Aphrodite: mythology

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Aphrodite: mythology

Postby Quintus Aurelius Orcus on Fri Aug 01, 2003 11:33 pm

Salvete

The following posts are a study to Aphrodite. After i have posted them all, i shall begin with Ares, and so on.
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Aphrodite: Goddess of Love and Sexuality

Myth

Hesiodos and others linked her name to aphros, 'foam'. Hesiodos wrote that Kronos cut off the genitals of his father Ouranos ('Heaven') and threw them into the sea, producing Aphrodite from the white foam. This myth seems to be a recycling of the 'birth' of the primordial goddess Eurynome, who arose from the primordial sea. As the Daughter of Zeus and Dione (Hesiodos), she bore a son, the love-god Eros, and was always accompanied by the Charites, the Horae, Himeros, Pothos and Peitos.
Aphrodite was the unfaithful wife of the smith-god Hephaistos. She also had an affair with the war-god Ares, and had by him two children, the twins Deimos (fear) and Phobos (panic). After the omniscient Helios told Hephaestos about his wife and Ares, the smith-god fashioned a net that snared them 'in the act', then drug them before Zeus and the gods for judgement.
Aphrodite rescued the young Adonis, struck by his beauty, making the gods promise to allow the youth to live on the Earth for half of each year, spending the remainder in Hades, where she could visit him.
Zeus punished her unfaithfulness by making fall in love with the mortal Trojan Anchises and bear him the Trojan hero Aeneas. Her revenge on Zeus was to make him chase nymphs and mortals, causing the theme of conflict with Hera.
She rewarded Paris with Helen for his choosing her as the fairest over Athena and Hera, instigating her elopement and sparking the Trojan War. She sided with the Trojans in their war against the Achaeans, which also suggests her foreign origin. However, the martial powers of her predecessor, the Anatolian 'Great Mother', were greatly reduced by Homeros and her effect was inconsequential.
Aphrodite's true love was Adonis, whom she had to share with Persephone, the goddess of the dead. One myth says that Ares got jealous, assumed the shape of a boar and gored him, killed Adonis who had gone hunting. Aphrodite rescued the youth, but Zeus would only allow that he live for six months out of the year. The rest of the year he would have to spend with Persephone in the Underworld. But others say that Aphrodite's true love was Ares. This is because he symbolizes the opposite of love: hatred, war, anger, etc.. And the union of those symbols would create a certain balance, kind of like the balance of good and evil in the Gods.
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cult of Aphrodite

