Brill's Companion to Aphrodite

53 Pages·2010·1.58 MB·English

Brill’s Companion to Aphrodite
Editedby
Amy C. Smith and Sadie Pickup
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2010
Onthecover:AnAtticblack-figureamphora,featuringAphroditeandPoseidon,ca.520bc.
London,BritishMuseumB254.DrawingafterLenormant,deWitte,Élitedesmonuments
céramographiques.Matériauxpourl’histoiredesreligionsetdesmoeursdel’antiquité(Paris,
1844–1861),3,pl.15.
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Brill'scompaniontoaphrodite/editedbyAmyC.Smith&SadiePickup.
p.cm.
EmergedfromaconferenceattheUniversityofReading,May8-10,2008.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-90-04-18003-1(hardback:alk.paper)
1.Aphrodite(Greekdeity)–Congresses.I.Smith,AmyClaire,1966-II.Title.
BL820.V5B742010
292.2'114–dc22
2009052569
ISSN 1872-3357
ISBN 9789004180031
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments..................................................... ix
Abbreviations .......................................................... xi
Listofillustrations..................................................... xiii
introduction
ChapterOne FlourishingAphrodite:AnOverview................ 3
VincianePirenne-Delforge(UniversityofLiège)
ChapterTwo BuddingAphrodite:IntotheFuture ................. 17
SadiePickup(UniversityofOxford)and
AmyC.Smith(UniversityofReading)
partone
aphrodite’s identity
ChapterThree Aphrodite:TheGoddessofAppearances........... 29
VeredLevKenaan(UniversityofHaifa)
ChapterFour Oquamtememorem,virgo?InterpretingVenusin
Aeneid.–................................................... 51
JamesBurbidge(UniversityofOxford)
ChapterFive AphroditeEnoplion ................................... 79
StephanieL.Budin(RutgersUniversity)
ChapterSix RethinkingAphroditeasaGoddessatWork.......... 113
GabriellaPironti(UniversityofNaples)
vi contents
parttwo
aphrodite’s companions andrelations
ChapterSeven TheSongofAresandAphrodite:Aˇsertuon
Skheria .............................................................. 133
AnnetteTeffeteller(ConcordiaUniversity,Montreal)
ChapterEight Father-DaughterDynamicsintheIliad:TheRole
ofAphroditeinDefiningZeus’Regime............................ 151
KassandraJackson(UniversityofChicago)
partthree
thespreadofaphrodite’s cults
ChapterNine ImagesofCypriotAphroditeinherSanctuaries
duringtheAgeoftheCity-Kingdoms.............................. 167
AnjaUlbrich(UniversityofOxford)
ChapterTen AphroditeontheAkropolis:EvidencefromAttic
Pottery............................................................... 195
ElisabettaPala(UniversityofCagliari)
ChapterEleven AphroditeandtheFleetinClassicalAthens ...... 217
ChryssanthiPapadopoulou(King’sCollege,UniversityofLondon)
ChapterTwelve EncounteringtheWorldofAphroditeonthe
WesternGreekMainland........................................... 235
AlexanderNagel(UniversityofMichigan)
ChapterThirteen TheArchitecturalSettingoftheKnidian
Aphrodite ........................................................... 251
SophieMontel(UniversityofParisOuestNanterre—LaDéfense)
ChapterFourteen InteractiveAphrodite:GreekResponsestothe
IdeaofAphroditeasAncestressoftheRomans ................... 269
JennyWallensten(SwedishInstitute,Athens)
contents vii
partfour
thereception ofthegoddess
ChapterFifteen AugustanAphrodites:TheAllureofGreekArt
inRomanVisualCulture ........................................... 287
RachelKousser(CityUniversityofNewYork,Brooklyn)
ChapterSixteen AphroditeandtheSpectacleofthe
AmphitheatreinRomanAfrica .................................... 307
MargheritaCarucci(HelsinkiCollegiumforAdvancedStudies)
ChapterSeventeen AphroditeinLateAntiqueandMedieval
Byzantium........................................................... 321
AnthousaPapagiannaki(UniversityofOxford)
ChapterEighteen AphroditeDeconstructed:Botticelli’sVenus
andMarsintheNationalGallery,London......................... 347
