Aphrodite and Venus
Aphrodite vs. Venus

In many ways the two goddesses were the same person because they were both said to be beautiful and carried the mantle as goddesses of love and fertility. However, the tradition is much different since both were borrowed from other traditions (Venus came, in part, from the Aphrodite tradition), so were not unique to the pantheons they occupied. The goddesses were both also associated with multiple trysts, often playing the gods and men they had interactions with against each other. The stories of their affairs and lives have become important in myth and in reality as many women identify with the characters of these two. Two pieces, The Odyssey by Homer and The Lusiads by Camoes, are examined herein as classic pieces of literature in which the goddesses served a crucial part in the story.

Aphrodite: The Odyssey

The Iliad and the Odyssey are two of the most…...

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Works Cited

Camoes, Luis de. The Lusiad. Trans. William Julius Mickle. London: Lackington, Allen & Co., 1809. Web.

Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Samuel Butler. New York: Plain Label Books, 2009. Web.

Stewart, Michael. "Aphrodite," Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant, 2005. Web.

The first is the famous "Bartlett Head," named for Francis Bartlett, who provided the funds for its acquisition by the MFA in 1900. Celebrated in rapturous prose by Henry James within a few years of its first appearance in Boston, it was carved from luminous marble shortly after Praxiteles's Knidos Aphrodite, and remains to this day one of the most admired examples of classical Greek sculpture. The life-size head fuses human beauty with a divine ideal in the 23 century A.D. that is as perfect and enigmatic as Venus de Milo (Bergeron 2). This goddess turns her head down to her lower right, as is indicated by the curve of the neck. This tilt, as well as the softness of the carving on the skin and the heavy lids, impart a certain gentle nature to the goddess, so that connoisseurs have been inclined to interpret her as Aphrodite, the…...

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Works Cited List

"Aphrodite and the Gods of Love' Exhibit at MFA." Bostoniano.info. 27 October 2011. 2011. 1-4. Accessed 22 November 2011.

Cached

Aphrodite and the Gods of Love. 2011. Accessed 22 November 2011.

< www.mfa.org/programs/other/aphrodite-and-gods-love>Cached

Greek Goddess Aphrodite, the mythology of her birth and how she has interfered in the lives of man and woman throughout key mythological events such as the Trojan war and the journey of Odysseus as he traveled home to Ithaca from the battlefields of Troy. Using mythological and historical texts such as esoid's Theogony, and omer's the Illiad and The Oddessey a brief understanding has been gleaned regarding the Greek Goddess: Bibliography cites five sources.
Aphrodite Goddess of Love and meddler in men's hearts

Aphrodite is known by many followers of Greek Mythology as the Goddess of Love, desire and beauty, amongst her normal immortal gifts Aphrodite also has a magical girdle, which compels those whom she desires to desire her.

Aphrodite has been given many names as the Goddess of Love the most famous being Venus, even within the mythos of the tales from omer she is given this name as…...

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Homer, The Illiad [online] accessed at  http://www.uoregon.edu/~joelja/iliad.html 

Homer, The Odessey [online] accessed at  http://www.uoregon.edu/~joelja/odessy.html 

Anonymous (1998) Aphrodite: Goddess of Love [online] accessed at  http://www.messagenet.com/myths/bios/aphrodite.html

Statue
The marble statue of Aphrodite, goddess of love, is an impressive example of Roman sculpture from the Imperial era. Although it is Roman, the Greek name of the goddess has been preserved because the artist was directly influenced by the Greek sculptural tradition. However, it is definitively Roman in its appearance based on stylistic similarities with other sculptures contemporary with it. For example, the ornate hair and headdress signify Roman imperial aesthetics. Parts of the sculpture have been damaged; Aphrodite's nose and arms are missing. This almost adds, rather than detracts from, her mysterious beauty. Aphrodite stands in a relaxed pose. She is not so much a goddess as she is a human exemplar of gentle, confident, composed strength. Her sexuality is matter-of-fact. If one word could be used to describe the statue of Aphrodite, it could indeed be the word feminist.

The statue is feminist in the sense that the…...

Aphrodite Biography
Aphrodite was said to have been the most beautiful and sensual of all the goddesses. There are varying stories of her birth. One story holds that she was born from the loins of Uranus, when his sex was severed from him and thrown into the sea: Aphrodite emerged from the sea foam—a daughter of the sea, which is why one of the most famous images of her in artistic expression is of the goddess emerging from the sea (Graves). Homer in the Iliad indicated that Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus and Dione. Regardless of her origin story, Aphrodite served a central role in the back story of Greece, particularly when it came to her feud with Hera and Athena over who was the most beautiful of all.
Aphrodite was said to have married Hephaestus, the god of blacksmithing. She was also said to have had many paramours, including one with…...

The poems Catullus wrote to the woman Lesbia are among his best known. How would you characterize their affair?

Catallus describes a conflicted and stormy affair with the women of Lesbia. Sexual tension is evident in his poems, which have a strong erotic content. Therefore, his affairs were passionate and physical.

If the gender roles were reversed and the woman were the narrator, do you think this series of poems would read differently? Explain.

The poems would read differently not because their content would have changed but because they would subvert social norms. As a male, Catallus is allowed, almost expected to write such explicit details about his physical affairs including references to love and hatred. Females would have been more subtle because of the widespread social persecution they might suffer if they admitted to promiscuity or tumultuous romantic interludes especially with married people.

Catullus ends up calling his lady a whore. Would you…...

Venus in Art
Introduction to Venus and Aphrodite:

Throughout history, Venus has long been a source of inspiration for artists. Her representation of love and beauty has been captured in various mediums, from the visual arts of paintings and sculpture to music and drama; Venus has served as a universal symbol of beauty and has embodied the secrets of love. Central to understanding how artists have been able to use her as such a representation of love and beauty, is understanding Venus and Aphrodite's roles in history and Greek mythology.

Venus is an ancient Italian goddess closely associated with fields and gardens and later identified by the Romans with the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. Although the question as to how Venus came to be identified with so important a deity as Aphrodite remains unanswered, Venus' identification with Aphrodite is certain and because of this is often depicted in art. As a native…...

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Works Cited

Arscptt, C. & Scott, K. (Eds.) (2000). Manifestations of Venus: Art and sexuality. New York: Manchester University Press.

Beckley, B. (ed.) (1998). Uncontrollable Beauty: Toward a new aesthetics. New York: Allworth Press.

Hersey, G. (1996). The evolution of allure: sexual selection from the Medici Venus to the Incredible Hulk. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Goodman, E. (ed.) (2001). Art and Culture in the Eighteenth Century: new dimensions and multiple perspectives. Newark: University of Delaware Press.

Euripides' tragedy of "Hippolytus":
Phaedra as a plaything of the gods

Euripides' tragedy of "Hippolytus" is a tragedy of paganism, at least on its surface. The work details the conflict between Hippolytus, the noble son of Theseus who honors the goddess of chastity and the hunt Artemis and his new stepmother Phaedra, who honors Aphrodite above all other goddesses. When Phaedra falls in love with Hippolytus he is repulsed not simply because of the incestuous nature of Phaedra's love but because it dishonors the principles of chastity embodied by his excessive worship of Artemis. The conflict between the two goddesses, translated into human terms, ultimately results in death and destruction for both Hippolytus and Artemis and the misery of Theseus, the father of Hippolytus and the husband of Phaedra. However, there is also a higher symbolic order beyond that a personal conflict between the gods that is being violated, one which gives…...

Mythic Constructions of Masculinity and Feminity:
A Jungian Analysis

A myth is a story that spreads out a psychological blueprint for a certain kind of human experience. The story of Parsifal and his search for the Holy Grail is a myth about what is required for a boy to reach a complete sense of manhood; the myth of Eros and Psyche shows what a girl must do to become a fully self-actualized woman. Robert A. Johnson, author of He: Understanding Masculine Psychology and She: Understanding Feminine Psychology, points out that basic human needs and motivations "have remained stable over the years" (He, p. ix). ecause human nature does not change, we can learn about human behavior from ancient stories. A myth can be seen as society's collective dream. Analysis of a myth is like analyzing a dream in which all the characters represent parts of the self. In this paper we will…...

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Bibliography

Johnson, Robert A. He: Understanding Masculine Psychology. New York: Harper and Row, 1989.

Johnson, Robert A. She: Understanding Feminine Psychology. New York: Harper

Perennial, 1989.

