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Aphroditus
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Aphroditus
Aphroditus or Aphroditos (Ancient Greek: Ἀφρόδιτος, Aphróditos, [apʰróditos]) was a version of Aphrodite originating from Amathus on the island of Cyprus and celebrated in Athens. He is the masculine version of Aphrodite.
Aphroditus was portrayed as having a female shape and clothing like Aphrodite's but also a phallus, and hence, a male name. This deity would have arrived in Athens from Cyprus in the 4th century BC. In the 5th century BC, however, there existed hermae of Aphroditus, or phallic statues with a female head.
Aphroditus is the same as the later god Hermaphroditos, whose name derives from his being regarded as the son of Aphrodite and Hermes. Hermaphroditos first appeared in the Characters of Theophrastus. Photius also explained that Aphroditus was Hermaphroditos, and cited fragments from Attic comedies mentioning the divinity.
One of the earliest surviving images from Athens is a fragment (late 4th century BC), found in the Athenian agora, of a clay mould for a terracotta figurine. The figurine would have stood about 30 cm high, represented in a style known as ἀνασυρόμενος (anasyromenos), a female lifting her dress to reveal male genitals, a gesture that was believed to have apotropaic qualities, averting evil influences and bestowing good luck.
This combination of the male and female in one divinity and being associated with the moon, both of which were considered to have fertilizing powers, was regarded as having an influence over the entire animal and vegetable creation.
Aphroditus (Ἀφρόδιτος) seems to be the male version of Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη), with the female thematic ending -ē (-η) exchanged for the male thematic ending -os (-ος), as paralleled e.g. in Cleopatra/Cleopatros or Andromache/Andromachus.
According to Macrobius, who mentions the goddess in his Saturnalia, Philochorus, in his Atthis (referred to by Macrobius), identifies this god with the Moon and says that at their sacrifices men and women exchanged clothing. Philostratus, in describing the rituals involved in the festivals, said that the image or the impersonator of the god was accompanied by a large train of followers in which girls mingled with men because the festivals allowed "women to act the part of men, and men put on woman's clothing and play the woman".
Theophrastus (c. 371 – c. 287 BC), Characters 16.10
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Aphroditus
Aphroditus or Aphroditos (Ancient Greek: Ἀφρόδιτος, Aphróditos, [apʰróditos]) was a version of Aphrodite originating from Amathus on the island of Cyprus and celebrated in Athens. He is the masculine version of Aphrodite.
Aphroditus was portrayed as having a female shape and clothing like Aphrodite's but also a phallus, and hence, a male name. This deity would have arrived in Athens from Cyprus in the 4th century BC. In the 5th century BC, however, there existed hermae of Aphroditus, or phallic statues with a female head.
Aphroditus is the same as the later god Hermaphroditos, whose name derives from his being regarded as the son of Aphrodite and Hermes. Hermaphroditos first appeared in the Characters of Theophrastus. Photius also explained that Aphroditus was Hermaphroditos, and cited fragments from Attic comedies mentioning the divinity.
One of the earliest surviving images from Athens is a fragment (late 4th century BC), found in the Athenian agora, of a clay mould for a terracotta figurine. The figurine would have stood about 30 cm high, represented in a style known as ἀνασυρόμενος (anasyromenos), a female lifting her dress to reveal male genitals, a gesture that was believed to have apotropaic qualities, averting evil influences and bestowing good luck.
This combination of the male and female in one divinity and being associated with the moon, both of which were considered to have fertilizing powers, was regarded as having an influence over the entire animal and vegetable creation.
Aphroditus (Ἀφρόδιτος) seems to be the male version of Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη), with the female thematic ending -ē (-η) exchanged for the male thematic ending -os (-ος), as paralleled e.g. in Cleopatra/Cleopatros or Andromache/Andromachus.
According to Macrobius, who mentions the goddess in his Saturnalia, Philochorus, in his Atthis (referred to by Macrobius), identifies this god with the Moon and says that at their sacrifices men and women exchanged clothing. Philostratus, in describing the rituals involved in the festivals, said that the image or the impersonator of the god was accompanied by a large train of followers in which girls mingled with men because the festivals allowed "women to act the part of men, and men put on woman's clothing and play the woman".
Theophrastus (c. 371 – c. 287 BC), Characters 16.10
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