Statue of Aphrodite
Statue of Aphrodite
3D
Published 2018-11-06T11:16:59+00:00
This is a torso fragment of an ancient nude marble statue of Aphrodite.
Aphrodite is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. She is identified with the planet Venus, which is named after the Roman goddess Venus, with whom Aphrodite was extensively syncretized. Aphrodite's major symbols include myrtles, roses, doves, sparrows, and swans.
The cult of Aphrodite was largely derived from that of the Phoenician goddess Astarte, a cognate of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar, whose cult was based on the Sumerian cult of Inanna. Aphrodite's main cult centres were Cythera, Cyprus, Corinth, and Athens. Her main festival was the Aphrodisia, which was celebrated annually in midsummer. In Laconia, Aphrodite was worshipped as a warrior goddess. She was also the patron goddess of prostitutes, an association which led early scholars to propose the concept of "sacred prostitution", an idea which is now generally seen as erroneous.
The statue was discovered in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Caserta amphitheatre
| Date published | 06/11/2018 |
| Title | Statue of Aphrodite |
| Date | first half of the 2nd century AD |
| Accession | 6019 |
| Period | Ancient |
| Medium | Marble |
| Artist | Unknown artist |
| Place | Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli |
