1. Introduction toClassical Mythology Dr. Michael Broder University of South Carolina January 24, 2012

2. Daily Write

How do you think Aphrodite feels about her relationship with Anchises, and why?

Please do your best to answer this question in one (nice, juicy) sentence. 3. Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite : Identification

Author = Anonymous / Unknown

• Greek

• Uncertain; probably c. 650 BCE

Title =Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

Genre = Epic poem, Hymn

4. Background to the Homeric Hymns

NOT COMPOSED BY HOMER

Called Homeric because of the language and rhythm (dactylic hexameter)

The wordhymnderives from Greekhymnos , song of praise (to a god or goddess)

Written from the 7th to 5th centuries BCE by a variety of anonymous authors

Their genre isepic , based on their use of epic meter, althoughhymnis also a genre term

5. Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

Likely the oldest of theHymnssince it is closest to Homers language and because of its connection to HomersIliad

Tells the story of Aphrodites affair with Anchises

Celebrates the birth of their child, Aineias

6. Aphrodite & Anchises in theIliad

Poseidon foretells the destiny of Aineias when he faces Achilles during the Trojan War

• For it is destined that Aineias escape

• And the line of Dardanos not be destroyed

• And disappear without seedDardanos,

• Whom Zeus loved more than any of the sons

• born from his union with mortal women.

• The son of Cronos has come to hate Priams line,

• And now Aineias will rule the Trojans with might,

• And the sons born to his sons in the future.

• Homer,Iliad , Book 20, lines 302-308

• Translated by Stanley Lombardo

7. Ancestry of Aineias Zeus + Electra (daughter of Atlas) Dardanos Erichthonios Tros Assaracos Capys Anchises + Aphrodite Aineias 8. Aphrodite

Rousessweet desire

Subduesmen, birds, beasts, and fish

Persuades

Beguiles

Conquers

Why does the Homeric Hymn make it sound like Aphrodite some kind of athlete or warrior?

9. Because in the epic view of the world Love Is a Battlefield 10. Aphrodites Power Has Limits

Aphrodite cannot subdue the 3 virgin goddesses

• Athena goddess of war, wisdom, and womanly arts

• Artemis goddess of wild animals and hunting

• Hestia goddess of the home and hearth

Note that no male gods are virgins

Why not? Why are there no virgin gods, only virgin goddesses?

11. What the fudge is Dr. Broder talking about?

When I ask you a question like

• Why are there no virgin gods, only virgin goddesses?

• what kind of question am I asking you?

• A factual question ( what )

• • to which you cancite an answer in the text?

• A conceptual question ( how/why )

• • that requires you tointerpret the text for yourself ?

12. The epic imagination is factual, not conceptual

So when I ask you aconceptualquestion like

• Why are there no virgin gods, only virgin goddesses?

Dont look down at theepic textexpecting to find an answer

Look into yourconceptual mindand see what you can find there

13. Why are there no virgin gods, only virgin goddesses? 14. Earth and Seed, Woman and Man

Woman is the earth where the seed grows

A virgin, or maiden, is a young woman in whom no seed has been planted

Man produces the seeds and plants the seeds in the earth/woman

For the Greeks,virginmeansunplanted soil

Since man is not the soil, there is no way a man can be a virgin

This, of course, is different from the way we think of virginity in the United States in 2012

15. Aphrodite vs Zeus

Aphrodite is the goddess oflove ,beauty , andsexual reproduction

In the epic imagination, love is anirrational desire

Zeus is the god ofwisdomandreason

The hymn represents the power of Aphrodite over Zeus as a triumph ofirrational desireoverrational wisdom

• Even his wise wit she has beguiled at her will, and easily she united him with mortal women, without Hera being aware of it.

16. Then Zeus gets pissed off at Aphrodites shenanigans and causes her to have a Total Eclipse of the Heart 17. Doesnt it make sense that Aphrodite should be a wife and mother?

As a goddess ofsexual reproduction , it seems reasonable that Aphrodite should bematernal ,not virginal

But note that it is Zeus who causes Aphrodite to experience desire for a mortal man

In the end, then, Zeus the god ofrational wisdom , triumphs over Aphrodite, the goddess ofirrational desire

18. Questions for Discusson

Why does the epic imagination want woman to be the earth?

Why does the epic imagination want man to be the seed?

Why does the epic imagination want wisdom (Zeus) to triumph over desire (Aphrodite)?

Why is Aphroditeashamedof her desire?

Why is Anchisesterrifiedwhen he finds out that the beautiful virgin he has just deflowered is Aphrodite?

19. For Next Time

Homer,Odyssey , Books 1-3, pp. 77-123

20. Introduction toClassical Mythology Dr. Michael Broder University of South Carolina January 24, 2012