Postby Quintus Aurelius Orcus on Fri Aug 01, 2003 11:38 pm

Salvete


Religion

The cult centers of Aphrodite lies in these cities: Amathus, Cnidus, Corinth, Cyprus and Paphos. Above all, she had even mysteries, which i will write more about it later.
Our Great goddess of Love is perhaps one of the most famous of all the Hellenic Goddesses. In our modern world, she is seen as the Goddess of Love, and to most people that equates to Romantic and/or Sexual love. This is without a doubt true, for our great Aphrodite was indeed the Goddess under whose domain the emotions and instincts that call one human being to another for the sake of romance and sexual union fall. This is an incomplete picture of Aphrodite, however, for she was Love, in all its forms and with all of its consequences.
She gives to her worshippers the blessings of joy, passion, freedom, whimsy, and appreciation of beauty in all of its forms. She presides over all types of love - from the primal stirring of the loins to the noblest kind of patriotism and love of the Gods. The bonds of friendship and family and lovers are especially sacred to her. She brings together instead of tears apart, creates as opposed to destroy. Her symbols are the seashell, roses and a mirror. Her sacred animals are the dove, swan, sparrow and the lynx. If one wants to give sacrifices to Aphrodite this is what he should sacrifice: copper, emerald, turquoise, rose, myrtle, benzoin, sandalwood and an apple. Despite being identified as a maidenly cosmic goddess of love and springtime, she was a mother of several children, and also a man-destroying death crone goddess. This ancient identity was probably related to the primordial origins of both Moira and the Near Eastern cosmic goddesses. Both were born out of the vague deities at the beginning of time, explaining Aphrodite's unnatural 'birth'. Although Aphrodite could be a creative maiden and a nurturing mother to those whom she favored, she could be just as merciless with those who displeased her. This is shown in the list of people she destroyed: Hippolytos, whom she killed; Polyphonte, whom she changed into an owl; Arsinoe, whom she turned to stone; and Myrrha, whom she transformed into a myrtle tree. In an obscure passage the death-goddess Erinys is explained as an eidolon of Aphrodite (Hesychius).
Aphrodite was also related in functions and character Ilithyia, Goddess of childbirth; Hymen, Goddess of marriage; Venus, Goddess of sexuality; Urania, Queen of Heaven; Androphonos, the Destroyer of Men; and many others. As Aphrodite Urania, she was worshipped at Cyprus, Cythera, and Corinth.
Her festivals are the Adonia (celebrated on different dates), Aphrodisia 5 Hekatombaion (July-August)
The best way to honor Aphrodite is to love. If you are in a relationship, remember why you originally fell in love with that person. Then show them: seduce them all over again! If you're not, find someone to love. Or help other people to do so. Become a matchmaker. Be flirtatious. Make your surroundings beautiful with perfumes, flowers, elegant fabrics, and exotic foods. Learn new sexual techniques. Write flea-ridden stories or poetry, or take naughty pictures of yourself or a loved one. Support sex-workers. Promote safer sex practices.
Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of beauty, love, sexuality, and fertility. She was the maidenly 'cosmic goddess' associated with the planet Venus and spring. Indeed, the month of April is named after her. Aphrodite's creativity was expressed in her poetry. Copper was her metal, the dove her bird, and myrtle her tree. Aphrodite's other sigils were ram (sacrificial god), hare, dolphin, swan, bee, and tortoise. She was also associated with various beautiful plants (especially the rose), the apple, and other fruits. Her accouterments also include her comb and girdle or belt.
In Norse mythology, the love- and fertility cosmic goddess Freya was also known for her belt (or necklace). It is one of the reasons why Freya is being equated with Aphrodite. Aphrodite also seems synonymous with Eos, who was probably one of the Greek goddesses whose character and cult she absorbed. Aphrodite's cult originated in the east. As early as Homer she was identified as 'the Cypriot', and she had major temples at Paphos and Amathus on Cyprus and also Corinth and Cyhtera in Greece. The Cyprian Aphrodite, however, was no doubt a local version of the Near Eastern cosmic goddess that the early Greeks found there when they colonized the island after during the Greek Dark Age (c.1200 - 700 BC). Aphrodite's origin should be found in the eastern goddess known variously as Astarte, Ashera, Ishtar, Inanna, Anaitis, and so on going all the way back to ancient Sumeria.
Aphrodite also had some vestiges of a warrior-goddess that was strongly identified with some of her Near Eastern equivalents. As Aphrodite Areia and Strateia, she was worshipped on Cyprus, Cythera, Sparta, and elsewhere. However, this role was greatly reduced under Greek influence. In the Iliad she is on the side of the Trojans but is wounded by Diomedes. Zeus then reminds her that she is no warrior.
One theory is that her name is derived from a corruption of the name of this goddess as she was found in Cyprus, which was a major source of copper in the eastern Mediterranean. Her temple prostitutes common in the Near East but rare further west and north also suggests the eastern origin of her cult. Aphrodite was also the patroness of prostitutes (naturally), as well as of seafarers that invoked her as Aphrodite Porne.
The Greeks identified her with the Egyptian goddesses Isis and Hathor. The Romans assimilated her with Venus Caelestis, and then identified her with Tanit at Carthage. She is also identifiable with the Anatolian 'Mother goddess' known most familiarly as Cybele and Agdistis. The Greeks probably assimilated these two at these Anatolian goddesses' temple and city of Aphrodisias, thereafter named for the Greek goddess. There, she was a goddess of learning and culture.
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Aphrodite: epithets