DavidBellingham(Sotheby’sInstituteofArt,London)
ChapterNineteen ReflectionsinaMirror:Bonnard’sAphrodite.. 375
AnnaGruetznerRobins(UniversityofReading)
Bibliography ........................................................... 387
PeriodizationofAntiquity............................................. 421
GeneralIndex.......................................................... 423
GeographicIndex...................................................... 433
IndexofPersonalNames .............................................. 437
Monumenta............................................................ 443
Testimonia ............................................................. 449
ABBREVIATIONS
AA ArchäologischerAnzeiger
ABV Beazley,JohnD.,AtticBlack-FigureVase-Painters(Oxford,)
AJA AmericanJournalofArchaeology
AM MitteilungendesDeutschenArchäologischenInstituts.Athenische
Abteilung
ARV2 Beazley,JohnD.,AtticRed-FigureVase-Painters,nded.(Oxford,
)
BAPD BeazleyArchivePotteryDatabase,OxfordUniversity
www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/databases/pottery.htm
! "
BCH BulletindeCorrespondenceHellénique
BSA AnnualoftheBritishSchoolatAthens
CHD Güterbock,HansG.,HarryA.Hoffner,Jr.,andTheoP.J.vanden
Hout,eds.,TheHittiteDictionaryoftheOrientalInstituteofthe
UniversityofChicago(Chicago,–)
CIG CorpusInscriptionumGraecarum(–)
CQ ClassicalQuarterly
CVA CorpusVasorumAntiquorum
FHG Müller,C.,FragmentaHistoricorumGraecorum(–)
IG InscriptionesGraecae(–)
IGRom. InscriptionesGraecaeadresRomanaspertinentes(–)
JHS JournalofHellenicStudies
JRA JournalofRomanArchaeology
LIMC LexiconIconographicumMythologiaeClassicae(Zurich,–)
OCD Hornblower,Simon,andAnthonySpawforth,eds.,TheOxford
ClassicalDictionary,rded.(Oxford,)
RDAC ReportoftheDepartmentofAntiquitues,Cyprus
SEG SupplementumepigraphicumGraecum(Amsterdam,–)
TAPA TransactionsandProceedingsoftheAmericanPhilogicalAssociation
AbbreviationsofprimarysourcesfollowthosegiveninOCD.
chapterone
FLOURISHINGAPHRODITE:ANOVERVIEW
VincianePirenne-Delforge
Over the last three decades, interest in the goddess Aphrodite has in-
creasedconsiderably.Shehasbecomeaverypopularsubjectamongstthe
Greekgods.Since,morethantenmonographshavebeendevoted
to her, as have numerous articles. Conferences were not so frequent,
however: I only know of two, and the mention of Aphrodite in a title
doesnotnecessarilyimplythattheconferenceaddressedthisissue.1
The editors of the present volume, Amy Smith and Sadie Pickup,
kindly invited me to deliver a keynote speech at the opening of the
conference they organized in May . This was a good occasion to
examine the reasons for this scholarly and editorial phenomenon, to
whichIcontributedmyselfbypublishingmyPhDthesisonthissubject
in .2 I would like to present here the results of this bibliographical
investigation, and to suggest also, along the way, some methodological
issuesatstakeinthisAphroditedossier.Iwanttomakeitclearthatmy
overviewattemptstobeneitheranexhaustiveexaminationnoraclinical
assessment of all that has been written about Aphrodite, more or less
recently.Forthisreason,Ihavedeliberatelymaintainedthepersonaltone
adoptedintheoriginallecture.
I have started with the year . I could have chosen the year 
and referred also to Deborah Boedeker, who, in her monograph on
1 Forexample,EngenderingAphrodite,aconferencepublishedbyDianeBolgerand
NancySerwint,AmericanSchoolsofOrientalResearch,ArchaeologicalReports,Cyp-
rusAmericanArchaeologicalResearchInstituteMonographs(),hasthesubtitle
WomenandSocietyinAncientCyprus,butthatcollectionofessaysismoreinterested
in gendered approaches than Greek gods. A more focused conference was published
in , by Göta Johansson, The Making of a Goddess: Aphrodite in History, Art and
Literature(Lund,).Thisanthologyoftexts,somepreviouslypublished,presentsthe
“influentialandversatilegoddess”andherdevelopmentfromInanna/Ishtarthroughto
thetwentiethcenturyad.
