Aphrodite: The Greek Goddess Of Beauty

This beauty shapes Aphrodite into a representation of the ideal sexual woman that is desired in the Roman world. An example of this eroticizing is displayed for the first time in Alexandros of Antioch's Venus de Milo, where the goddess is displayed as a sexual being rather than a divine entity. When a beautify goddess, such as Aphrodite, is placed within the villas, comparison is created between the goddess and the female residents of the villa. By frequently placing the goddess amongst the women of the house, visitors and owners alike are able to juxtapose the owners with the statue. Beauty, style, and values are shown through the idealized Aphrodite, displaying the sexual qualities of women that were so idealized during the Roman empire.

Aphrodite has two sides of being an eminent goddess. One side is the “ideal of female grace and beauty” where on the outside was a radiant goddess completely flawless (APHRODITE). The darker side of this goddess was her personality that was described as “ill-tempered” and “easily offended,” this demonstrated her being easily

The scene of nudity in the statue of Aphrodite looks intentional. This is concluded with the placid look on the marble’s face. She looks calm in dealing with her nude pose. It is as if she is heading towards the bathroom before the nude moment was captured. The marble statue of Aphrodite is life sized, thin, and fits a young woman by the normal modern standards. The height with the plinth is approximately sixty two and a half inches (158.8 cm).

The speaker then contrasts this by using diction. The speaker uses a lot of allusions in this poem from other stories or poems. The first to be mentioned was in the seventh stanza. "And one, to wake the mirth in Lesbia's gaze". Lesbia is referred to the love of the Roman poet, Gaius Valerius Catullus. The line means to wake the happiness in her gaze, also known as the emotion of love. Another allusion is mentioned in the twelfth line. "In the proud Parian's perpetuity". The allusion in reality means the most famous Greek sculptures that were carved out. In the poem however, it seemed to show an expression of looking down your life as if you were going down the halls to look at the sculptures.

Holding great influence over both gods and mortals, Aphrodite could have anyone or anything she wanted. Using her unique powers, she could charm and convince her various desired lovers for much more than love and romance. Many have said that she was the goddess of lust, desire, trickery and sex appeal. Either way, Aphrodite had an assortment of engagements with other mortals and immortals. Her most recognized encounter was with the notorious Ares, who later went on to take the actual title of being her husband.

In many ways, this poem is unusual in its subject. It deters in several ways from a typical aubade, such as Donne's "The Sun Rising" or the internal aubade introducing the bird narrator in Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde." For this poem, it is important to note that rather than detailing the parting of lovers, this poem addresses a parting which has already taken place. The speaker is likely driving away from his love, having left her, and imagining her still asleep. The last line of the poem has a certain intimacy to it, that even though they are apart, in the speaker's mind they are still joined by this moment, as he seems to have an awareness or thoughtfulness regarding what she is doing as he moves further away. Also, the speaker in an aubade is usually discontented that he has to leave his love; this speaker is somehow consoled by the knowledge that a parting is never really a parting (his driving off is somehow symbolic of this.) It is also interesting to note that this aubade doesn't greet the sun; rather it mentions the moon instead.

Have you ever watched Mean Girls? The movie with Lindsay Lohan where she meets “the mean girls” of her school? There’s one girl that she meets which is the head of the group, really pretty, blonde, obsessed with being the hottest one and having no competition, her name was Regina George. Aphrodite is like the Regina George of the goddesses. She’s really pretty, well that’s about the only description I can give you because she can be whatever your definition of beautiful is.

Allusions to the environment are also present in Sappho’s love poems, in fact, using many of the same comparisons used in the Song of Songs, seemingly for the same purpose; to paint a picture of love. Under the surface though, Sappho is painting a beautiful picture of love to win over the help of Aphrodite to help satisfy her need for a fulfilling love, as is a common theme in her poems. Present in both Song of Songs and Sappho’s love poems, is the comparison of the rushing feeling of love to a stream of water, a protective, but fruitful apple tree, all placed within a pleasant garden. The stream in the Song of Songs is “a spring shut up” (132), representing a love that wishes to flow/be consummated, but ultimately cannot because of societal limitations, whereas

Aphrodite is growing quickly. She appears to thrive on the attention she gets from us: her mother and father. Strange words those, but also true in our case. It is odd to know that we are the parents of a child; one that we will watch grow up and become a leader of our new world. That is a great future to behold.

“Coming, Aphrodite!” by Willa Cather is a story that portrays the elements of a romance. A definition of Romance is a strong, sometimes short-lived attachment, fascination, or enthusiasm for something. This definition describes the relationship between Don Hedger and Eden Bower. Don, who is a painter, was dark and quiet. He rejected fame and didn’t need fortune to be successful, he painted for “painters,--haven’t been born.” (37) Contrastingly, Eden was light and free spirited. She went out into the world to meet new people and to become known. Because the both of them were from totally opposite worlds, their attraction sparked like fireworks. They both were young artists wanting success and wealth out of life, but in different

Aphrodite represents erotic love as a fascinating form of divine influence. The nude Aphrodite has powerful meaning and

A Similarity of both Apollo and Aphrodite manipulation is the revelations of the motives are revealed before their actions take place. In the first Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, the story describes the beautiful, virgin goddess who falls in love with the mortal, Anchises. Aphrodite eludes the most powerful Greek god Zeus and in retaliation, Zeus forces Aphrodite to fall in love with a mortal which eventually leads to her falling in love with Anchises and have sex with him. Aphrodite intentions are made clear before any actions take place and is described, “And when she saw him, Aphrodite, lover of laughter, she loved him, and a terrifying desire seized her heart” (Aphrodite 87-88). Comparing this hymn to the second Homeric Hymn to apollo, the story has similarities to the story of Aphrodite. For example, Apollo also reveals his

At this point the poet uses symbolism substituting a flower for his mother. This is an appropriate symbol as, like his mother, a flower is feminine, delicate and

For example, in “Hymn to Aphrodite”, you can sense that Sappho is trying to talk about real human experiences. She also provided fragments of survival in this poem, which allows the reader to escape from reality. “Hymn to Aphrodite”, begins when Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus is called. In this poem, Aphrodite uses her skills to lure her lover.

Meanwhile, there was the mighty Zeus, the king of the gods, who was married to the goddess Hera. Hera is the goddess of War and Honesty, but she had an awful temper and often took it out on her husband, Zeus. Hera only loved Zeus because he was the king of gods and she wanted some of that power for herself, so she never let him leave her side, and although he was her husband, she talked badly about him, and constantly blamed and insulted him. Aphrodite witnessed this many times and started to feel empathy for Zeus, she knew Zeus was kind and didn’t deserve to be treated like that. At this, anger burned inside of Aphrodite for Hera and what she did to hurt Zeus, and as this anger burned she felt a passion. Aphrodite casually began to develop feelings for Zeus. She always told herself she shouldn’t, that Zeus was married and she needed to stay away, but she couldn’t help how she felt for Zeus.