calhoun, G. M. "Zeus the Father in Homer," TAPhA 66 (1935)
Cyrino, Monica S. Aphrodite. London: Routledge (2010)
Friedrich, Paul. The Meaning of Aphrodite. Chicago: Chicago University Press (1978)
Hesiod, Theogany, trans M.L. West, Oxford: OUP (1999)
Homer, Iliad, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D5%3Acard%3D416
Homer, Hymn to Aphrodite (V and VI), The Homeric Hymns, trans Jules Cashford. London: Penguin (2003)
Jackson, Kassandra. Father-Daughter Dynamics in the Iliad: the Role of Aphrodite in Defining Zeus’ Regime. Brill’s Companion to Aphrodite. Eds. Smith, Amy C. and Pickup, Sadie. Brill (2010)
Strauss Clay, Jenny. The Politics of Olympus. Princeton (2006)