A contest of erga: Aphrodite against Athena, Artemis and Hestia in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

Polyxeni Strolonga (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)

The poet of the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite begins the Hymn with a short description (5.2-5) of the goddess' erga (=works). Aphrodite inspires desire among gods and tames all living beings (men, birds and beasts of the sea and land). The poet then in digression instead of expanding upon the virtues of the goddess to whom the Hymn is devoted, he shifts his focus to three virgin goddesses, Athena, Artemis and Hestia who are not subdued by Aphrodite, and offers a long description of their erga that include among others, war, craftsmanship, domestic activities, hunting, dance, civic organizations, and rituals. In this paper I explain why the poet needs to contrast Aphrodite's erga with the erga that virgin goddesses support. For some scholars the three goddesses are the exceptions that prove the rule of the universality of Aphrodite's impact (Podbielski, 1971, 22; Parry 1986, 255).For others, Aphrodite's traits are better defined by means of contrast (Clay 1989, 159; Smith 1981, 34). In this framework, the digressions present the cultural institutions that counter Aphrodite's natural passions (Rudhardt, 1991, 17; Brown, 1997, 35). Finally it has been argued that the description of the virgin goddesses' erga sets patterns of virginal action that Aphrodite employs when in the disguise of a virgin seduces Anchises (Turkeltaub 2003, 101-116).

In this paper I argue that the long digression over the activities the three goddesses control, does not contribute to an over all positive representation of Aphrodite, but rather it highlights some problematic aspects of Aphrodite's power and stresses the necessity for the modification of her erga. The universality of Aphrodite's influence and her authority over men, whom she only tames without contributing to their civilized community, contrast with the beneficial role of the three virgin goddesses. Unlike the description of the three goddesses' erga, Aphrodite's sphere of power is presented briefly without reference to any apparent positive traits of her works such as fertility and procreation. While all virgin goddesses have an interest in activities related to the oikos or the polis, Aphrodite is not connected with any human institutions. However, after Aphrodite is humiliated due to her liaison with Anchises her erga are amended, since not only will Aphrodite stop boasting about uniting gods with mortals but also she will be associated with procreation by providing Anchises an heir. Although at the beginning of the Hymn it seems that Aphrodite loses the contest of erga, in the end the goddess performs works that prove her worth of praise. She shows compassion for Anchises by not punishing him for sleeping with her, she shares in mortality by becoming a mother of a human, and most importantly she contributes to the continuation of Anchises' oikos by providing him the gift of a son. The contrast of Aphrodite with the three virgin goddesses explains the necessity for the goddess' transformation into a "tamed" divinity, who benefits mortals and contributes to the survival of the oikos and human civilization.