This document provides an overview of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, her origins and associations, including her relationships with other gods. It discusses how she was associated with love, beauty, and sexuality. It also summarizes the myths around her relationships and offspring, particularly with Hephaestus, Ares, and Eros. The document then compares Aphrodite to the Near Eastern goddesses Ishtar and Astarte, noting their shared attributes. Finally, it discusses modern retellings of the myth of Pygmalion in film.

1. Chapter 5

2. 5.1 Eros playfully blindfolds a woman. Attic red-figure
skyphos. Workshop of the Ilioupersis Painter, c. 375–350
BCE. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design,
Providence, Rhode Island. RISD Museum Appropriation
Fund, 25.089.
Aphrodite and Eros
• Aphrodite and Eros are
associated with desire and
romance
• Eros is either Aphrodite’s son
or companion
• Their behavior is fickle,
representing the nature of
desire
• They are also associated with
conflict and violence, as in
Sophocles’ Antigone

3. HISTORY
Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Ares
Classical Mythology in Context

4. 5.2 Birth of Aphrodite. Detail of the Ludovisi Throne. Greek
marble relief. Circa 460–450 BCE. Museo Nazionale Romano
(Palazzo Altemps), Rome, Italy. Erich Lessing / Art Resource,
NY, ART58590.
Love and Strife
• There are two stories of
Aphrodite’s birth: she is
either the daughter of Zeus
and Dione, or produced
when Uranus was castrated
by Cronus
• Her title of Philommedes
represents her association
with sexual desire
unmitigated by social
consideration
• It can also be translated as
‘laughter-loving’

5. 5.3 Aphrodite surrounded by Erotes and an attendant
holding a swan. Detail from a red-figure lekythos (oil
flask). Circa late fifth century BCE. Gianni Dagli Orti / The
Art Archive at Art Resource, NY, AA393928.
Marriage and Love
• Brides prayed to Aphrodite before their
wedding day
• Aphrodite is often depicted with Harmonia
(Harmony), Peitho (Persuasion), and the
Erotes (Eros, Longing, and Desire)
• Their winged nature indicates that the
emotions Aphrodite inspires are impossible
to restrain
• In Greek myths, the desire inspired by
Aphrodite disrupts marriage more often
than it sustains it

6. 5.4 Paris leads Helen by the wrist, while
Aphrodite adjusts her hair. Red-figured skyphos.
Circa fifth century BCE. Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, Massachusetts, USA / Francis Bartlett
Donation / Bridgeman Images, BST487717.
Humor and Laughter
• Among the gods, Aphrodite is often
connected with humor
• Aphrodite’s adulterous relationship
with Ares gets her laughed at, but
also represents the dangerous
consequences of infidelity
• The myth of Aphrodite and Adonis
furthered her association with
laughter, as represented in the
Adonia, a festival celebrated only by
women

7. Civic Harmony
• Aphrodite, with Peitho (Persuasion)played a traditional role in the
establishment and governance of cities
• Governance of cities required persuasion in courts and assemblies
• Aristotle compared the bonds of husbands and wives with the bonds
among citizens
• She was worshiped as Aphrodite Pandemos in Athens for her role as a
unifier
• She was frequently worshiped in ports and harbors, anywhere where
cooperation was necessary

8. Map 5.1 Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Ares in Greece
Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Ares

9. 5.5 The Return of Hephaestus to Olympus. Red-
figured stamnos. Group of Polygnotus, c. 440 BCE.
bpk, Berlin / Antikensammlung, Museumslandschaft
Hessen Kassel, Kassel, Germany/ Art Resource, NY,
ART497600.
Hephaestus
• Aphrodite’s husband was Hephaestus,
the god of metallurgy
• He has few sanctuaries and festivals and
was rarely worshiped
• Hephaestus was unique among the gods
because of his lameness
• He was associated with fire and
volcanoes, and manufacturing and
technology
• Hephaestus is an unlikely husband for
Aphrodite, the most beautiful of the
gods, and was frequently laughed at

10. 5.6 Ares and Aphrodite. Marble votive relief. Circa late
fifth century BCE. bpk, Berlin/Museo Archeologico,
Venice, Italy/Alfredo Dagli Orti/Art Resource, NY,
ART332617.
Ares
• Ares is a war god, the son of Zeus
and Hera
• He and Aphrodite have three
children: Deimos (Terror), Phobos
(Fear) and Harmonia (Harmony)
• He represents aggression and
destruction rather than courage or
strategy
• His affair with Aphrodite
represents the dangers of
powerful emotions like lust and
aggression