Greek Sculpture
A Timeline of Greek Sculpture

Polykleitos, Doryphoros (early fourth century BC)

As Paul Johnson (2003) records, this ancient example of Greek classicalism "epitomizes a canon of male beauty embodied in mathematical proportions" (p. 63). Showing the perfection of contraposto, Doryphoros (or the spear-carrier) is a balanced representation of the body's muscles. Polykleitos, a contemporary of Phidias, had his own school of young artists, which carried on into the third century BC. Polykleitos' works are treated on in his own treatise, called "The Canon," which gave explicit attention to symmetry, clarity, and wholeness. The Spear-carrier is one of the best examples of Polykleitos' teaching -- however, this example is a copy of his original, and is held in Naples -- a fitting representation of the art of Greek sculpting.

Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos (mid-fourth century BC)

Praxiteles actually made two statues for Kos -- so the legend goes. One statue depicted Aphrodite (Venus), modestly…...

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Reference List

Agony -- The Famous Group of Laocoon. (n.d.) Old and Sold. Retrieved from  http://www.oldandsold.com/articles26/rome-19.shtml 

Haaren, J. (2000). Famous Men of Greece. Lebanon, TN: Greenleaf Press.

Johnson, P. (2003). Art: A New History. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

The Farnesse Bull. (n.d.) Old and Sold. Retrieved from  http://www.oldandsold.com/articles26/naples-5.shtml

Greek Project 1272
ART204 Formal Research Project Summer Term 2012

Ancient Greek sculpture is one of the most famous historical forms of art. Three main forms of life are represented by this sculpture; war, mythology, and rulers of the land of ancient Greece. The main aim of the paper is to revisit the history of the art of sculpturing in ancient Greece and different steps of its development within different time periods. Some of the main developments in Greek sculpture included depiction of changes in forms, depiction of female and male figures, degrees of present realism, and how sculpturing was used to achieve these effects.

Developments in Greek Sculpturing techniques

There are four main periods in which main developments and changes in the Greek sculpturing took place. The first period is referred to as the geometric period; second period is the archaic period, the third one being the classic and the last and fourth…...

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Works Cited

Dillon, Sheila. Ancient Greek Portrait Sculpture: Contexts, Subjects, And Styles. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Dillon, Sheila. The Female Portrait Statue in the Greek World. Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Giannakopoulou, Liana. The Power of Pygmalion: Ancient Greek Sculpture in Modern Greek Poetry, 1860-1960, Volume 3 of Byzantine and Neohellenic Studies. Peter Lang, 2007.

art from three different cultures. Specifically it will discuss pieces from the Classical Greek, Indian Civilizations, and Egyptian Civilizations, including the meaning of the work and an art analysis of the work. Each of these different cultures produced very different works of art that were meant to entertain, enlighten, and be viewed for enjoyment. They used different techniques, but there were commonalities, as well. They represent some of the best and most beautiful artwork the world has ever seen.
The Classic Greek work of art I have chosen is the marble sculpture the Venus of Arles, which now resides in the Musee du Louvre in Paris. It is made of Hymettus marble and is thought to be as old as the third century BC. It is thought that the Venus was created by the sculptor Praxiteles, in an attempt to recapture his sculpting career. It is often called the Aphrodite…...

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References

Bens, K. (2009). Aphrodite of Arles. Retrieved 16 Oct. 2009 from the Museum of Antiques Web site:  http://www.usask.ca/antiquities/collection/classicalgreek/aphroditearles.html .

Editors. (2009). Kishangarh miniatures - In quest of divine love. Retrieved 16 Oct. 2009 from the India Profile Web site:  http://www.indiaprofile.com/art-crafts/kishangarhminiatures.htm .

Nalubwama, E. (2009). Ancient Egyptian papyrus. Retrieved 16 Oct. 2009 from the University of Minnesota Web site: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/dailylife/papyrus.html.

Sikander, N. (2009). Bani Thani paintings. Retrieved 16 Oct. 2009 from the Ethnic Paintings Web site: http://www.ethnicpaintings.com/indian_painting_styles/miniature/rajput/bani_thani/.

Also, this carving is quite sentimental in appearance, for it reflects "the solemn pathos of the Greek citizen, much like some of the sculptures found on the pediment of the Parthenon" (Seyffert, 245).
Our last artifact is titled Pair of Armbands with Triton and Tritoness Holding Erotes, made in the Hellenistic period, circa 200 .C.E. These jewelry objects were apparently designed for a woman of high Greek culture, for they are made from solid gold and are fashioned in the shape of two loosely-coiled snakes or serpents. Whomever designed these intricate and beautiful objects realized the special properties of gold, for the woman lucky enough to wear these could easily slip her arms through the loops, due to the malleability of solid gold. The two figures located at the tops of each piece are representations of Triton and Tritoness, most closely associated with the Greek god of the sea Poseidon.

