Aphrodite Term paper
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According to the ancient Greeks, Aphrodite was a beautiful, youthful goddess, associated with the
attributes of love and life (Schefold 15). Between the 6th century B.C. and the 1st century A.D.,
she was frequently used as a subject matter in Greek and Hellenistic art. During that period,
goddesses related to Aphrodite were often seen in Near Eastern art as well. In fact, Aphrodite's
origins can be found in the goddess Astarte, who was worshipped by the Phoenicians. The
Assyrians, who controlled the Near East up to the end of the seventh century B.C., worshipped a
goddess named Ishtar who was similar in many ways to Aphrodite. The Babylonians adapted Ishtar
to their pantheon and, like the Assyrians, considered her to be not only the goddess of love and life,
but also of warfare (Ghirshman 393). The Persians, who took control of the region in 539 B.C., had
a goddess named Anahita. This goddess, like Ishtar, held dominion over love and fertility.
Furthermore, Anahita, like Ishtar, not only "ensured the continuity of life" but "was at the same time
a goddess of war" (Ghirshman 250). This paradox of a goddess ruling warfare as well as love and
life was found among the Greeks as well. Thus, statues of Aphrodite were often worshipped by
Greek warriors before going into battle. According to Getty, the beautiful young woman was seen
as being a symbol for all that the men were fighting for. Thus, the goddess was "called upon to drive
the men into battle-frenzy in order to satisfy their honour and the need to protect their 'property'"
(Getty 23). Just as there are similarities in theme between the Greek and Near Eastern versions of
Aphrodite, there are also certain similarities to be found in comparing her poses and gestures in the
art of those two regions. Basically, the Near Eastern depictions of the goddess were less naturalistic
than those of the Greeks. The Greeks sought to "humanize" Aphrodite, as well as the other deities,
in their art. In this way, an effort was made to show a relationship between human beings and the
gods. By contrast, Near Eastern representations sought to maintain a distance between worshipper
and deity. The goddess statues of that region often avoided realism by using simple geometric
shapes. In fact, in early Near Eastern representations of Ishtar, the heads were usually "reduced to
enormous staring eyes" (Getty 90-91). According to Janson, the ancient Near Eastern artists
avoided showing any other details because they wanted to emphasize the eyes, which they
considered to be "the windows of the soul" (122). Along with using simple shapes, the Near Eastern
artists often depicted their deities in stiff poses. This "Mesopotamian tradition" in art persisted
throughout the Hellenistic period and could be seen, for example, even in relatively late Persian
works (Janson 135). During the classic period, Greek artists revolutionized Western art by
frequently posing Aphrodite in the nude. As a general rule, nude depictions of the goddess are rare
in Near Eastern art, although there are some notable exceptions. In fact, a stone relief of Lilith from
about 2000 B.C. is "the first voluptuous female nude known from antiquity" (Hartt 110). It is
interesting to note that Lilith, in contrast to Aphrodite, was the Assyrian goddess of death rather
than life. Despite being the earliest known female nude, this depiction of Lilith was far from realistic.
In fact, she was shown with wings and taloned feet. Furthermore, her pose is rigid and her only
gesture is to hold her arms up in front of her. Another rare Near Eastern female nude can be seen in
a stone statue from approximately 1000 B.C. In sharp contrast to the norm of the period, this figure
of the goddess depicts the nude human body "with loving care" (Parrot 161). Apparently, the
Phoenicians went against the Near Eastern tradition in this respect. Interestingly, although the
Greeks became famous for showing Aphrodite in the nude, they did not start out by posing her in
this way. Thus, as noted by Honour and Fleming, the Phoenician goddess Astarte, "usually nude in
her homeland, was clothed by the Greeks when they transformed her into Aphrodite" (98). Prior to
about the 4th century B.C., the Greek depictions of Aphrodite were generally restrained in the
typical Near Eastern manner. An example of this can be seen in a stone statue from about 650
B.C., in which the goddess is shown in simple, conical shapes (Honour and Fleming 98). Her pose
is extremely stiff and rigid, and her arms are held down straight by her side. A Greek vase from
about the same time shows Aphrodite in two-dimensional profile (Schefold 31). Again, the pose is
somewhat stiff and unrealistic. The Aphrodite Urania (from the 5th century B.C.) is representative of
the way the goddess was depicted in Greece prior to the 4th century. In contrast to the later
humanism of the nude female form, this depiction gives the goddess "a quality of super-human
dignity" (Langlotz 646). Nevertheless, the basic pose of the Aphrodite Urania was imitated in
various ways by later Greek sculptors. This can especially be seen in the way the goddess has one
foot forward and slightly raised. According to Langlotz, "even the beautiful body and movement of
the Venus de Milo depend upon the Urania, although they follow the formal laws of a later period"
(646). Although they originally followed Near Eastern models, the statues of the goddess and other
deities in Greece were soon "assimilated into a new and unmistakably Greek idiom" (Honour and
Fleming 97). By the 4th century B.C., Aphrodite had been transformed from an aloof,
unapproachable goddess to one who was more human than divine. Praxiteles, a sculptor who lived
during the early fourth...
Gardner, Louise. Gardner's Art Through the Ages. 7th ed. Horst de la Croix and Richard G.Tansey, rev. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980.
Getty, Adele. Goddess: Mother of Living Nature. London: Thames and Hudson, 1990.
Ghirshman, Roman. Persia: From the Origins to Alexander the Great. Stuart Gilbert and James
Emmons, trans. London: Thames and Hudson, 1964.
Hartt, Frederick. Art: A History of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. New York: Harry N. Abrams,
1989.
Honour, Hugh, and John Fleming. The Visual Arts: A History. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall,
1982.
Janson, H. W. History of Art. 4th ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1991.
Langlotz, Ernst. "Classic Art." Encyclopedia of World Art. Vol. 3. Robert W. Crandall, ed. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1960, 631-673.
Parrot, Andre. Nineveh and Babylon. Stuart Gilbert and James Emmons, trans. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1961.
Prag, A. J. N. W. "Classical Greek Art." A History of Art. Sir Lawrence Gowing, ed. Englewood
Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1983, 131-148.
Schefold, Karl. Myth and Legend in Early Greek Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, n.d.
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