Exploring the Torso of Aphrodite
The Roman copy of the Aphrodite of Knidos sculpture, “Torso of Aphrodite,” depicts the torso of the Greek Goddess of love and beauty. Statues of Aphrodite were extremely common in Hellenistic art. The artist, Praxiteles, originally created two sculptures, one where the goddess was in draping clothing, and one where the figure was nude (museum). The nude sculpture was innovative and shocking, it was the first of its kind to be completely nude, a testament to Roman Imperial art. The artist purposely decided to create a nude image to show the anatomy of a woman, and the torso focuses specifically on those features. The choice to leave out the goddesses legs and arms, and especially the head and face are most noticeable
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The position that the artist sculpted Aphrodite in has several elements worth notice. The most obvious feature in the positioning of the torso would be the relaxed appearance of the body. The shoulders are not tense, and there is a slight slant in the abdominal area. The arced lines and contours on the abdomen and curvature of her right hip, left for the viewer, give a slant and relaxed positioning, which is also an element of the contrapposto position seen in the sculpture. Aphrodite poses in a certain way that brings a shifting motion conveys stability and fluidity, or elegant motion. The thighs are touching and one is slightly in front of the other, creating the potential for crossed legs. Although we cannot see the rest of the legs or arms, the contrapposto is noticeable and creates a relaxed yet seductive pose. The emphasized hip curve could insinuate a seductive or beautiful pose. Another element it provides is equilibrium. The shoulders contrast the hips. The left shoulder being slightly higher up than the right one equates when the right hip comes slightly higher up than the left. The pose seems quite relaxed and simple, yet it is so well thought out and provides a specific reputation for the goddess. This image created depicts grace and beauty. The relaxed, yet curved posing shows the grace of Aphrodite and her exaggerates the admirable essence she has. Slightly timid yet full of grace …show more content…
Aphrodite was highly worshipped and admired Gods as well as the Greek people. The symbolic element of the statue represents the idealized figure of a woman or goddess in third century Greece. The slender figure, with petite yet full breasts, and natural hip curvature is a symbol of beauty. Although it is not realistic for all women to look like, it it used as the ideal or possibly the standard of beauty. Aphrodite being a goddess placed her above humans, yet Greek men and women could still have used this sculpture as a standard for women. The female anatomy represents the importance or role of women as well. The emphasis placed on these features to express a woman’s role in society. As the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite was an icon for these things, which in expressed in artwork of
It offers and understanding that women were held at a different standard then than they are now. This figurine shows that women had a larger mid-section but was because they either needed the body fat for long, cold winters or the better idea was because it showed they were fertile and they were able to produce babies and keep the legacy going on. It also provides a better image of what the men and women had to go through in order to survive, like the long hard winters, the needing to hunt for food and could mean sometimes not having food. Venus of Willendorf was not considered an obese women, “where features of fatness and fertility would have been highly desirable”, (PBS, 2006). I can use this article because it explains the whole point about a women’s image. Women were not looked at how skinny and “good looking” they were in a pair of jeans. Women, in this time, were looked at as if they can be fertile or not. Being able to have children was a huge thing in this time since it was one of the point of living, to have a
practice amongst the men, which is nudity. The sculptor depicted Dionysos with a slightly S-shaped body
Looking deeper into the statue a trained (or imaginative) eye can see more than what is just given at a glance. The pose given by Hermes is the classical pose of contraposto. Contraposto is a pose developed where the majority of the weight is placed on one leg and the other leg in a relaxed with relatively no weight on it in a position that can both be relaxed and ready to jump to action in the same resting position. The virtually unnoticed half palm tree that Hermes is resting against gives a divine character an almost mortal because of the necessity of support on an earthly object. In the pose where the presence of strength and anticipation of a move, there is also the presence of a mortal presence. The balance of the counter limb activity is present in the contraposto stance expressing a certain diagonal symmetry. In the Lansdowne Hermes both the right arm and the left leg are in the resting position awaiting the next motion. The right arm is resting on the right buttock anticipating some sort of motion or action to be carried out by the seemingly dormant arm.