2 VincianePirenne-Delforge,L’Aphroditegrecque.Contributionàl’étudedesescultes
etdesapersonnalitédanslepanthéonarchaïqueetclassique.KernosSupplement(Liege,
).
flourishingaphrodite:anoverview 
pantheon in all its complexity, on the other. Sourvinou-Inwood distin-
guished two levels for the representation of Greek gods: the local, polis
level,andthePanhelleniclevel.Today,suchadistinctioniswellknown
and has been infused into scholarship about Greek religion, as was not
thecasethirtyyearsago,especiallywithregardtoAphrodite.Ibelieveit
isnotmerechancethatSourvinou-Inwoodchoseacasestudyofagod-
desswhosefigurehadbeenpreviouslystudiedonlyfromaliterarypoint
ofview,andhadthereforebecomedisassociatedfromculticrealities.
Beforebeginningtoworkonthesubjectmyself,Iwasconsciousthat
twoprincipaltrendsofinvestigationhadbeenprivilegedtoencapsulate
Aphrodite’s profile: first, the study of texts celebrating this so-called
goddess of love, sex, and beauty; second, those looking for her origins
(I will return induecoursetothe secondissue). My own response was
against both of these trends: I wanted to put aside the literary persona
of Aphrodite and the question of her origins. Fortunately a third path
ofinvestigationwasathand,inLewisFarnell’smonumentalCultsofthe
GreekStates,8writtenattheendofthenineteenthcentury.Farnell’sideas
were reinvigorated, on a stricter methodological basis, in Sourvinou-
Inwood’s article. She scrutinized local cults in their own Greek context
withoutanybiasinspiredbyliteratureorinterpretationthroughaNear
EasternorIndo-Europeanframe.Myleaningtowardsthisapproachwas,
inpart,rootedfirstintheconsciousnessthatIwasnotcompetentenough
to address the multicultural and multilinguistic evidence of the many
places in which Aphrodite was thought to have originated. Second, my
educationinancienthistorywasfedbyFrench-speakingscholars,such
as Jean-Pierre Vernant and Jean Rudhardt, who made a strong case for
an interpretation of the Greek religious system in the Greek language.9
WalterBurkert’sbookswere,ofcourse,alsopresentonmydesk,andvery
helpful, particularly his monumental Greek Religion. Despite Burkert’s
useful investigations into the oriental background and some cultural
issues,10IthoughtthequestionoftheoriginsofGreekgodsshouldnow
take a backseat. More urgent was the need to understand Aphrodite’s
cultsintheGreekcities.
8 LewisRichardFarnell,CultsoftheGreekStates,vols.(Oxford,–).
9 Forexample,Jean-PierreVernant,“Lasociétédesdieux,”inMytheetsociétéenGrèce
ancienne(Paris,),pp.–;JeanRudhardt,Notionsfondamentalesdelapensée
religieuseetactesconstitutifsduculteenGrèceclassique,nded.(Paris,),p..
10 Walter Burkert, Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical, trans. John Raffan (Cam-
bridge,Mass.,).Ontheorientalbackground,forexample:WalterBurkert,TheOri-
entalizingRevolution:NearEasternInfluenceonCultureintheEarlyArchaicAge,trans.
 vincianepirenne-delforge
Writing such a monograph on a Greek goddess in the late s
andearlyswas not,however,fashionable,despiteitssubjectbeing
Aphrodite.ThecontemporarytrendsinscholarshiponGreekgodswere
geared towards regional studies, such as Fritz Graf’s work on northern
Ionian cults, Philippe Bruneau’s analysis of the cults on the island of
Delos, or Madeleine Jost’s investigation into the religious life of Arca-
dia.11 The local level of Greek religion, just as Sourvinou-Inwood had
defined it, increasingly necessitated regional investigations, which took
into account the nexus of the complex relation among the deities of a
localpantheon.RobertParkerhasalsotakenthisapproachinhissecond
bookdevotedtoAthenianreligion.12
Thestudyofasingledeitydoes,however,riskbeingadeity-centered
analysis that does not place the god or goddess in a plural context.
Returningtothischoicewithacriticalgaze,today,Idonotregrethav-
ing taken this option many years ago. First, regional works and deity-
centered monographs are complementary tools that are necessary for
the interpretation of Greek polytheism, even though (and here I quote
Parker) “Greek polytheism is indescribable.”13 Second, I realized, while
working on this keynote address, that my work had perhaps modestly
contributedtotheflourishinginterestintheculticdimensionofAphro-
dite.EventhoughIhadhadtolimitthescopeofmyresearch,thebook
put at everyone’s disposal, albeit in French, the material necessary to
tackledifferentproblemsconcerningthisgoddess.Giventhesesources,
onemighteitheragreeordisagreewithmyhypotheses:scientificcontro-
versyisthemostefficientfuelforscholarship!
