An Intertextual Reading of a Myth: Between Poetry, Myth, Cult Topography, and History.

(Notes on Revisionism in Narrative Traditions of the Mythos of Aphrodite Kypris in Ancient Greek Fragments
Attributed to Homer and the Cypria.)

Fee-Alexandra Haase

Cyprus International University

- Abstract -
This article focuses on the sources for main local places of the cult of Aphrodite on Cyprus Island. Therefore, we will discuss Pausanias’ writings and the Suda as sources. Another source is the extant Cypria. The main literal sources regarding Aphrodite for the mythological narratives like the Cypria are poetic literature. We will also look at the buildings and cult sites in honor of Aphrodite on Cyprus Island. The mythos told in ancient literature gives us descriptions of Aphrodite and epitheta as goddess related to the sea and the island next to other epitheta. The topographical epitheton ‘Aphrodite Kypris‘ serves mainly as a epitheton indicating her origin, but on the other hand this epitheton also indicates the place the goddess fled to after the trial of the gods of the Olymp. Various sources give more specific attributes of the goddess related to Cyprus Island we will take as points of road marks in our reading across several texts. Due to the mythological sources and the only partly extant sources of historical material and monuments we will discuss the different strings of tradition of the relation of Aphrodite to the island Cyprus. Using the example of Aphrodite we will show that the literary documentation of cult topography from contemporary perspective is placed between mythos and historical events. This interwoven resource situation lets us interpret the narrative documents and historical remnants both on the level of historical documents and mythos. The oldest relation of Aphrodite to the sea is expressed in the name Aphrodite itself. As an intertextual reading of a myth we define the technique of collecting and reading different sources of the myth as interrelated versions. An intertextual reading of a myth is aware of a) the different tracks of the material varying it slightly and b) different versions of one and the same document. Our intertextual reading is as a reading a selection of available sources starting from historical material for the topographical area attributed to Aphrodite on Cyprus Island to the poetic forms of the myth.

Introduction
The name Aphrodite means ‘foam born’ and is related to her legendary birth at the south coast of Cyprus Island (Hesiod. Theogony. 190). Aphrodite was a goddess of the Olympian pantheon and the poetic reception of her mythos gives us material for the analysis of the epitheta attributed to her. Related to Cypris are also the epitheta Aphrodite kyprogeneia (Greek Elegaic Theognis 1.1381), kyprogenes Kythereia (Greek Elegaic Theognis 1.1386), and Kypris, the goddess of desire (Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.850). In the Cypria, an ancient Greek epos, we find in the part about the history of the Trojan War a mentioning of Aphrodite. When facing the Homeric material related to Aphrodite, we will see in the example of the names Paris and Alexander in text passages related to her a shift by the substituting relation between a historical and a mythological person due to the possibility of changes done by later philologists. In the texts the implementation of Alexander’s name can be seen as an argument for revisionism of some of the texts, while the mentioning of Aphrodite in all text is given. We argue that in the case of Aphrodite the epitheton is a tool for the localization of the mythical person and that the related descriptions contain information about her local cults historically practiced. We must consider here the Homeric poetry as the earliest form of literature as source for this goddess, while the Orphic Hymns are much later written down, and the Cypria cannot be exactly dated.

Greek and Near Eastern Historical Sources Regarding the Cult Typography of Aphrodite:
Archeological Sites - Buildings in Honor of Aphrodite in Greece and on Cyprus Island
We will start our reading with the historical monuments of Aphrodite as a goddess with a cult in the Mediterranean area. Historically during the Iron Age an influx of foreign influences to Cyprus Island from the Phoenicians, Greeks, Assyrians, Egyptians, and Persians existed bringing elements of their cultures to the island including the Greek gods.¹ As Lerou showed, prior to the theory that the cult of the goddess was introduced from the East, in the 19th century Enmann, who investigated into the cult of Aphrodite on the island, suggested that it was introduced by the Greek colonists.² In other words: We have the Greek colonization theory and the theory of import from the Middle East. If we look at the material of the Greek myth, it supports the theory of the ‘Greek’ origin. Identifications with ‘Eastern goddesses’ became popular among Pausianias and historians in Hellenistic and Roman time. Some epitheta are similar. Aphrodite’s Mesopotamian counterpart is Ishtar. Her Egyptian counterpart is Hathor (Herodotus, Histories 2.41). Herodote identified her with Assyriam Mylitta, Persian Mitra, and Arabian Alilat (Herodotus, Histories 1.131, 3.8, 1.199). Her Syro-Palestinian counterpart is Astarte (Herodotus, Histories 1.105, Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.14.6, Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 3.101f., Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.21-3.23, Suda entry ‘Astarte’). In Sumerian mythology Astarte is called ‘she who shows the way to the stars‘ as the Moon’s daughter and the Sun’s sister. In the Prayer of Lamentation to Ishtar this goddess is called ‘valiant daughter of Sin’ and ‘Lady of Battle’.³ The ‘heavenly Aphrodite’ had a shrine in Paphos mentioned by Apuleius (The Golden Ass, 11.218). Cicero identified Aphrodite as Venus (De Natura Deorum, 2.27). Issac Newton in his work The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended describes the practice of sacred prostitution of the Persians citing Q. Curtius (lib. V., cap. 1) adding that the lewdness of their women was encouraged even by their religion and custom for their women to sit once in their life in the Temple of Venus called Succoth Benoth, the Temple of Women for the use of strangers.⁴

