Part 4

Aphrodite was worshiped in a prehistoric age, and the origin of her cult is plainly traceable to the Orient, especially to Phenicia and further back to Pamphylia, Syria, Canaan and Babylon. The Phenician Astarte was imported to the islands of the Ægean Sea, to Cythera, Paphos and Amathus. Hence even in the Hellenistic age she was still honored with the names Cytherea, Paphia and Amathusia.

From the Ægean islands the cult of Aphrodite spread rapidly to Sparta, Athens and other Greek centers. The barbaric origin of the Aphrodite cult is in evidence in the myth of Aphrodite’s birth as the foam-born, but it is difficult to say whom we shall deem responsible for the legend--perhaps the inhabitants of the islands. Certainly we cannot lay the burden of the invention of the story upon

the Asiatics, at least not on the Syrians, for according to an account of Nigidius Figulus,[11] the fish of the Euphrates found a large egg in the floods and pushed it ashore, where it was brooded upon by a dove until the Syrian goddess came forth from it.

An exquisitely graceful relief pictures the birth of Venus from the foam of the ocean. She appears as a young maiden covered with a diaphanous garment, and is being lifted out of the water by the Graces. The marble is preserved in the National Museum at Rome and was discovered by excavations in the grounds of the Villa Ludovisi in 1887.

The Oriental goddess was originally the queen of the starry heaven, either the moon or the morning star, and as such she was the same figure which in other places gave rise to the development of Artemis. We may emphasize here that like the Christian Mary the pagan female divinity was at the same time both the eternal virgin and the celestial mother. Mythology cannot stand the application of logical rationalism, and we must not try to make the traditional legends rigidly consistent.

While we recognize a strong Oriental influence in the Greek construction of the Aphrodite cult, we must acknowledge that in Greece we have a new and independent origin of the divine ideal of femininity. In Mesopotamia Istar was a very popular deity, and innumerable idols have been found in the shape of a naked woman, commonly called

“Beltis” or “Lady,” but this conception of the goddess of femininity cannot be regarded as the prototype of the Greek Aphrodite who at an early period assumed a definitely Greek figure and character. Without detracting from her universal significance as the cosmic principle of generation, the artistic conception of the Greek mind at once idealized her as the incarnation of loveliness and grace, and from Phidias down to the end of paganism she has retained this ideal.

In Cnidos Aphrodite was worshiped in three forms: as gift-giver (δωρῑτις), as goddess of the high places (ἀκραία) and as the lucky sailor (εὔπλοια), and we learn that bloody sacrifices were not permitted (Tac., _Hist._, II, 3), even on the main altar in Paphos.

Originally, Aphrodite was not only love, grace and beauty, but the mistress, the lady, the queen; and so she is represented in Cythera as fully armed. The same is true in Sparta and in Corinth where her temple was erected on the highest place of the city, called Acrocorinthus.

The sensual features of the Aphrodite cult were certainly not absent in ancient Hellas. We know that in Corinth there were large numbers of hierodules in the temple who helped to make the ceremonies gorgeous and impressive, but judging from the language used by Æschylus and Pindar they were highly respected and received public acknowledgment for their fervent prayers during the Persian wars.

In the early imperial time of Rome, the authority of Venus was promoted by the fact that she was the tutelary deity of Cæsar, who through the similarity of his name “Julius” with “Julus,” the son of Æneas, was encouraged to derive his legendary pedigree from Æneas, the mythical founder of the Latin race, the son of Anchises and Aphrodite.

With the rise of Christianity the worship of Venus naturally deteriorated very rapidly, and the fathers of the church referring to all the different versions of her love affairs maligned her in the eyes of the world by identifying the Venus Urania with the Venus Vulgaris, and their views have contributed a good deal to disfigure her picture in later centuries.

In the times of Cæsar she was still the great goddess whose domain was not limited to beauty and love nor even to the procreation of life, in which capacity she was called Venus Genetrix, but she was also Venus Victrix, or the goddess who in battle assures victory. Yea, more than all this, she was the goddess of life and immortality connected with the chthonian gods--the powers of death in the underworld. Her emblem, the pomegranate, is also found in the hands of Persephone, indicating a kinship between Aphrodite and the daughter of Demeter.

