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