Pausianias is a main source for the description of Aphrodite’s cults. The main places of Aphrodite’s worship were the islands of Cyprus and Cythera. At Cnidus in Caria Aphrodite had three temples, one of them contained her statue made by Praxiteles. Mount Ida in Troas was another ancient place of her worship. Among other places to be mentioned are the island of Cos, the towns of Abydos, Athens, Thespiae, Megara, Sparta, Sicyon, Corinth, and Eryx in Sicily. The sacrifices offered to her consisted mostly of incense and garlands of flowers (Virgil, Aeneas. I. 416; Tacitus, Histories II. 3). The cult is said to have been brought into Syria from Assyria (Paus. I. 14. § 6). In Greece and Asia her temples crowned the heights in the citadels of Thebes and Corinth and Mount Eryx in Sicily.⁵ Plutarch wrote that the women of Athens were celebrating the Adonia, the festival of Aphrodite and Adonis (Plutarch, Lives Nisias 13.7). Pausianias wrote that in this city a sanctuary of Ares in Athens existed, where two images of Aphrodite were placed, one of Ares made by Alkamenes and one of Athena. (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.8.4). Pausianias wrote also that above the Kerameikos in Athens a sanctuary of the Aphrodite ourania (‘heavenly Aphrodite’) exists. According to Pausanias the first men to establish her cult were the Assyrians, the Paphians of Cyprus Island, and the Phoinikians in Palestine. Among the Athenians the cult was established by Aegeus, who thought that he was childless and that his sisters had suffered their misfortune because of the wrath of Aphrodite ourania. King Porphyrion founded a sanctuary of Aphrodite ourania (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.14.6). Pausianias wrote that in the district called ‘The Gardens’ in Athens and the Temple of Aphrodite a statue of Aphrodite stood near the temple.⁶ At the time Pausianias visited it, the shape of the temple was a square and the inscription declares that Aphrodite ourania was the oldest of those goddesses called Moirai (Fates). The statue of Aphrodite kepois in the gardens of Athens is the work of Alkamenes (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.19.2). Pausianias wrote regarding Peiraeus of Attika that by the sea at Peireaus in Attika Konon built a sanctuary of Aphrodite after he had crushed the Lakedaimonian warships off Knidos in the Karian peninsula. The Knidians honored Aphrodite (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.1.3). Strabo wrote on Kolias and the Promontory of Attika that in the neighborhood of Anaphlystos in Attika the temple of Aphrodite kolias exists (Strabo, Geography 9.1.21). Oropos is a village in Attika described by Pausianias with the altar of Amphiaraus at Oropos in Attica. The fourth portion of the altar is dedicated to Aphrodite and Panakea, and to Iaso, Hygeia, and Athena Healer (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.34.3). In Megara existed according to Pausianias a citadel of Megara from where the Temple of Dionysos Nyktelios and a sanctuary built for Aphrodite epistrophia were visible (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.40.6). Pausianias described behind the sanctuary of Dionysos in Megara the Temple of Aphrodite with an ivory image of Aphrodite praxis. This was the oldest object in the temple. There were also the statues of the goddess Peitho (Persuasion) and another goddess named Paregoros (Consoler), both works done by Praxiteles. Works made by Skopas are Eros (Love), Himeros (Desire), and Pothos (Yearning) (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.43.6).⁷

According to Pausanias near the harbor of the island of Aigina is a temple of Aphrodite (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 2.29.6). Pausianias wrote that regarding the wooden images of Aphrodite and Hermes the one was said to be made by Epeios, while the other is a votive offering of Hypermnestra. (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 2.19.6) Regarding Epidaurus in Argolis Pausianias wrote that within the grove of Asklepios at Epidauros in Argolis a temple of Artemis, an image of Epione, and a sanctuary of Aphrodite and Themis exist. (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 2.27.5) Pausianias wrote that on the mainland also a sanctuary of Aphrodite at Epidauros in Argolis existed (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 2.29.1). According to Strabo the Temple of Aphrodite at Korinthos in the days of the tyrant Kypselos was so rich that it owned more than a thousand temple slaves consisting of courtesans (Strabo, Geography 8.6.20). Pausianias made the statement that in Sikyon is an enclosure sacred to Aphrodite. The first thing inside it was a statue of Antiope. (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 2.10.4).⁸ ‘She who inhabits the islands’ is an epitheton for Aphrodite written down in an entry of Suda.⁹According to Pausianias Aphrodite was patroness of seafarers (Pausanias 2.34.11, etc.). The Baths of Aphrodite are a place where according to the mythos the goddess existed on Cyprus Island. According to the mythos prior to her arrival on the island Zeus arranged the marriage of Aphrodite with the craft-god Hephaistos. Aphrodite preferred Ares and Adonis. Aphrodite's son Eros wounded her with an arrow and Aphrodite fleed in a pool, which is according to legend localized as the Baths of Aphrodite on the Akamas Peninsula. As for the cult of Salamis on Cyprus Island, there existed a shrine of Venus prospiciens according to Ovid’s Metamorphoses (14.759). A coin showing the Temple of Aphrodite at Paphos on Cyprus Island is known.¹⁰ At Paphos Aphrodite was worshiped since the 12th century BCE in the form of a polished conical stone. For Aphrodite an elaborate sanctuary was built at Palea Paphos (today Kouklia).¹¹ Amphoras and ceremonial bowls from this place depict priestesses as well as erotic scenes from the sacred gardens that once surrounded the temple.¹² Suda contains some entries regarding cults on Cyprus Island. Amathous, today 6 km east of Limassol, is a city on Cyprus Island and the location of a shrine of Aphrodite. Amathous is an ancient city with acropolis, lower city, and a harbour located at the centre of the southern coast of Cyprus Island. Amathous was established around 750 BCE with a royal palace, the sanctuary of Aphrodite, an agora with temples, baths, large fountain, stoae, and a wall.¹³ According to Suda Chytroi was a city on Cyprus Island. There is also a particular Athenian festival called Chytroi. The festival used to be celebrated on the thirteenth day of the month Anthesterion according to Philochoros.¹⁴ Kition is another city of Cyprus Island related to the cult of Aphrodite. Zeno the Kitian came from there.¹⁵ Other temples dedicated to Aphrodite on Cyprus Island are located in Tamasses and Golgoi.¹⁶