It is not accidental that Aphrodite as the goddess of love and generation is also the queen of the underworld. She begets life, she restores to life; she leads into Hades and back out of Hades into the world of life. It is for this reason that, according to Pausanias (II, 10, 4), her statue in the temple at Sicyon carries the chthonian symbols, the apple and the poppy, in her hands, and there her priestesses were bound by a vow of chastity.

The chthonian aspect of the Aphrodite cult appears in the legend of the death of Adonis with all its details of funeral lamentations and ceremonies and the great hope of his resurrection. Istar herself descends to the underworld, as we shall see further down (see pp. 85-95), and we know at least that in Cyprus a tomb of Aphrodite has been shown.[12]

THE GODDESS OF WAR.

One special function of the mother goddess was leadership in war. It was a custom among the Arabians until recent times that the warriors of a tribe were led in battle by a girl riding at their head with breast exposed, inspiring them in their attack to the display of irresistible courage; and if it was a common practice in prehistoric times, we may assume that this function of womanhood established the character of Istar as the goddess of war, later on differentiated as the Greek Pallas Athene and the Roman Bellona.

[*] Engraving on a gem representing the statue of Venus Erycina on the Capitoline. This interpretation does not exclude other possibilities. Certainly the attitude of little Eros is artistic and pleasing.]

We may be sure that the character of Aphrodite as Venus Victrix is by no means a late Roman invention of the days of Cæsar but dates back to the most ancient days of Babylonian tradition. She was from the start of history the great _Magna Mater_, the All-Mother and Queen to whom the people appealed in all their needs, especially in war. In Greece she is frequently addressed as νικηφόρος, bringer of victory.

A penitential psalm on the destruction of the ancient city of Erech has been preserved in a fragment which in Theodore G. Pinches’s translation reads thus:[13]

“How long, my Lady, shall the strong enemy hold thy sanctuary? There is want in Erech, thy principal city; Blood is flowing like water in E-ulbar, the house of thine oracle; He, the enemy, has kindled and poured out fire like hailstones on all thy lands. My Lady, sorely am I fettered by misfortune; My Lady, thou hast surrounded me, and brought me to grief. The mighty enemy has smitten me down like a single reed. Not wise myself, I cannot take counsel;[14] I mourn day and night like the fields. I, thy servant, pray to thee.”

As Venus Victrix, the warlike goddess akin to the Greek Pallas Athene, Istar, appears to Asurbanipal in a vision, recorded in a cuneiform inscription of the annals of this powerful Assyrian king, and refers to the invasion of Tiumman, King of Elam. The passage reads in H. Fox Talbot’s translation thus:[15]

“In the month Ab, the month of the heliacal rising of Sagittarius, in the festival of the great Queen [Istar] daughter of Bel, I [Asurbanipal, King of Assyria,] was staying at Arbela, the city most beloved by her, to be present at her high worship.

“There they brought me news of the invasion of the Elamite, who was coming against the will of the gods. Thus:

“‘Tiumman has said solemnly, and Istar has repeated to us the tenor of his words: thus: “I will not pour out another libation until I have gone and fought with him.”’

“Concerning this threat which Tiumman had spoken, I prayed to the great Istar. I approached to her presence, I bowed down at her feet, I besought her divinity to come and save me. Thus:

“‘O goddess of Arbela, I am Asurbanipal, King of Assyria, the creature of thy hands, [chosen by thee and] thy father [Asur] to restore the temples of Assyria, and to complete the holy cities of Akkad. I have gone to honor thee, and I have gone to worship thee. But he Tiumman, King of Elam, never worships the gods....

[Here some words are lost.]

“‘O thou Queen of queens, Goddess of war, Lady of battles, Queen of the gods, who in the presence of Asur thy father speakest always in my favor, causing the hearts of Asur and Marduk to love me.... Lo! now, Tiumman, King of Elam, who has sinned against Asur thy father, and has scorned the divinity of Marduk thy brother, while I Asurbanipal have been rejoicing their hearts. He has collected his soldiers, amassed his army, and has drawn his sword to invade Assyria. O thou archer of the gods, come like a [thunderstorm] ... in the midst of the battle, destroy him, and crush him with a fiery bolt from heaven!’

“Istar heard my prayer. ‘Fear not!’ she replied, and caused my heart to rejoice. ‘According to thy prayer thine eyes shall see the judgment. For I will have mercy on thee!’

* * * * *

“In the night-time of that night in which I had prayed to her, a certain seer lay down and had a dream. In the midst of the night Istar appeared to him, and he related the vision to me, thus:

“‘Istar who dwells in Arbela, came unto me begirt right and left with flames, holding her bow in her hand, and riding in her open chariot as if going to the battle. And thou didst stand before her. She addressed thee as a mother would her child. She smiled upon thee, she Istar, the highest of the gods, and gave thee a command. Thus: “take [this bow],” she said, “go with it to battle! Wherever thy camp shall stand I will come.”

“‘Then thou didst say to her, thus: “O Queen of the goddesses, wherever thou goest let me go with thee!” Then she made answer to thee, thus: “I will protect thee! and I will march with thee at the time of the feast of Nebo. Meanwhile eat food, drink wine, make music, and glorify my divinity, until I shall come and this vision shall be fulfilled.”

“‘Thy heart’s desire shall be accomplished. Thy face shall not grow pale with fear: thy feet shall not be arrested: thou shalt not even scratch thy skin in the battle. In her benevolence she defends thee, and she is wroth with all thy foes. Before her a fire is blown fiercely, to destroy thy enemies.’”

Mr. Talbot makes the following editorial comment on the historical event connected with Asurbanipal’s narrative:

“The promises which the goddess Istar made to the king in this vision of the month Ab were fulfilled. In the following month (Elul) Asurbanipal took the field against Tiumman, and his army speedily achieved a brilliant victory. Tiumman was slain, and his head was sent to Nineveh. There is a bas-relief in the British Museum representing a man driving a rapid car, and holding in his hand the head of a warrior, with this inscription, _Kakkadu Tiumman_, ‘The head of Tiumman.’”

THE DESCENT INTO HADES.

As the goddess of love Venus is the restorer of life, and as such she descends into the underworld and brings the dead back to life. Lewis Richard Farnell in his _Cults of the Greek States_[16] reproduces a remarkable votive tablet which shows Hermes the soul-dispatcher (_psychopompos_) confronting a woman holding in her outstretched hand a pomegranate blossom (the symbol of both the chthonian Aphrodite and Persephone) and Eros, the god of love, on her arm. The obvious meaning of the tablet indicates that it is love which redeems from death. This conception of the great goddess found a fit expression in the myth of Demeter’s daughter Persephone (called in Latin “Proserpina”) who, after being snatched away by Pluto, the ruler of Hades, is allowed to return to earth. So life on earth with its bloom of vegetation dies off each winter but returns annually in the spring.

This idea became a symbol of human immortality in the Eleusinian mysteries, presumably derived from older sources which go back to religious cults in Babylonia and Asia Minor, and the Christian doctrine is apparently derived from the same tradition. Paul says (1 Cor. xv. 36-38):

“Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain. But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.”

Jesus echoes the same argument and uses the same simile of the grain of wheat in John xii. 24:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

The most important document still at our command relating to the chthonian Venus is a fragmentary poem called “Istar’s Descent to Hell.” The main subject is introduced in order to justify the possibility of conjuring the dead from Sheol. Dr. Jeremias[17] explains the situation as follows:

“A man grieves over the death of his sister. He consults a magus as to how to release the spirit of the deceased from the prison of Hades. The priest tells him the story of Istar’s descent to Sheol for the sake of proving that the gates of Sheol are not unconquerable, and advises him to address Istar, the conqueror of Hades, and Tammuz her consort, with prayer and sacrifice, in order to gain their assistance. He is requested to comply with funeral ceremonies at the coffin of the dead and to begin his mourning with the assistance of the Uhats, the companions of Istar. The spirit of the dead, hearing the lamentations of her brother, requests him to rescue her from the horrors of Sheol through mourners’ music and sacrifices in the days of Tammuz, which is the time when the people sing and weep, as told by Ezekiel viii. 14, and mourn for their dead under the shape of Tammuz. The concluding lines of the poem, which are summed up in these words, form the core of the whole, while the legend of Istar’s descent to Sheol is only an introduction to it, and constitutes a part of the conjuration of the dead. From other documents of Babylonian literature we learn that on the names of Istar and Tammuz, the hero and heroine of the legends of the descent to Sheol, depend the hopes of a rescue from Sheol.” (_Loc cit._, pp. 7-8.)

It appears that people celebrated with special preference the days of the god Tammuz, who represented the disappearance of vegetation and its resurrection to life. The legend of Istar’s descent[18] to Sheol reads in the translation based on Dr. Jeremias’s version as follows:

(OBVERSE OF THE TABLET.)

“To the land of no return, to the land [which thou knowest (?)],[19] Istar, the daughter of the moon-god, meditated [to go]. The daughter of the moon-god meditated to go To the house of darkness, to the seat of Irkalla, To the house whose visitor never returns, 5. On the path the descent of which never leads back, To the house whose occupants are removed from the light, To the place where dust is food, and dirt is meat, Where they (the occupants) see no light, where they dwell in darkness, Where they are clothed like birds, dressed with wings,[20]. 10. Where upon gate and bolt dust is spread.

“When Istar had reached the gate of the land of no return, She spake to the keeper of the gate: ‘Keeper of the waters, open thy gate, Open thy gate,--I wish to enter! 15. If thou openest not, if I cannot enter, I shall demolish the gate, I shall break the bolt, I shall smash the threshold, I shall break the doors; I shall lead out the dead, shall make them eat and live, And unto the crowds of the living the dead shall I join.’ 20.

“The keeper opened his mouth and spake In reply to the sublime Istar: ‘Stay, my lady, do not upset [the door]! I will announce thy name to Queen Allatu.’ “The keeper entered and spake to Queen Allatu: 25. ‘The water has been crossed by thy sister Istar....”

[The goddess Allatu is greatly agitated about Istar’s appearance in Sheol. The poem continues:]

“When Goddess Allatu [heard] this.... Like unto a tree cut down.... Like unto reeds mowed down [she drooped and spake]: 30. ‘What has driven her heart, what.... These waters have I [made encompass Sheol] ... Like the inundation of the deluge, like the swelling (?) waters of a great flood, I will weep over the men who left their wives. I will weep over the wives who were taken from their consorts, 35. Over the little children I will weep, who prematurely [were taken away].[21] Go, keeper, open the gate, And strip her according to the primordial decree.’ The keeper went, he opened the door to her: ‘Enter, my lady, let the underworld [Kûtu] rejoice; 40. Let the palace of the land of no return rejoice at thy arrival!’ “Through the first door he bade her enter and, stripping her, Took off from her head the golden crown. ‘Why, O keeper, takest thou from my head the golden crown?’ ‘Step in, my lady, for such are the commands of the mistress of the earth.’[22]

Through the second door he bade her enter and, stripping her, 45. Took off the ornaments from her ears. ‘Why, O keeper, takest thou the ornaments from my ears?’ ‘Step in, my lady, for such are the commands of the mistress of the earth.’ Through the third door he bade her enter and, stripping her, Took off the chains from her neck. ‘Why, O keeper, takest thou the chains from my neck?’

‘Step in, my lady, for such are the commands of the mistress of the earth.’ 50. Through the fourth door he bade her enter and, stripping her, Took off the ornaments from her breast. ‘Why, O keeper, takest thou the ornaments from my breast?’ ‘Step in, my lady, for such are the commands of the mistress of the earth.’ Through the fifth door he bade her enter and, stripping her, Took off the gem-covered belt from her hips. ‘Why, O keeper, takest thou the gem-covered belt from my hips?’ 55. ‘Step in, my lady, for such are the commands of the mistress of the earth.’ Through the sixth door he bade her enter and, stripping her, Took off the bracelets from her hands and feet. ‘Why, O keeper, takest thou the bracelets from my hands and feet?’ ‘Step in, my lady, for such are the commands of the mistress of the earth.’ Through the seventh door he bade her enter and, stripping her, 60. Took off the robe from her body. “Why, O keeper, takest thou the robe from my body?’ ‘Step in, my lady, for such are the commands of the mistress of the earth.’ Now, when Istar was descended to the land of no return-- Allatu beheld her, and vehemently upbraided her; Istar, forgetful, assaulted her.... 65. Then Allatu opened her mouth and spake. Addressing Namtar, her servant, giving him this command: ‘Go, Namtar, open (?) my.... Let her out ... the goddess Istar, With a disease on her eyes [punish her], 70. With a disease on her hips [punish her], With a disease on her feet [punish her], With a disease on her heart [punish her], With a disease on her head [punish her], Upon her whole person [inflict diseases].’ 75. When Istar, the lady, [was thus afflicted], The bull no longer covered the cow, the he-ass the she-ass, The lord no longer sought the maiden of the street. The lord fell asleep in giving command, The maid-servant fell asleep....” 80.

REVERSE OF THE TABLET.

“Pap-sukal, the servant of the great gods, scratched his face before Samas, Clothed in mourning and filled with.... Samas went: he went to Sin, his father [and wept]; Before Ea, the king, he shed tears; ‘Istar has descended into the land and has not returned. 5. Since Istar descended into the land of no return, The bull no longer covers the cow, The jack-ass no longer covers the she-ass, A man no longer seeks the maiden of the street, The lord falls asleep in giving command, The maid-servant falls asleep.... 10. Then Ea in the wisdom of his heart created a male being, He created Uddusunâmir,[23] the servant of the gods: ‘Go forth, Uddusunâmir! to the door of the land of no return turn thy face, The seven doors of the land of no return shall open before thee, Let Allatu see thee, let her rejoice at thy arrival. 15. When her heart has become calm, and her soul is comforted, Conjure her in the name of the great gods,[24] Lift up thy head over the source of waters (?), make up thy mind (and speak): ‘Not, O my lady, shall the spring be debarred from me; from its waters I will drink.’ When Allatu heard this, 20. She smote her loins and bit her finger[25] (and spake): ‘Thou hast made a demand which cannot be fulfilled-- Hence, Uddusunâmir, I will confine thee in the great prison, The slime of the city shall be thy food, The gutters of the street shall be thy drink, 25. The shadow of the wall shall be thy habitation. The thresholds, thy dwelling-place, Prison and confinement shall break thy strength.

[Allatu curses Uddusunâmir, but the conjuration which he uttered is too powerful, and she must obey. Thus the power of the realm of death is broken and Istar is free.]

Allatu opened her mouth and spake, To give command to Namtar, her servant: 30. ‘Go, Namtar, demolish the eternal palace, Demolish the pillars, make the thresholds quake; Lead out the Anunnaki, put them upon the golden throne,[26] Sprinkle upon Goddess Istar the water of life; Take her away from me!’ 35. Namtar went and demolished the eternal palace, He demolished the pillars and made the thresholds (?) quake, He led out the Anunnaki and placed them upon the golden throne,

“He sprinkled upon Goddess Istar the waters of life and led her away: Through the first door he led her and replaced the robe upon her body; 40. Through the second door he led her and replaced the bracelets upon her hands and feet; Through the third door he led her and replaced the gem-covered belt upon her hips; Through the fourth door he led her and replaced the ornament upon her breast; Through the fifth door he led her and replaced the chains upon her neck; Through the sixth door he led her and replaced the ornaments in her ears; Through the seventh door he led her and replaced upon her head the golden crown.” 45.