As…...

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Bibliography

New Greek and Roman Galleries." The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Internet. 2007.

Retrieved at  http://www.metmuseum.org/special/greek_roman/images.asp .

Seyffert, Oskar. The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Religion, Literature and Art.

New York: Gramercy Books, 1995.

Love Got to Do With it: A Critical Analysis of Hippolytus and Lysistrata.
If one reads Hippolytus and Lysistrata, one may immediately conclude that love has 'nothing' to do with anything. Many Greek plays discuss the subject of love in obtuse ways. Love is often the driving force of Greek tragedies, thought to inspire, incite and even enrage in many cases. While love is an important concept and theme, it is not always presented in a positive light in many plays. This is certainly the case in Hippolytus and Lysistrata, which at best suggest that love is unnecessary or tragic.

Hippolytus written by Euripides does so remarkably well, suggesting that love is something that can not only be manipulated by the Gods, but also something that is less tangible in some cases than passion and lust.

Lysistrata, written by Aristophanes, puts sex and power on a pedestal above love suggesting that women…...

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References:

Seldes, G. (1930). "Aristophanes' Lysistrata: A new version." New York: Farrar &

Rinehart.

Sutherland, D. (1960). "Hippolytus in Drama and Myth: The Hippolytus of Euripides."

Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.

artwork entitled "The Judgment of Paris," by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Specifically, it will briefly describe the subject of the work, and analyze the work in regard to its expressive content. What statement do you think the artist wanted to make? What techniques did the artist use to make this statement? Discuss the composition; the treatment of figures; the use of color, light/shade; scale; the treatment of space; the handling of paint; the organization of space. "The Judgment of Paris" depicts a famous mythological scene with great attention to detail and reality. Cranach's work expresses the myths of old set in his current time of the 15th and 16th centuries. His ability to combine ancient stories with modern settings might have been incongruous, but instead, his paintings are stimulating examples that blend elements to created a coherent and charming whole.
THE JUDGMENT OF PAIS

Lucas Cranach the Elder was a German…...

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References

Editors. "Lucas Cranach the Elder." ArtCyclopedia.com. 2002. 3 April 2003.  http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/cranach_the_elder_lucas.html 

Scherer, Margaret R. The Legends of Troy in Art and Literature. 2nd ed. New York: The Phaidon Press, 1964.

Greek mythology has been reinterpreted and incorporated into modern storytelling mediums in a variety of ways, including:

1. Literature: Many authors have drawn inspiration from Greek mythology in their works of fiction, reimagining the stories of gods, heroes, and monsters in new and unique ways. For example, Madeline Miller’s novel "Circe" retells the story of the witch from The Odyssey, while Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series features modern-day demigods who must navigate the world of Greek mythology.

2. Film and television: Greek mythology has been a popular source of inspiration for filmmakers and television producers, with numerous movies and TV shows incorporating....

The Enduring Legacy of Greek Mythology in Pop Culture and Literature

Greek mythology, a tapestry of epic tales, legendary heroes, and divine interventions, has left an enduring imprint on modern pop culture and literature. Its archetypal characters, timeless themes, and evocative imagery continue to inspire and shape artistic expressions across various mediums.

Characters as Archetypes:

Greek mythological figures have become archetypal representations of human traits and experiences. Achilles symbolizes the warrior's pride and vulnerability; Odysseus embodies the cunning strategist; and Aphrodite stands for the power and allure of love. These archetypes resonate with audiences of all ages, providing relatable and universally recognizable symbols.

Literary....

1. The study of ancient cultures through their myths provides a unique window into the beliefs, values, and societal norms of civilizations that existed thousands of years ago. By examining the similarities between Mayan and Greek myths, we can gain valuable insights into the shared human experiences and universal themes that transcend time and geographical boundaries. Both the Mayan and Greek civilizations developed complex mythologies that helped shape their understanding of the world and their place within it. Through a comparative analysis of these myths, we can uncover underlying cultural similarities and differences that offer a deeper understanding of these....