Narrative Implementation of the Mythos of Aphrodite in Poetic Literature and Historical Writings
In terms of linguistics and rhetoric an epitheton like Aphrodite kypris is a metonymy attached to the person's name indicating the place. The epitheton is linked to its noun and frequently used. The addition of the place ‘Cyprus’ might have been used the same way as an epitheton necessarium, since it was necessary to distinguish the places the goddess was situated and the specific functions. But its function can also be compared with an epitheton ornans, which is not necessary, but ornate. The most important feature of this epitheton is to localize the place of the goddess. Other epitheta the goddess shares with other goddesses. ‘With silver feet’ is an epitheton for Thetis, Aphrodite, and Artemis. Antonomasia in rhetoric is the process of substituting any epitheton or phrase for a proper name; this is how the name Aphrodite developed. The opposite substitution of a proper name for some generic term is called antonomasia. A suggestion is that the island was named after the Greek goddess Aphrodite called in Greek (kipris) in accordance with her mythical birthplace. Homer in his Iliad and Odyssey refers to the island of (kypron) when starting the invocation to the muse: (“Muse, sing to me the works of golden haired Aphrodite Cypridos.”). According to Hesiod's Theogony the goddess, who was also known as ‘Kypris’ or ‘the Cyprian’. Citium was used for Cyprus.

In Homer’s hymns Aphrodite is described as ‘poluchrusou Aphrodites, Kupridos, hete theoisin epi glukun himeron orse’, the ‘golden Cyprian Aphrodite’, who ‘stirs up sweet passion’ in the gods and subdues the tribes of mortal men and birds that fly in air and all creatures. This description we can consider as a reference regarding the myth of Aphrodite and her relations to male gods. Interestingly, in the 5th Homeric Hymn the persons she could not control with their hearts are named as the goddesses Athena, Artemis, and Hestia.

Eis Aphroditen
aidoien, chrusostephanon, kalen Aphroditen
aisomai, he pases Kuprou kredemna lelonchen
einalies, hothi min Zephurou menos hugron aentos
eneiken kata kuma poluphloisboio thalasses
aphroi eni malakoi: ten de chrusampukes Horai
dexant' aspasios, peri d' ambrota heimata hessan:
krati d' ep' athanatoi stephanen eutukton ethekan
kalen, chruseien: en de tretoisi loboisin
anthem' oreichalkou chrusoio te timeentos:
deirei d' amph' hapalei kai stethesin argupheoisin
hormoisi chruseoisin ekosmeon, hoisi per autai
Horai kosmeisthen chrusampukes, hoppot' ioien
es choron himeroenta theon kai domata patros.
autar epeide panta peri chroi kosmon ethekan,
egon es athanatous: hoi d' espazonto idontes
chersi t' edexioonto kai eresanto hekastos
einai kouridien alochon kai oikad' agesthai,
eidos thaumazontes iostephanou Kuthereies.

chair' helikoblephare, glukumeiliche: dos d' en agoni
niken toide pheresthai, emen d' entunon aoiden.
autar ego kai seio kai alles mnesom' aoides.¹⁷

In the 6th Homeric Hymn Aphrodite is attributed as ‘gold-crowned’ and ‘beautiful’; her dominion are the ‘walled cities of all sea-set Cyprus’, but her local epitheton is Cytherea. This hymn opens with the description of the arrival of the goddess on the island and the meeting with the Hours. The breath of the western wind wafted Aprodite over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam. The gold-filleted Hours welcomed her and clothed her with heavenly garments. The Hours brought her to the gods, who welcomed her when they saw her, giving her their hands. Each one of them prayed that he might lead her home to be his wedded wife, so greatly were they amazed at the beauty of ‘violet-crowned Cytherea’. Aphrodite is described as ‘sweetly-winning, coy-eyed goddess’. In the last line of the hymn we can read a personal dedication of the recitator towards the goddess asking her for his victory in this contest.¹⁸

Hymn 10 of the Homeric Hymns describes Aphrodite as Aphrodite Cytherea, originating from Cyprus Island (kuprogene), who ‘gives kindly gifts to men’ and ‘smiles all over her lovely face’. The goddess is described as ‘queen of well-built Salamis and sea-girt Cyprus’ (Salaminos euktimenes medeousa einalies te Kuprou), and we have a reason to assume that this Hymn is related to Salamis on Cyprus Island:

 Eis Aphroditen
kuprogene Kuthereian aeisomai, hete brotoisi
meilicha dora didosin, eph' himertoi de prosopoi
aiei meidiaei kai eph' himerton theei anthos.
 chaire, thea, Salaminos euktimenes medeousa
einalies te Kuprou: dos d' himeroessan aoiden.
 autar ego kai seio kai alles mnesom' aoides.¹⁹

The narrative connection of mythological material told by Homer and historical events can be exemplified with the description of the Trojan War. Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, gave Aphrodite a golden apple in recognition of her supreme beauty, when the gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. The goddess Eris (Discord) brought a golden apple for the fairest among Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena. Paris had to decide. Hera tried to bribe Paris with Asia Minor, while Athena offered success in war. Aphrodite told Paris that if he were to choose her as the fairest he would have the most beautiful woman as wife, Helen. Helen's abduction by Paris led to the Trojan War, since Helen had already been married to a Greek. Homer's Iliad describes this war and Aphrodite’s role, but we will see that the Cypria also contain this material and change the mythological name Paris into the historical name Alexander.

Another mythological track of the Homeric epic literature is related to the events regarding Aphrodite. Zeus arranged her marriage to Hephaistos. Aphrodite and Ares escaped after been caught by Hephaistos.²⁰ The concept of orality integrated into the early mythological literal form for the tradition of the mythological material we can exame in the Odyssey. The myth of Aphrodite was integrated into the Odyssey as a separate song. A narrative implementation of the mythos of Aphrodite we find in the Odyssey whereHomer tells the story of Ares and Aphrodite in the song of a bard (book VIII) sung to Ulysses telling the affair between Aphrodite and Ares during the absence of Hephaistos²¹ The narrative of the bard continues with the description of the trap Hephaistos had built for them and the trial in front of the gods where Aphrodite is described as the daughter of Zeus:

So he spoke, and a welcome thing it seemed to her to lie with him. So they two went to the couch, and lay them down to sleep, and about them clung the cunning bonds of the wise Hephaestus, nor could they in any wise stir their limbs or raise them up. Then at length they learned that there was no more escaping. And near to them came the famous god of the two strong arms, having turned back before he reached the land of Lemnos; for Helius had kept watch for him and had brought him word. So he went to his house with a heavy heart, and stood at the gateway, and fierce anger seized him. And terribly he cried out and called to all the gods: “Father Zeus, and ye other blessed gods that are forever, come hither that ye may see a laughable matter and a monstrous, even how Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, scorns me for that I am lame and loves destructive Ares because he is comely and strong of limb, whereas I was born misshapen. […]. Soon shall both lose their desire to sleep; but the snare and the bonds shall hold them until her father pays back to me all the gifts of wooing that I gave him for the sake of his shameless girl; for his daughter is fair but bridles not her passion.” So he spoke and the gods gathered to the house of the brazen floor.²²

Now the trial is described and the goodess is called ‘golden Aphrodite’ (para chruseei Aphroditei).²³After the meeting of the gods Ares goes to Thrace and Aphrodite to Cyprus Island as the laughter-loving Aphrodite, which went to Cyprus, to Paphos. Here the Baths of Aphrodite, the place where she was guided by the Graces, are also mentioned:

So he spoke and laughter arose among the immortal gods. Yet Poseidon laughed not, but ever besought Hephaestus, the famous craftsman, to set Ares free; and he spoke, and addressed him with winged words: “Loose him, and I promise, as thou biddest me, that he shall himself pay thee all that is right in the presence of the immortal gods.” (…) So saying the mighty Hephaestus loosed the bonds and the two, when they were freed from that bond so strong, sprang up straightway. And Ares departed to Thrace, but she, the laughter-loving Aphrodite, went to Cyprus, to Paphos, where her demesne and fragrant altar is. There the Graces bathed her and anointed her with immortal oil, such as gleams1 upon the gods that are forever. And they clothed her in lovely raiment, a wonder to behold. This song the famous minstrel sang; and Odysseus was glad at heart as he listened, and so too were the Phaeacians of the long oars, men famed for their ships.²⁴

According to Homer Ares went after the trial to Thraces, while Aphrodite went to Paphos on Cyprus Island. In the Greek original text is written: he d' ara Kupron hikane philommeides Aphrodite, es Paphon: entha de hoi temenos bomos te thueeis is written.²⁵ According to the verses of Homer’s Odyssey Ares went after the trial to Thraces, while Aphrodite went to Paphos on Cyprus Island. But according to Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns of Aphrodite after her birth the goddess went first to Cythera and then to Cyprus Island. In the Homeric Hymns of Aphrodite the names of places Paphos and Salamis on Cyprus Island are mentioned. Aphrodite is described as the ‘queen of Salamis’. The Homeric Hymn tells us about Aphrodite:

Of Cythereia, born in Cyprus, I will sing. She gives kindly gifts to men: smiles are ever on her lovely face, and lovely is the brightness that plays over it.
Hail, goddess, queen of well-built Salamis and sea-girt Kypros; grant me a cheerful song. And now I will remember you and another song also.²⁶

Eis Aphroditen
kuprogene Kuthereian aeisomai, hete brotoisi
meilicha dora didosin, eph' himertoi de prosopoi
aiei meidiaei kai eph' himerton theei anthos.
chaire, thea, Salaminos euktimenes medeousa
einalies te Kuprou: dos d' himeroessan aoiden.
autar ego kai seio kai alles mnesom' aoides.

Homeric Hymn 5 dedicated to Aphrodite calls the goddess the ‘queen of well-builded Kypros’:

Muse, tell me the deeds of golden Aphrodite Kypria, who stirs up sweet passion in the gods and subdues the tribes of mortal men and birds that fly in air and all the many creatures that the dry land rears, and all the sea: all these love the deeds of rich-crowned Cythereia [] ... Hail, goddess, queen of well-builded Kypros! With you have I begun; now I will turn me to another hymn.²⁷

The Homeric Hymn 6 to Aphrodite says that the goddess rules over the ‘walled cities of all sea-set Cyprus’:

To Aphrodite
I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and beautiful, whose dominion is the walled cities of all sea-set Cyprus. There the moist breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours welcomed her joyously. They clothed her with heavenly garments: on her head they put a fine, well-wrought crown of gold, and in her pierced ears they hung ornaments of orichalc and precious gold, and adorned her with golden necklaces over her soft neck and snow-white breasts, jewels which the gold-filleted Hours wear themselves whenever they go to their father's house to join the lovely dances of the gods. And when they had fully decked her, they brought her to the gods, who welcomed her when they saw her, giving her their hands. Each one of them prayed that he might lead her home to be his wedded wife, so greatly were they amazed at the beauty of violet-crowned Cytherea.

Hail, sweetly-winning, coy-eyed goddess! Grant that I may gain the victory in this contest, and order you my song. And now I will remember you and another song also.²⁸

In the Memorabilia Xenophon write (Memorabilia book I, III) a dialogue between Xenophon and Socrates regarding the ‘concerns of Aphrodite’, in other words: Love.

Xenophon

But as to the concerns of Aphrodite, his advice was to hold strongly aloof from the fascination of fair forms: once lay finger on these and it is not easy to keep a sound head and a sober mind. To take a particular case. It was a mere kiss which, as he had heard, Critobulus had some time given to a fair youth, the son of Alcibiades. Accordingly Critobulus being present, Socrates propounded the question.²⁹

The Orphic Hymns called her Aphrodite pontogenis (‘born from the sea’). Ares, the god of war, was captivated by Aphrodite’s beauty and charm. In the Orphic Hymn to Nyx the Aphrodite Kypris is mentioned:

To Nyx
The Fumigation with Torches.
Nyx, parent goddess, source of sweet repose, from whom at first both Gods and men arose,
Hear, blessed Venus Kypris, deck'd with starry light, in sleep's deep silence dwelling Ebon night!
Dreams and soft case attend thy dusky train, pleas'd with the length'ned gloom and feaftful strain.
Dissolving anxious care, the friend of Mirth, with darkling coursers riding round the earth.
Goddess of phantoms and of shadowy play, whose drowsy pow'r divides the nat'ral day:
By Fate's decree you constant send the light to deepest hell, remote from mortal sight
For dire Necessity which nought withstands, invests the world with adamantine bands.
Be present, Goddess, to thy suppliant's pray'r, desir'd by all, whom all alike revere, Blessed, benevolent, with friendly aid dispell the fears of Twilight's dreadful shade.³⁰

The Orphic Hymn 54 is dedicated to Aphrodite and describes her as Aphrodite ourania with the attributes illustrious, laughter-loving queen, sea-born, night-loving, of an awful mien, crafty, from whom Ananke first came, producing, nightly, and all-connecting dame:

A Hymn.
Ourania, illustrious, laughter-loving queen, sea-born, night-loving, of an awful mien;
Crafty, from whom Ananke first came, producing, nightly, all-connecting dame:
'Tis thine the world with harmony to join, for all things spring from thee, O pow'r divine.
The triple Moirai are rul'd by thy decree, and all productions yield alike to thee:
Whate'er the heav'ns, encircling all contain, earth fruit-producing, and the stormy main,
Thy sway confesses, and obeys thy nod, awful attendant of the brumal God Bakkhos:
Goddess of marriage, charming to the sight, mother of Loves, whom banquetings delight;
Source of Peitho, secret, fav'ring queen, illustrious born, apparent and unseen:
Spousal, lupercal, and to men inclin'd, prolific, most-desir'd, life-giving., kind:
Great sceptre-bearer of the Gods, 'tis thine, mortals in necessary bands to join;
And ev'ry tribe of savage monsters dire in magic chains to bind, thro' mad desire.
Come, Cyprus-born, and to my pray'r incline, whether exalted in the heav'ns you shine,
Or pleas'd in Syria's temple to preside, or o'er th' Egyptian plains thy car to guide,
Fashion'd of gold; and near its sacred flood, fertile and fam'd to fix thy blest abode;
Or if rejoicing in the azure shores, near where the sea with foaming billows roars,
The circling choirs of mortals, thy delight, or beauteous nymphs, with eyes cerulean bright,
Pleas'd by the dusty banks renown'd of old, to drive thy rapid, two-yok'd car of gold;

Here we can also read details about the cult of Aphrodite practiced on Cyprus Island:

Or if in Cyprus with thy mother fair, where married females praise thee ev'ry year,
And beauteous virgins in the chorus join, Adonis pure to sing and thee divine;
Come, all-attractive to my pray'r inclin'd, for thee, I call, with holy, reverent mind.³¹

Other epitheta and descriptions in the Orphic Hymns are goddess of marriage, charming to the sight, mother of loves, whom banquetings delight. As source of Peitho the goddess is related to persuasion. Other attributes are secret, favouring queen, illustrious born, apparent, and unseen. Another attribute is Great sceptre-bearer of the Gods, with the ability to join mortals in necessary bands and to dire savage monsters in magic chains to bind through mad desire. The cult of Aphrodite included according to this hymn temple in Syria and Egypt. Regarding Cyprus Island we here read about the cult that an annual festival of married woman and virgins took place. During this festival songs were sung to honor Adonis. Obviously the mythological material was added and rewritten in Hellenism and Roman literature not only in the Orphic Hymns. For example Lucian lets Micyllus in The Cook narrate the story of a young man called Alectryon, a friend of Ares, who used to join in his revels. When Ares went to make a visit to Aphrodite, he used to take Alectryon with him. In this narrative the story of Hephaestus and Aphrodite is retold telling how Hephaistos caught them in a cage. When Ares was released, he was so angry with Alectryon that he turned him into a cock.

Aphrodite's Transformations - Reception of Aphrodite
Aphrodite’s Mythos: Personification and Transformation in Later Poetry
In Euripides’ Hippolytus is a scene of Aphrodite, Hippolytus, a servant, the chorus, a nurse, Phaedra, Theseus, Messenger, and Artemis. Aphrodite calls herself mighty and of high renown, among mortals and in heaven alike. The goddess describes herself and how she punishes Hippolytus:

Mighty and of high renown, among mortals and in heaven alike, I am called the goddess Aphrodite (thea keklemai Kupris ouranou). Of all those who dwell between the Euxine Sea and the Pillars of Atlas and look on the light of the sun, I honor those who reverence my power, but I lay low all those who think proud thoughts against me. For in the gods as well one finds this trait: they enjoy receiving honor from mortals.³²

Euripides’ Hippolytus in the original Greek language:

Aphrodite
Polle men en brotoisi kouk anonumos
thea keklemai Kupris ouranou t' eso:
hosoi te Pontou termonon t' Atlantikon
naiousin eiso, phos horontes heliou,

tous men sebontas tama presbeuo krate,
sphallo d' hosoi phronousin eis hemas mega.
enesti gar de kan theon genei tode:
timomenoi chairousin anthropon hupo.³³

The story of Venus and Adonis is told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Here she is also described as Cythereia:

Venus et Adonis.
Labitur occulte fallitque volatilis aetas,
et nihil est annis velocius. Ille sorore
natus avoque suo, qui conditus arbore nuper,
nuper erat genitus, modo formosissimus infans,

iam iuvenis, iam vir, iam se formosior ipso est:
iam placet et Veneri matrisque ulciscitur ignes.
Namque pharetratus dum dat puer oscula matri,
inscius exstanti destrinxit harundine pectus.
Laesa manu natum dea reppulit. Altius actum
vulnus erat specie primoque fefellerat ipsam.
Capta viri forma non iam Cythereia curat
litora, non alto repetit Paphon aequore cinctam
piscosamque Gnidon gravidamve Amathunta metallis;
abstinet et caelo: caelo praefertur Adonis.³⁴

We mentioned already above Pygmalion, the mythical king of Cyprus and brother of Dido. The other narrative mythological track mentions in no way the position of Pygmalion, calling a person with this name simply a sculptor. The location of the story of Pygmalion and Aphrodite is Cyprus Island. Pygmalion as a sculptor who had never found a woman worthy of his love was inspired by a dream of Aphrodite to make a woman from ivory resembling her image. Pygmalion called her Galatea and felt in love with this statue. Aphrodite brought the sculpture to life. Pygmalion loved Galatea and they were married. Ovid describes this statue made by Pygmalion on Cyprus Island:

 
Pygmalion.
Quas quia Pygmalion aevum per crimen agentes
viderat, offensus vitiis, quae plurima menti
femineae natura dedit, sine coniuge caelebs
vivebat thalamique diu consorte carebat.³⁵

According to this saying of Ovid the island’s name Paphos was derived from the name of the child of the statue. So this story of Pygmalion and Aphrodite on Crypus Island could have developed from a local legend and anecdotes. Ovid described prior to this story in a passage the cruel habits of the people of Limasol, the ancient Amathus.³⁶ As Lerou stated in the archeological narrative for the foundation myths of the ‘kingdom of Cyprus’, the earliest reference to the Achaean colonization of Cyprus Island dates as early as Herodotus who in his Historiae (book 5.113) mentioned that the kingdom of Kourion was founded by people from the Argolid. Some seven centuries later Pausanias reported that Paphos was established by Agapenor, the legendary king of Tegea, who after the sack of Troy on his way home was driven to the western coast of Cyprus Island by a storm (8.5.2-3). Two different tracks we find also regarding the person Pygmalion in both cases closely related to Aphrodite. In both myths about Pygmalion the sculptor and Pygmalion the king of Cyprus the cult of Aphrodite is mentioned. The introducing lines of Ovid where Pygmalion is described seeing the women of the island wasting their lives in ‘wretched shame’ and ‘critical of faults which nature had so deeply planted through their female hearts’, we can interpret as resulting from the cult practices on the island we mentioned in the first part of this article. Ovid also describes the Propoetides, the female inhabitants of Cyprus Island Aphrodite had transformed into prostitutes for daring to challenge her divinity. Newton mentions Pygmalion as the brother of Dido and king of Tyre. Dido fled in the seventh year of Pygmalion who intended to kill her; Apollodorus is a source stating that Cinyras married Metharme, the daughter of Pygmalion, and built Paphos.³⁷ According to Justin Dido traveled first to Cyprus Island to get supplies for a longer journey. On the island virgins devoted to serve as prostitutes in the Temple of Astarte (Venus) married in the Tyrinian entourage that accompanied the princess. (Justin. Epitome of the History of the World written by Pompeius Trogus. XVIII. 5, 1-5):

