Archeology of love: the representation of Aphrodite and Eros in ancient thought

Abstract

Known is the figure of Aphrodite (Venus among Latins), Greek goddess of love and beauty, one of the twelve great deities of the Olympic pantheon. She embodies the force and creative omnipotence of loving desire, to which all living beings are subject without distinction: humans, animals and even the gods themselves. Seductive, sometimes fearsome, is one of the fundamental forces of the world, as pointed out by the best-known tradition related to his birth: according to Hesiod, Aphrodite was born of Uranus, when his son Cronos, after mutilating him, threw his genitals into the sea. The seed of the castrated god fecundated the foam of the waves and in them engendered this goddess of radiant beauty, at whose passage the flowers were born. This story explains the meaning of his name because aphros means 'foam'. He maintained loving relationships with many gods, and also with mortals, although her husband, chosen by Zeus, was Hephaestus, the god of fire. From his love affair with Ares (the Mars of the Romans), god of war, was born Eros, the god of love. Eros (Cupid among the Romans), which symbolizes sensual desire, is the Greek god responsible for sexual attraction, love and sex, also revered as a god of fertility. According to Hesiod, it is one of the primordial forces born of Chaos. According to other versions, as we pointed out before, he is the son of Ares and Aphrodite. According to the myth that Plato's Banquet offers, Eros was conceived by Poros (the Resource) and Penía (Poverty) on the birthday of Aphrodite. Starting from the tradition initiated by Eratosthenes, Eros fundamentally governs love between men, while Aphrodite does it over love between men and women. In later images, he is shown as a mischievous child, often blindfolded, equipped with a bow and arrows that pierces the hearts of lovers. In this paper, we will investigate, although without pretension of exhaustiveness, the figures of Aphrodite and Eros in the most known or relevant mythical episodes of classical literature, in attention to two main lines of interpretation of both gods: those referring to speech amorous and / or erotic that arises around them and their actions and those related to the body and its characteristics.