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Speak to me, Muse, of golden Aphrodite’s works,

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Speak to me, Muse, of golden Aphrodite’s works,

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  1. As soon as Kronos had lopped off the genitals with the sickle, he tossed them from the land into the stormy sea. And as they were carried by the sea a long time, all around them white foam rose from the god’s flesh, and in this foam a maiden was nurtured. First she came close to god-haunted Kythera and from there she went on to reach sea-girt Cyprus. There this majestic and fair goddess came out, and soft grass grew all around her soft feet. Both gods and men call her Aphrodite, foam-born goddess, and fair wreathed Kythereia; Aphrodite because she grew out of aphros, foam, that is, and Kythereia because she touched land at Kythera. Hesiod, Theogony 188ff.

  2. Immortal Aphrodite of the broidered throne, daughter of Zeus, weaver of wiles, I pray thee break not my spirit with anguish and distress, O Queen. But come hither, if ever before thou didst hear my voice afar, and listen, and leaving thy father's golden house camest with chariot yoked, and fair fleet sparrows drew thee, flapping fast their wings around the dark earth, from heaven through mid sky. Quickly arrived they; and thou, blessed one, smiling with immortal countenance, didst ask What now is befallen me, and Why now I call, and What I in my mad heart most desire to see. 'What Beauty now wouldst thou draw to love thee? Who wrongs thee, Sappho? For even if she flies she shall soon follow, and if she rejects gifts shall yet give, and if she loves not shall soon love, however loth.' Come, I pray thee, now too, and release me from cruel cares; and all that my heart desires to accomplish, accomplish thou, and be thyself my ally. Sappho Fragment 1

  3. Speak to me, Muse, of golden Aphrodite’s works, The Cyprian’s, she who sends sweet desire on the gods, and subdues The tribes of mortal men, the birds that fly through the air, And all the many wild beasts that are nurtured by land and sea: The works of Kythera’s fair-crowned goddess concern all these. But there are three whose minds she cannot persuade or beguile……. Hymn to Aphrodite 1-7

  4. Athena (goddess of war) • ARTEMIS • Hestia (goddess of the hearth)

  5. Cypris, you guide men’s hearts And the inflexible Hearts of the Gods and with you Comes Love and the flashing wings, Comes Love with the swiftest of wings. Over the earth he flies And the loud-echoing salt-sea. He bewitches and maddens the heart Of the victim he swoops upon. He bewitches the race of the mountain-hunting Lions and beasts of the sea, And all the creatures that earth feeds, And the blazing sun sees- And man, too- Over all you hold kingly power, Love, you are only ruler Over all these. Euripides, Hippolytus 1268ff.

  6. Speak to me, Muse, of golden Aphrodite’s works

  7. Come this way: Alexandros is calling you back to the house. He is there in the bedroom, on the carved bed, shining in his own beauty and his clothing. You would not think he had come from fighting a man; you would say he was going to the dance, or had just left dancing and was taking his rest.’ Iliad book 3

  8. Hymn to Aphrodite, lines 85ff. …. For she had put on a robe That blazed more brightly than fire, and was wearing twisted whorls. And gleaming floweret-cups; and chains surpassingly fair, About her tender neck were hanging, beautiful, gold, Of exquisite craft right through - it seemed as though the moon About her tender breasts were shining, a marvel to view.

  9. Aphrodite Lines 71-74 Grey Wolves and bright-eyed lions fawning behind her went. Bears and swift-moving panthers never sated with deer. Delighted at heart by the sight, she put in their breasts desire. And all together they mated in pairs through the shadowy vales.

  10. Descent of Ishtar to the Nether World when Ishtar leaves the earth…. 'The bull springs not upon the cow, the ass impregnates not the jenny'

  11. But destiny does not rule all. Adonis, Your memory will live eternally: Each year they will repeat this final scene Your day of death, my day of grief, will be Enacted in a feast that bears your name Ovid, Metamorphoses Martin pp.359-61 Meliville pp.241-2

  12. Lines 1-6 Prologue which invokes the Muse to tell of golden Aphrodite, and sings of Aphrodite’s power to conquer, god, man and beast in sexual love. Muse tell me of the works of golden Aphrodite The Cyprian, who stirs up sweet desire amongst the gods And subdues the tribes of mortal man, the birds that Fly through the air, and all the many wild beasts that Are nurtured by land and sea……

  13. Lines 7-33 There are, however, three exceptions to Aphrodite’s universal power. She is not able to conquer Athena, Artemis, or Hestia, all virgin goddesses. This section presents three mini-hymns to these virgin goddesses, which act as a foil for the important point which will be made in the next section.