For example, in the illustration of Aphrodite’s birth, she is described as “modest and beautiful” (Theogony, 9). When Athena is born from Zeus’ head, she is depicted as “the fearsome rouser of the fray, leader of armies, the lady Atrytone, whose pleasure is in war and the clamour of battle” (Theogony, 30). Hesiod even includes a lengthy portrayal of Hecate, where he articulates how Zeus honored Hecate more than all others. Hecate is said to have positions of power, dominion over parts of both land and sea and prestige. Hesiod also mentions that Hecate has a role in public gatherings (“…the man of her choice shines out among the crowd” [Theogony, 16]) as well as in war (“…the goddess [Hecate] comes and stands by whichever side she chooses to grant victory…” [Theogony, 16]) While the representations of these goddesses may be positive, Hesiod is not speaking about women in general, or even mortal women. As M. L. West says, “When they are personified must clearly be classed as gods, not mortals; after all, they are invisible and imperishable, and they have the power to affect human affairs.”1 Goddesses like Athena, Aphrodite and Hecate are personifications of abstract concepts that the ancient Greeks valued. While the Greek gods often exhibited very human-like qualities, they were still deities; put on pedestals to be respected
The statue is made of marble, instead of the bronze statue. This statue is one of the earliest marble statues of a human figure carved in Attica. The statue is a kind of symbol; he does not in any way a likeness. This is my first expression when I saw the statue: the statue is showing me a simple, clear action that was used by Greek youth sculptures throughout this period. Looking at this statue, he expanded into 3D space, because he is standing straight and facing forward without any exaggerated movements, thus the post makes him look closed-off and a column his limbs are locked in space. Therefore, the standing posture, the decorations on his body, his hair and knee’s texture and how the Egyptians impact Greek art, is what makes me interested in it. A question that has always been in my mind is
Aphrodite is one of the most famous figures of Greek mythology, because Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexual rapture. She was desired by nearly all of the Greek gods. Aphrodite was one of the twelve main gods on Mt. Olympus, and she was the most powerful goddess when it came to members of the opposite sex. There are many origins to Aphrodite's birth. Some of them are: She arose full-grown out of the foam of the sea, She is the daughter of Zeus and Dionne, She is the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, which would make her a Titaness, or She is the daughter of Titans Oceanus and Tethys, making her an Oceanid. (Dittus 34-35) “The most common origin of her birth is her being foam-born, which is what her name means” (Parin 45). This origin says that Aphrodite arose nude and full-grown out of the foam of the sea and riding into the shore of Cythera on a scallop shell. She found Cythera to be too small of an island, so she went to live in Paphos, in Cyprus, which is still the principal seat of her worship.
HEPHAESTUS AND APHRODITE APHRODITE Aphrodite is one of the most famous figures of Greek mythology. Because Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexual rapture,1 she was desired by. nearly all of the Greek gods. Aphrodite was one of the twelve main gods on Mt. Olympus,2 and she was the most powerful goddess when it came to members of the opposite sex of the sex.
These three goddesses represent three different types of women in Greek society. Sarah Pomeroy, author of Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, believed that “the goddesses are archetypal images of human females, as envisioned by males” (8). Pomeroy understands the significance of the differences between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, and what those differences meant for the women of Greece who were required to follow three important rules. The first rule was for the women to live a life of domesticity and motherhood. This was very important to the men in the society.
It is said that the Grecians were the first people responsible for giving life to god and goddesses that looked like actual human beings. They made beautiful men and women. They made people with humor and dignity, as well as animals, including monsters (Daly). All of their gods and goddesses had rare capabilities, but there was one who was very distinctive and was loved by many gods and mortals. We all know her as the goddess of love, beauty, femininity and sexuality. Her name, Aphrodite.