Letusnowturntothemaintrendsofthisrecentscholarship,inwhich
Idiscernthreetendencies:afocalizationonregionalcontexts,astudyof
MargaretE.PinderandWalterBurkert(Cambridge,Mass.,);DaOmeroaiMagi.
Latradizioneorientalenellaculturagreca(Venice,).Severalpapershavebeengath-
eredrecentlyinKleineSchriften:Orientalia,ed.M.LauraGemelliMarciano(Göttingen,
).
11 Fritz Graf, Nordionische Kulte. Religionsgeschichtliche und epigraphische Untersu-
chungenzudenKultenvonChios,Erythrai,KlazomenaiundPhokaia,BibliothecaHel-
veticaRomana(Rome,);PhilippeBruneau,RecherchessurlescultesdeDélosà
l’époquehellénistiqueetàl’époqueimpériale,BibliothèquedesÉcolesfrançaised’Athènes
etdeRome(Paris,);MadeleineJost,Sanctuairesetcultesd’Arcadie,Étudespélo-
ponnésiennes(Paris,).
12 ThefirstwasAthenianReligion:AHistory(Oxford,),andthesecond,Polythe-
ismandSocietyatAthens(Oxford,).
13 Parker,PolytheismandSociety,p..
flourishingaphrodite:anoverview 
thepresenceofAphroditeinsidethepoliticalandmilitaryarenaofmany
cities,andthecontinuingquestionofherorigins.
RegionalContexts
In , Yulia Ustinova published a book on The Supreme Gods of the
Bosporan Kingdom: Celestial Aphrodite and the Most High God.14 The
author’scommandofRussianenabled hertogather theresultsofexca-
vationsandotherarchaeologicalresearchintheBlackSearegion.From
the available evidence, she produced a balanced evaluation of the rich
interactionsbetweenGreekcolonists,amongwhomMilesianswerethe
most active, and their indigenous neighbors. She showed the evolution
of Aphrodite’s cult, and how the goddess became, during the Hellenis-
tic period, the tutelary goddess of the Bosporan Kingdom. The leading
position of the goddess in the Greek cities of this region (well stud-
ied in all its implications by Ustinova) has also been shown through
the impressive results of the excavations conducted in Miletos, mother
city of many colonies on the coast of the Black Sea.15 On the modern
site of Zeytintepe, an extra-urban sanctuary of Aphrodite provides a
largeamountofArchaicmaterial,which,whenpublished,willprobably
changeourmindsabouttheroleandprofileofAphroditeintheArchaic
period.Thisexcavationisoneofthemostpromisingandexcitinginthe
Archaic“Aphrodisian”domain.16AnothersitewhereAphroditepredom-
inates,albeitwithadifferentchronologicalscope,isatAphrodisias.Lisa
Brodyhaspresentedtheimportanceofinterpretingthecomplexandfas-
cinating image of the goddess Aphrodite in such a multicultural place
during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.17 Still in the archaeological
domain,resultsfromtheoldexcavationsconductedbytheFrenchSchool
14 YuliaUstinova,TheSupremeGodsoftheBosporanKingdom:CelestialAphroditeand
theMostHighGod,ReligionsoftheGraeco-RomanWorld(Leiden,).
15 SeeAlanM.Greaves,“TheCultofAphroditeinMiletosandItsColonies,”Anatolian
Studies(),–.
16 ConductedbyVolkmarvonGraeve.Since,whenthesanctuarywasdiscovered,
onlypreliminaryreportshavebeenpublishedinsuccessiveissuesofAA.Cf.Reinhard
Senff,“DasAphroditeheiligtumvonMilet,”inNeueForschungenzurReligionsgeschichte
Kleinasiens,ed.GudrunHeedemann,AsiaMinorStudien(Berlin,),pp.–,
andhttp://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/milet/in/aphrodite.htm(consultedonJanuary
).
17 SeeLisaR.Brody,“TheCultofAphroditeatAphrodisiasinCaria,”Kernos(),
–.