Aphrodite (Venus)
Reference page: Repertory of Cults and Myths
Venus de Milo (Louvre)
Origins of the Myth
In Greek mythology she is the goddess of love and her cult spread not only in Greece but also in the West, where she was identified with the Italian Venus. According to Homer, she was the daughter of Zeus need Dione, although, according to another, probably older, narrative, Aphrodite was born of blood from the sexual organs of Uranus, which were cut off by Cronos at the instigation of his mother Gaia. The blood, falling from the sky, mixed with the waves of the sea thus generating Aphrodite the "woman born of the waves".
The origin of the cult is perhaps Phoenician-Babylonian and the oldest sanctuary dedicated to Aphrodite was, according to Erotodo, that of Ascalon, in Phenicia. It is probable that, in its initial form, the cult of the Asian goddess was linked to the aspects of fecundity and generation (as the cults of isthar in Babylon and Astarte in Phenicia), but the Greek Aphrodite assumed exquisitely Hellenic characteristics.
Being born of the sea, Aphrodite is not only the goddess of love but she is also revered by sailors for her ability to make sailing beautiful and safe. It is she, moreover, who also makes the earth beautiful by being the goddess of spring in bloom.
Her favorite plants are the rose, the pomegranate and the myrtle and, among the animals, the dove is dear to her. Aphrodite is represented with her body adorned with roses and myrtles, on a chariot pulled by sparrows, doves and swans. She personifies beauty, and when Discord threw Paris the apple destined to belong to the most beautiful of the goddesses of Olympus, Paris chose Aphrodite, discarding Hera and Athena.
Ancient representation of Ishtar (web)
The Myth in Sicily
In the West the cult of Aphrodite spread more in Sicily, on the mountain Erice (today S. Giuliano), where, probably, there was a Punic sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Tanit (the Carthaginian version of the Phoenician Astarte, wife of Baal, goddess of love and mistress of Carthage). From Sicily the cult spread to Italy up to Rome where she was venerated with the name of Venus Ericina. Diodorus Siculus (lib IV.83) gives his own version of the reason for the name "Ericina": Erice was the son of Aphrodite and Buta, the local king of Sicily. He, in turn, became king, founded a city that took his name, placed it on a rock and, at the highest point, built a sanctuary dedicated to his mother. The goddess showed particular affection for the city of Erice and for this she was called Aphrodite Ericina.
The importance of the cult of Venus Ericina is also demonstrated by the discovery of a republican coin from 57 BC, where the temple of Erice is depicted on top of a rock surrounded by turreted walls.
Roman coin of 57 BC with Venus Ericina (web)
The Roman Senate decreed that seventeen Sicilian cities, among the most faithful to Rome, pay tribute in gold to the sanctuary of Venus Ericina, to which two hundred guard soldiers were also assigned.
The slaves assigned to the Sanctuary of Venus Ericina were used by the Roman governor Verre as subordinates, some used as tithe collectors and, often, also to steal, secretly or by force, the works of art on which Verre had placed the eyes.
More than one element would suggest oriental influence in the cult of Aphrodite Ericina: it was particularly flourishing in the regions originally inhabited by the Elymians, where the influence of the Phoenician-Punic culture was considerable. Another element is given by the fact that in Erice the goddess was considered, as in antiquity, protector of fertility, and the cult of sacred prostitution was always exercised in Erice. This cult was practiced by the priestesses of the Assyro-Babylonian goddess Istar, divinity of love and fertility, who probably descended from the Sumerian goddess of love, Innana. Another element that would seem to link the two divinities is the dove which probably derives from the cult of Istar; in fact, in Greek dove is said "peristerà", i.e. bird of Istar. The prostitution of priestesses was widespread among the Punics. There is talk of a sanctuary dedicated to Venus, in Sicca Veneria, on the African coast (the current El Kef in Tunisia), where the prostitution of girls used to care for the temple was widespread [Ciaceri Emanuele: Culti e Miti dell'Antica Sicilia p . 83]. To tell the truth, we must also remember that the phenomenon of prostitution of priestesses also existed in the temples of Aphrodite in Locri and Corinth, where the cult had taken on more purely Hellenic characteristics. In Corinth there were more than a thousand sacred prostitutes and they constituted, according to what the historian Strabo recounts, the major attraction of the city.
To explain the origin of this form of prostitution, one could think of the same mechanism that led, for example, the Sioux Indian hunters to feed on the still warm heart of the killed bison: this created a close spiritual bond between the hunters and the bison, animal from which they obtained their sustenance. This link would also have favored the discovery of hunting trails. In sacred prostitution, on the other hand, one might think that union with one of the goddess's priestesses idealized a spiritual union with the deity. Nothing prevents us from thinking that this habit was also due to a much less spiritual need, and more linked to the physiological needs of sailors. In fact, this form of prostitution existed in the temples of Locri, Corinto, Sicca Veneria and in other seaside towns that housed temples dedicated to Venus, where the sailors, returning from long periods of navigation, went ashore and made, in their own way, honor to the goddess of love.
Another element that could, although not necessarily, suggest oriental influence, would be the presence, on some coins, of the figure of the dog close to that of the goddess. The dog often appears in oriental mythology, in fact, to the Persian goddess Tanit dogs were sacrificed [Ciaceri Emanuele: Culti e Miti dell'Antica Sicilia p. 122]. But the dog in Sicilian mythology has been an almost constant presence, associated with many deities, even those who have not undergone any oriental influence.
In reality, the elements cited above are not sufficient to be able to affirm with certainty that the cult of Aphrodite Ericina is of oriental origin and that it subsequently underwent a form of Hellenization, as happened for most indigenous cults. The opposite could have happened, namely that the cult, in its Hellenic form, underwent, for religious and / or political reasons, a transformation by the Punics.
That there was an attempt to unite the cult of Aphrodite Ericina with the territory of Carthage would be demonstrated by an ancient ceremony [Ettore Pais: Storia Dell'Italia Antica p. 45 Vol. II]: once a year, carrier pigeons departed from the temple of Erice towards Carthage, to then return, after a few days, welcomed by the cheering population who considered them companions of the goddess who, invisible, visited the African place to then return to the temple. Emanuele Ciaceri stated that, in his time, at the end of the 800th century, it was still possible to observe doves which, every year, departed from Mount Erice to go to Libya and then return [Ciaceri Emanuele: Culti e Miti dell'Antica Sicilia p. 84].
Beyond the origin of the cult, in the Elymian region and in any case in the whole area under Punic influence, Aphrodite was seen as the goddess of fertilization, as well as the protector of sailors. With characteristics more in keeping with classical Hellenic mythology, the cult of Aphrodite was practiced in the rest of the island. There is talk of this cult a Syracuse, Acre, Messina, Selinunte, Imera, Nasso and Catania [Emanuele Ciaceri: Cults and Myths of Ancient Sicily p. 179].
The archaeological findings provide information on the cult of Aphrodite in different parts of Sicily; on the Mount Iato, site of the ancient Elymian center of Iaitai, the remains of a sanctuary dedicated to the goddess have been found. Under the remains of the sanctuary, datable to the mid-sixth century. BC, traces of occupation dating back to the end of the XNUMXth century BC have been found. This would suggest a later Hellenized indigenous cult.
Of the three temples of Selinunte designated with the letters E, F, and G, temple E which is normally attributed to Hera, is also assigned to Aphrodite.
Also to Morgantina traces of the cult of Aphrodite have been found. In addition to an ancient inscription that would suggest the existence of a temple dedicated to the goddess, the remains of a sanctuary have been found and, nearby, a vase dedicated to Aphrodite. The sanctuary can be traced back to the end of the fourth century. B.C
Ad Akray, the remains of a sixth century sanctuary are still visible. B.C; an inscription dedicated to Aphrodite would suggest that it too was dedicated to the goddess [Filippo Coarelli and Mario Torelli: Sicilia “Guide Archeologiche Laterza” p. 294.]
Ad Hymera, one of the temples of the sacred area of the upper city, and precisely the one denominated with the letter B, is perhaps attributable to Aphrodite.
Finally, also one of the sanctuaries found in Megara Iblea it is attributed to the cult of the goddess.
Religious syncretism
With the arrival of the Christian religion on the island, the influence of the cult of Aphrodite did not end completely. On Mount Erice, site of the ancient temple of Venus Ericina, a temple was erected to Virgin Mary, but the title "the beauty of the seven veils" is a clear link to the ancient pagan cult. Even in the sixteenth century, during the celebrations of the Madonna, visits by the population to the pagan temple were frequent. This forced the exponents of the clergy to take measures to discourage this habit, increasing the solemnity of the feast of the Madonna and granting particular indulgence to the participants.
The abandonment of the cult of Aphrodite could be, in some way, related to the popular belief about the existence of Bellina's ghost in the territory of Monte Erice: according to this belief, a woman, who initially appears from a window in the form of a beautiful girl, slowly transforms into a snake [Giuseppe Pitrè Usi e Costumi, beliefs and prejudices of the Sicilian people p. 43]. The Sicilian popular tradition could be placed in the same perspective according to which in Monte S. Giuliano, as Monte Erice is now called, there are the most beautiful women in Sicily; but if these come down from the Mount to settle elsewhere, they lose all their beauty [Giuseppe Pitrè Uses and Customs, beliefs and prejudices of the Sicilian people. Vol IV. p. 479.]
An ancient Sicilian proverb also says:
Cu sali vaja flights to Trapani
Cu beddi vaja flights to lu Munti.
The transition from the pagan cult of Venus Ericina to that of the Madonna was not, therefore, immediate and the reluctance on the part of the population to abandon a form of cult rooted for centuries, meant that the religious ceremonies in honor of the Madonna, concealed residues of the ancient pagan cult. An example was the feast of the Madonna of Custonaci, in the town of Monte San Giuliano, during which there was a horse parade of a series of characters representing Venus, Mars, Mercury, Saturn. The explanation of this parade was the following: the pagan divinities had been sent by the same God, like demons of evil to punish the city for its sins and the Madonna of Custonaci, to save the city, had to stop the same divine hand [Giuseppe Pitre: Patronal Feasts in Sicily p. 475].
It cannot be excluded that also in other parts of Sicily the pagan cult of Aphrodite mixed with that of some Christian saint, as perhaps happened for S. Venera, in Avola and Acireale, or for the "Madonna della mortella" of Villafranca reminiscent of myrtle, one of Aphrodite's favorite plants [Giuseppe Pitre: Patronal Festivals In Sicily p. 406].
The Myth in the IWB Register of the Sicily Region
The places of the myth of Venus have been included in the regional map of places and identity and memory (Places of myth and legends).
Places indicated in the IWB register of the Sicily Region (Places of Identity and Memory):
- Mirror of Venus (Pantelleria)
- Temple of Venus Ericina (Erice)
Note:
The reasons why the Pantelleria Lake known as the Mirror of Venus was included, where the landscape overlooking it, of undoubted beauty, is reflected on the water so much that it is called the Mirror of Venus.
Extract from the Book ” Cults of Ancient Sicily” by Ignazio Caloggero ISBN: 9788832060102 © 2022 Centro Studi Helios srl