Sculpture is one of the most important parts of Greek art since it is almost the only art form that has survived in some quantity. The ancient Greeks were especially known for their sculpture because their sculptures were extremely life like and beautiful. It was important to the ancient Greeks to combine passion and reason in their sculpture. Greek sculptures were mostly of the human form since they looked at their gods as having a human form. All of the sculptures were nudes of males because society looked down upon female nudity until latter on in time when you started to see sculptures such as the Venus di Milo, which was modeled after Aphrodite (Wikpedia the free encyclopedia. Wikpedia.11 Nov 2004. 12 Nov 2004 http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Greek_art ). One of the most amazing sculptures is the colossus sculpture of Zeus in Olympia it was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Ancient writers said that it stood 12.40 meters high, 6.65 meters long and 9.76 meters deep the body of Zeus was made of ivory followed by a robe made of gold topped with a silver olive wreath and his throne was decorated with mythological scenes painted by Panainos and Kolotis the statue itself was created by Phidos. Michael Lahanas. 25 Dec 2002. 11 Nov 2004 (http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Arts/ZeusStatue.htm). Another great sculpture is the colossus Athena Parthenos. This sculpture just like the colossus statue of Zeus was made of gold and ivory and had various mythological engravings in her shield, helmet and pedestal.
The Greeks found this so appealing because it looked very similar to themselves in form but because Aphrodite is naked, it showed the separation from the “mere mortals” (Berz). She seems modest with her sexuality by trying to cover her genitals, but she is very strong and secure with her head high. Women were also able to compare themselves with this sculpture because it was not ideal; Aphrodite was not blonde with blue eyes, but she was as she
The small, crudely carved statuette of an obese woman contrasts heavily with the graceful classical forms of sculpture such as Aphrodite of Cnidos, Praxiteles, 350 BCE. Although it would be difficult to associate the word beautiful with this statuette, there can be no doubt that it reflects the female form. The statuette has also been known as “la poire” or “the pear” due to its size and shape and more recently was donned the Woman from Willendorf. The removal of the title Venus served to take away the figurine’s status as a goddess and lower it to the human level, therefore allowing more consideration of the figurine’s purpose (Witcombe, sec. 3. The adage of the adage.
Aphrodite is depicted in her persona as a perfect, breathtaking woman, characterized by her potent sexual attractiveness. While Artemis is similar in her gender and her eternal youth, her appearance is not characterized with sexual attraction as much as it is fruitfulness and purity, as she is the goddess of chastity and natural environments. Aphrodite’s main symbol is a girdle that has magical powers to compel love, while Artemis contains a bow that is used for hunting flesh, and is very physically strong. And of course, because Artemis is a virgin god, she lacks a husband or any children for herself, while Aphrodite is in the complete opposite realm: she not only has a husband (Hephaestus), but an illicit lover too (Ares, the god of...
Aphrodite and Athena were both great powerful women who were revered as goddesses in greek mythology. They both were greatly worshipped, however due to their distinct personality traits they were worshipped and spoken about and very different ways. Both goddesses are immortal and female, and both seem to distinguish the incongruous gender roles between men and women throughout ancient Greece. What makes these two goddesses interesting, however, is their differences, which will determine how they will be reflected in myth. On one hand you have Athena, the androgynous goddess of war and wisdom. On the other you have Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sexuality. During this time, even among the immortals, women were seen as inferior and less
Aphrodite leg is creating a V shape. Hera seems to be modeled after Aphrodite of Knidos, with her hand somewhat modestly place to cover the female part and her body shape is also quite similar too Aphrodite of Knidos. Athena on the other hand, is giving the audience her full back. Her body creates “s” shape with gives a sense of motion. All four females depicted in the painting have that ideal female body congruent with Greek ideal at that time, 0.7 waists to hip ratio, unfit, non-muscular body. Same can be said with all the males depicted in the painting, they all adhere to the male ideal body; they are all extremely muscular and ripped, ready to protect their town and women, even Eros, a child has an extremely muscular body. Paris is seen horizontally extending his arm towards to Aphrodite granting her the apple, show casing every arm muscle just like in Discus Thrower, as if the artist just capture the exact moment of motion. There is an implied line, directing the viewer’s eyes towards the focal point, Aphrodite and Paris. All the character’s eye direction in the painting is going towards Paris choice of giving the apple to Aphrodite instead of choosing to give it to Hera or Athena. Furthermore, a dog, next to Paris, is seen horizontally lying down on the floor, which according to Greek culture, dogs were the protectors, they are calm, loyal and devoted to their masters. The viewer based on location and proximity of the dog to Paris can conclude that he will protect Paris from harm, foreshadowing the Trojan War, which Paris escapes alive. There is also iconography in the painting such as Eros, to identify Aphrodite, a peacock to identify Hera, and armor for