Primus illis adpulsus terrae Cyprus insula fuit, ubi sacerdos Iouis cum coniuge et liberis deorum monitu comitem se Elissae sociumque fortunae offert pactus sibi posterisque perpetaum honorem sacerdotii. Condicio pro manifesto omine accepta. Mos erat Cypriis uirgines ante nuptias statutis diebus dotalem pecuniam quaesituras in quaestum ad litus maris mittere, pro reliqua pudicitia libamenta Veneri soluturas. Harum igitur ex numero LXXX admodum uirgines raptas nauibus inponi Elissa iubet ut et inuentus matrimonia et urbs subolem habere posset. Dum haec aguntur, Pygmalion, cognita sororis fuga, cum impio beIlo fugientem persequi pararet, aegre precibus matris deorumque minis uictus quieuit; cui cum inspirati uates canerent non inpune laturum, si incrementa urbis toto orbe auspicatissimae interpellasset, hoc modo spatium respirandi fugientibus datum.³⁸

Aphrodite was often accompanied by the Charites (Graces) or Hours. In book III of Homer's Iliad Aphrodite saves Paris when he is about to be killed by Menelaos.³⁹The epitheton Aphrodite acidalia was occasionally added to her name, after the spring she used to bath in, located in Boeotia (Virgil I, 720). In Plato's Symposium the speech of Pausanias distinguishes two manifestations of Aphrodite, represented in two stories as Aphrodite ourania (‘heavenly Aphrodite‘), and Aphrodite pandemos (‘common Aphrodite‘). According to Pausanias Harmonia, a daughter of Aphrodite, gave to Aphrodite the surname ourania (‘heavenly’) to signify a love pure and free from bodily lust, pandemos (‘common’) to denote sexual intercourse; the third is that of apostrophia (rejecter), that mankind might reject unlawful passion and sinful acts. (Pausanias, Guide to Greece. 9.16.3). As Aphrodite ourania she was the goddess of ideal love, as Aphrodite benetrix the goddess protected marriage, and as Aphrodite porne was the goddess of lust and the patroness of courtesans. In that tradition Giordano Bruno writes in his esoteric writing De Vinculis in Genere about Venus as the personification of lust:

Gratia [...] Veneris [...] perfectos, non mutilates, non aegrotos, non senes non bon [...], non iuvenes senibus [...]
Vinculum si aptum ad generationem vel illi simile consequatur, non sine actione vel passione Veneris affectu completur.
Ii quibus utitur natura et eam omnino dominam habent, ut bruta, ad masculam non vinciuntur Venerem: sed qui natura utuntur et [...]ipsa suae voluptatis finis, forse [...]aliquando.
Multiplex semen, multiplex Venus, multiplex amor, multiplex vinculum. Unde et scientiarum et morum concinnitatem in aliis ingenerare concupiscimus. Semen quo cum quis plenus est, desiderat emittere in alterius viri animam.⁴⁰

The Cypria – A Missing Link in the Homeric Reception of the Mythos of Aphrodite?
The Cypria may be able to serve as a link between the mythological stories related to Aphrodite and the mythos of the event of the Troian War. The story of the Cypria tells this event. Due to the situation of the transmission of the text versions it is not clear whether the text was written prior to the Iliad or should be regarded as an alternative parallel writing or writing derived from the Iliad and Odyssey. Many stories in the Cypria are similar to the ones of the composers of the Iliad and Odyssey in terms of their topics. The Cypria was said in one ancient tradition to have been given by Homer to Stasinus of Cyprus (John Tzetzes ' Chiliades XIII, 638). Others ascribed the poem to a legendary early poet Hegesias (or Hegesinus) of Salamis on Cyprus Island or to Cyprias of Halicarnassus. In current critical editions only about fifty lines survive of the Cypria's original text in quotations by other authors. For the content we depend on a summary of the Cyclic epics in the Chrestomathy attributed to an unknown Proclus. Obviously the Cypria are in the later edition and the epitome was done by Proclus written under Alexandrian influence, since instead of the name Paris the name Alexandros now is used. Here we find a historical string (the Trojan War) and a mythological string of the gods of the Olymp beginning with the decision of Zeus to ease the earth from the burden of its population through a war. The Cypria described the wedding of Peleus and Thetis; in the judgement of Paris among the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite Paris awards the prize for beauty to Aphrodite. Paris builds his ships according to Aphrodite’s suggestion. Aphrodite orders Aeneas to sail with him, while Cassandra prophesies the outcome. Among other events Aphrodite brings Helen and Paris together. Paris takes her and her dowry back to his home of Troy with an episode at Sidon, which Paris successfully storms. Interestingly, Proclus changed only the name Paris into Alexandrus, while the other mythological material contains the same names like in the other writings.⁴¹