11. 5.7 Eros in the role of archer. Red-figure lekythos, c. 500–480 BCE.
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas / Art Resource, NY,
ART334291.
Eros
• Eros was either Aphrodite’s son or her companion
• He is the animating force that propels all creatures
to reproduce and thrive
• He is shown with arrows which were believed to
induce love
• Aphrodite and Eros attracted the attention of many
philosophers, who treated them as metaphors to
explain passion, love, and lust

12. 5.8 Eros chases Atalanta. Detail from a red-figure
lekythos. Attributed to Douris, c. 500 BCE. Cleveland
Museum of Art, OH, USA / Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.
Fund / Bridgeman Images, CVL1761955.
From Eros to Cupid
• In Classical Athens, Eros was depicted as an
adolescent boy
• He represented a social practice wherein older
men developed sexual relationships with
younger men, which was thought to benefit
their development into mature citizens
• Later he was transformed into a group of infants
• By Roman times, infant Cupids had little
association with Eros’ role as a god of desire

13. 5.9 A group of Cupids make perfume. Plaster and pigment. Detail from a
mythological scene on a wall. Circa 50–75 CE. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu
CA 72.AG.81. Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program.
Cupid

14. THEORY
Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Ares
Classical Mythology in Context

15. 5.10 Aphrodite and Adonis
accompanied by Eros and a
woman. Red-figured aryballesque-
lekythos. Circa 410 BCE. Louvre
Museum, Paris, France. © RMN-
Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY,
ART433916.
How Myths Challenge Social Norms
• Anthropologists have discovered that men and
women often participated in and interpreted social
practices differently, especially in sex-segregated
societies like ancient Greece
• Classicist John J. Winkler tries to explore how
individual women might use myths and rituals like
the Adonia to criticize social norms
• He suggests that the laughter associated with the
Adonia may have represented women laughing at
male impotence
• Most textual evidence from ancient Greece was
written by men, and therefore is not a reliable
depiction of the lives of women

16. COMPARISON
Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Ares
Classical Mythology in Context

17. Map 5.2 Aphrodite, Astarte, and Ishtar in the Ancient Near East
Aphrodite, Astarte, and Ishtar

18. 5.11 Cypriot Aphrodite-Astarte. Terracotta figurine.
Anonymous. Circa late seventh century BCE. Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA / Bridgeman Images,
BST1762524.
Ishtar and Aphrodite
• Aphrodite was associated with the island of
Cyprus, the place of her birth, where the
Phoenician goddess Astarte was also worshiped
• Over time the traits of these goddess blended in
a process called syncretism
• Statues of Aphrodite from Cyprus closely
resemble those of Astarte

19. 5.12 Cypro-Archaic Astarte II. Terracotta
figurines. Circa 600–480 BCE. Image
copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of
Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY,
ART500335.
Ishtar and Aphrodite
• Astarte shares many attributes with the
Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, which are
then transferred to Aphrodite
• Both are associated with fertility, sexuality,
war, and the sea, both have a male consort
who dies
• Both have powers which are contained by or
associated with their clothing

20. RECEPTION
Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Ares
Classical Mythology in Context

21. Pygmalion in Hollywood
• Ovid tells the story of Pygmalion, a sculptor who is disgusted by
prostitution associated with the worship of Aphrodite
• Instead of a real woman, Pygmalion creates a statue of a beautiful
woman and falls in love with it
• Aphrodite brings the statue to life, and Pygmalion marries her
• The tale of Pygmalion has been a popular theme in contemporary
cinema, and has been used to consider both social questions and
questions of romance and desire
• Pygmalion ensures his own emotional autonomy by loving an object,
not a woman

22. 5.13 Playbill from George Bernard Shaw’s
Pygmalion, 1940. Everett Collection. MSDPYGM
EC001.
Pygmalion in Hollywood
• George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion
attempted to lampoon the British
class system rather than the
romantic foibles of his lead
character
• Pretty Woman focuses instead on
the romantic relationship between
the two characters and the
potential for Vivian to redeem
Edward from being emotionally
dead
• In Lars and the Real Girl, Lars’ relationship with a doll leads to real relationship