  14. Lines 34-44 Aphrodite can conquer even Zeus in love, and does so frequently, making him sleep even with mortal women!

  15. Lines 45-52 The narrative is introduced. Zeus, tired of being deceived by Aphrodite and made, to his great embarrassment, to sleep with mortal women, exacts his revenge. He turns the tables on Aphrodite and makes her fall in love with a mortal man, with the intention of stopping her laughter and boasting amongst the gods.

  16. Lines 53-80 We jump now to the action. Aphrodite spies Anchises on Mount Ida for the first time, immediately falls in love, and runs off to her sanctuary in Paphos, in Cyprus, in order to make herself beautiful. She has a luxurious bath, scents herself with oils, dresses in elaborate clothing and rushes off across Ida to meet Anchises, followed as she goes by sex-hungry bears, leopards and lions.

  17. Lines 81-90 Aphrodite reveals herself to Anchises in the disguise of a young woman, so as not to frighten him. He is nonetheless greatly astonished by her beauty and falls in love with her. Her clothes are described in detail.

  18. Lines 91-106 Anchises is not, however, convinced that this beautiful woman, who just appeared out of nowhere on the side of a mountain, is mortal. Despite his attraction, he addresses her as a goddess, asking which one she is, and makes a prayer to her to grant him long life etc.

  19. Lines 107-143 Now that her physical disguise has not entirely worked, Aphrodite must deceive Anchises with words. She tells him a long and complicated story of how she is in fact a Phrygian princess, who was whisked away by Hermes and brought to the mountain to be his wife. She provides specific details, such as the name of her father and an explanation of why she speaks both Greek and Phrygian, which help to make her story more believable.

  20. Lines 144-160 How could Anchises refuse the persuasiveness of such a story? Even with a lingering suspicion that this woman is more than what she seems, he is overcome with sexual desire. He claims even to be willing to die in order to sleep with the her! He takes her hand, leads her off to bed, removes her clothing piece by piece, and sleeps with her.

  21. Lines 167-190 Anchises, as most men in Greek literature do, falls asleep after he has made love. Aphrodite wakes up and changes back into her divine form. She wakes Anchises up, thereby effecting an epiphany. He is terrified, hides behinds his blanket, and begs the goddess not to hurt him.

  22. Lines 191-200 191-200 Aphrodite reassures Anchises that he will not be hurt, and makes the prophecy that she will give birth to his son, naming him as Aineias, and specifying that he will rule amongst the Trojans.

  23. Lines 201-246 Aphrodite expands upon the myths of Ganymedes and Tithonus. Both are members of Anchises' family who have had relationships with gods. Ganymedes is taken up to heaven to be the lover of Zeus, while Tithonus reaches a nasty fate in his relationship with Dawn; she had asked Zeus to make him immortal, but she failed to ask also for him to remain eternally young. He lives on forever in terrible old age, unable even to move his limbs. Aphrodite ends these two tales by saying that she cannot take Anchises to live with her, because he is not immortal, and cannot be made so.

  24. Lines 247-285 Aphrodite tells of how she will now have a great shame amongst the gods. She will no longer be able to open her mouth to boast as she had before, because she will now give birth to a semi-mortal son. Zeus has been successful in his intention! Aphrodite then spends the majority of this section speaking of their future son Aeneas, how he will be raised by nymphs, and (once again) how he will be a great king amongst the Trojans.

  25. Lines 286-293 Aphrodite gives Anchises a warning not to tell anyone about their affair; the gods must already know, but she wants to keep it a secret from other mortals at least (she threatens him with Zeus’ thunderbolt should he open his mouth on the topic; which, of course, later tradition has it that he does). The narrative then comes to an end as Aphrodite flies back up to heaven, and the poem closes with a standard farewell address to the goddess.

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