According to Tzetzes (Chil. XIII. 638, Fragment 2) Stasinus composed the Cypria.⁴² A scholiast on Homer (Il. I. 5) wrote that a time existed, when the countless tribes of men oppressed the surface of the deep-bosomed earth. Zeus saw it and had pity and in his wise heart resolved to relieve the all-nurturing earth of men by causing the great struggle of the Ilian war.'⁴³ In a fragment of Athenaeus (XV. 682 D, F.) is written that the author of the Cypria, whether Hegesias or Stasinus, mentions flowers used for garlands when Aprodite is dressed by the Hours. The poet writes as follows in his first book (ll. 1-7): She clothed herself with garments the Graces and Hours had made for her and dyed in flowers of spring. This description is similar to the description of Aphrodite’s meeting with the Hours before her encounter with the gods we already cited above.⁴⁴ At another place is written (ll. 8-12): ‘Laughter-loving Aphrodite’ and her handmaidens wove sweet-smelling crowns of flowers of the earth and put them upon their heads – ‘the bright-coiffed goddesses’, the Nymphs and Graces, and ‘golden Aphrodite’ too, while they sang sweetly on the mount of many-fountained Ida.'⁴⁵ In perfumed garments is Aphrodite clothed at all seasons according to the Cypria fragment by Athenaeus (The Cypria Fragment 6, from Athenaeus 15.682). Related to Cyprus Island the Celestial Aphrodite is described as Paphian Queen, and dark-eyelashed Goddess of a lovely mien in the Orphic Hymn 57 to Chthonian Hermes. In Fragment 9 of a scholiast (on Euripides, Andr. 898) is written that the writer of the Cyprian histories says that Helen's third child was Pleisthenes. Helen took him with her to Cyprus Island, and the child she bore Alexandrus was Aganus.⁴⁶

In Proclus' summary of the Cypria the book is attributed to Stasinus of Cyprus. The Iliad follows the Cypria. Zeus plans the Trojan War. Eris causes a competition among Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite about beauty. They are led by Hermes to Mount Ida for the judgment of Alexandros. Alexandros judges for Aphrodite, encouraged by a promise to marry Helen. On the advice of Aphrodite he built ships. Alexandros is entertained as a guest by the sons of Tyndaros, and afterwards by Menelaos at Sparta. Alexandros gives Helen gifts during the feast. Menelaos sails off to Crete, telling Helen to provide proper hospitality for their guests while he is away. Aphrodite brings Helen and Alexander together. They sail away by night. Hera sends a storm down upon them. Landing at Sidon, Alexander captures the city and they sail to Ilion. Alexander marries Helen.⁴⁷ The epiteton Aphrodite migonitis (‘conjugal union’) was used after a temple for Aphrodite was constructed by Alexander after sleeping with Helen (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 3.22.1). This adaption is an example for the use of the mythos in order to mystify an emperor, when Alexander the Great is mentioned here. Also in Pseudo-Apollodorus’ Library (ed. Sir James George Frazer, Book E, chapter 3, section 2) we find the mentioning of Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Here Zeus commanded Hermes to lead them to Alexander on Ida in order to be judged by him.

Similar to the dual strings of the concept of the epic construction of the Trojan War the exchange of a mythological person into a name of a historical person is an example for the not clearly visible distinction between mythological and historical events. The epic genre serves as main source for the mythos. Later rhetorical and poetical genres modify the material. Now we must see the Cypria in the version, which is available to us, as a product of historical change of the mythological material of the Troian War. Here the name Paris was replaced by the name of Alexander. In that case we are able to identify the date of the text in this version (that might be considered an intended corrupted version of the original source) around the lifetime of Alexander or even a terminus post quem serving as an early document of the Alexander Legend. So the text could be dated in the 4th century BCE. As a legitimation and glorification of the power of Alexander it might has served as a tool for the political indoctrination of Alexander making himself appear as a hero of Greek mythology similar to the political ‘technique’ of bearing the title ‘pharao’ after the invasion to Egypt. Paris as the archetype of a hero in Homer's Iliad was used for this change of names replaced by Alexander.

Also in later versions of the Ilias we find the name Alexander, a fact which can serve as an indication that the implementation of the name of the emperor was a political program to influence the history and cultural heritage of the subdued country. The other possibility of the original Iliad already using the name Alexander for a husband of Helen, who was conjunct with her by Aphrodite, is problematic, since the other text sources already mention the name Paris. The usurpation of a reign and the use of titles and attributes of older local cultures seem to be used as tools for political propaganda under the reign of Alexander. Regarding the emperor it is known that Alexander knew the Illiad when studying it with Aristotle. Among the followers of Alexander a number of philologists and sophists existed. While the name of goddess Aphrodite –obviously accepted as a mythological element- is found in all sources, the name of Paris changes to Alexander as a revisionism retelling the story with a substantial alteration of the character. Another alternative is that Paris' name that changed to Alexander in some of the sources is related to his legendary childhood when he routed a gang of cattle-thieves and restored the animals they had stolen to the herd, and earned the name Alexander (‘protector of men’). In this case we would have here a shift from a name to an epitheton that is identical with the name of Alexander the Great.

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