Postby Quintus Aurelius Orcus on Sat Aug 02, 2003 12:14 pm

Salvete
I shall now post the epithets that i have found on Aphrodite either online or in books.
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Epithets
Goddess of love and sexual union:
Ourania [Heavenly (Love)]
Pandemos [ common (of All People)]
Makhanitis (Deviser or Contriver)
Apistrophia (She Who Turns Herself Away)
Apostrophia (She Who Turns Herself Away/ Averter of unlawful passions])
Kataskopia (Spying or Peeping)
Melainis (Black [ sex after dark])
Symmakhia (alley [in love])
Praxis (action [by action])
Nymphia (Bridal)
Dôritis ( Union)
Migôntis ( bountiful)
Hêrê ( of Hera, marriage)

Protectress of sea-voyages
Euploia (Fair Voyage/ Fair Sailing)
Pontia ( Of the deep sea)
Limenia ( of the harbor)
Aligena (Sea Born)
Anaduomene (Rising from the Sea)
Epipontia (On the Sea)
Pelagia (of the Sea)


Giver of blessings or qualities
Ambologera (She Who Postpones Old Age)
Morpho (Shapely/ of shapely form)
Nikêphoros (bringer of Victory)

Goddess of War and Arms
Hôplismenê (Armed)
Areia (of Ares/ Warlike)
Androphonos (Killer of Men)
Enoplios (Bearing Weapons)
Anosia (Unholy)
Basilis (Queen)
Eleemon (Merciful)
Summakhia (Ally in War)

Other Epithets
Epitragidia (She Upon the Buck)
Epitumbidia (She Upon the Graves)
Genetullis (Genetrix)
Heteira (Courtesan)
Kallipugos (of the Beautiful Buttocks)
Kallisti (the Fairest)
Khruse (Golden)
Pasiphaessa (the Far-Shining)
Philomeides (Laughter-Loving)
Porne (Fleshy; Prostitute)
Skotia (Dark)
Tumborukhos (Gravedigger).

Her epithets are also related to places:
Kupria( of Kypros)
Paphia (Of Paphos: in Cyprus)
Syria( of Syria: Astarte)
Kythereia (Of Cytherea)
Knidia (Of Cnidus)
Kôlias (Of Colias: in Attica)
Kupris (Cyprian)
Kuprogenes (Cyprus-born)
Kuthereia (Kytherean)
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Mysteries/ cult of Aphrodite

Postby Quintus Aurelius Orcus on Sat Aug 02, 2003 12:23 pm

Mysteries:
The mysteries of Aphrodite were widely spread throughout the Hellenic world, but there is no sufficient proof that it is of pure Hellenic origin. Aphrodite shows similarities with several Middle Eastern Goddesses. She was also addresses sometimes as Kybele, but this mostly happened in her mysteries where the figures of Attis, Dionysus and Adonis are had to separate from each other. And like her eastern counterpart, she stood as the liberator of the Underworld. She liberated human spirits from the materialistic world. There isn't much known of her mysteries, but we do know that on Cyprus, she was honored with great festivities. In Paphos, where the main festivities were held, the same festivities were closed after the annual market. The story of Pygmalion may have something to do with the rituals of the mysteries where as Aphrodite is represented as Pygmalion who after a series of ritual acts revives the statue of Aphrodite. Clemens of Alexandre who suggests that this myth is the foundation of the mythic origin of the mysteries suggests this. In this mythic origin it is about the death and resurrection of Aphrodite. The most personal experience regarding the worship of Aphrodite can be found in the poems of Sappho. Her origin may be obscure and may lie in the Near East. It is a certainty that Aphrodite has Semitic origins.

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Hymns to Aphrodite

Postby Quintus Aurelius Orcus on Sat Aug 02, 2003 1:59 pm

Hymns:

I will sing of stately Aphrodite,
gold-crowned and beautiful,
whose dominion is the walled cities of sea-girt Kypros.
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 welcomed her joyously … Hail, sweetly winning, coy-eyed goddess. Homeric Hymn 6 to Aphrodite

Of Kythereia, born in Kypros,
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.
Homeric Hymn 10 to Aphrodite

sources for this essay on Aphrodite:
Sannion's Compendium of Gods: http://www.winterscapes.com/sannion/compendium.htm
Karl Kereny: Gods of the Greeks
Walter Burkert: Greek Religion
Drew Campbell's Old Stones, New Temples
Enter the Mist: http://www.geocities.com/cas11jd/
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