1. Hesiod, Theogony, 193-196, 192 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
| 192. And in an ambush set her child apart |
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2. Homer, Odyssey, 8.266-8.366 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
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3. Herodotus, Histories, 1.105.3 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 1.105.3. This temple, I discover from making inquiry, is the oldest of all the temples of the goddess, for the temple in Cyprus was founded from it, as the Cyprians themselves say; and the temple on Cythera was founded by Phoenicians from this same land of Syria . |
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4. Plato, Symposium, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 180d. what sort we ought to praise. Now this defect I will endeavor to amend, and will first decide on a Love who deserves our praise, and then will praise him in terms worthy of his godhead. We are all aware that there is no Aphrodite or Love-passion without a Love. True, if that goddess were one, then Love would be one: but since there are two of her, there must needs be two Loves also. Does anyone doubt that she is double? Surely there is the elder, of no mother born, but daughter of Heaven, whence we name her Heavenly; while the younger was the child of Zeus and Dione, and her we call Popular. |
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5. Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica, 1.496-1.511, 1.570-1.571, 2.700-2.714, 4.905-4.909 (3rd cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 1.496. ἤειδεν δʼ ὡς γαῖα καὶ οὐρανὸς ἠδὲ θάλασσα 1.497. τὸ πρὶν ἐπʼ ἀλλήλοισι μιῇ συναρηρότα μορφῇ 1.498. νείκεος ἐξ ὀλοοῖο διέκριθεν ἀμφὶς ἕκαστα· 1.499. ἠδʼ ὡς ἔμπεδον αἰὲν ἐν αἰθέρι τέκμαρ ἔχουσιν 1.500. ἄστρα σεληναίη τε καὶ ἠελίοιο κέλευθοι· 1.501. οὔρεά θʼ ὡς ἀνέτειλε, καὶ ὡς ποταμοὶ κελάδοντες 1.502. αὐτῇσιν νύμφῃσι καὶ ἑρπετὰ πάντʼ ἐγένοντο. 1.503. ἤειδεν δʼ ὡς πρῶτον Ὀφίων Εὐρυνόμη τε 1.504. Ὠκεανὶς νιφόεντος ἔχον κράτος Οὐλύμποιο· 1.505. ὥς τε βίῃ καὶ χερσὶν ὁ μὲν Κρόνῳ εἴκαθε τιμῆς 1.506. ἡ δὲ Ῥέῃ, ἔπεσον δʼ ἐνὶ κύμασιν Ὠκεανοῖο· 1.507. οἱ δὲ τέως μακάρεσσι θεοῖς Τιτῆσιν ἄνασσον 1.508. ὄφρα Ζεὺς ἔτι κοῦρος, ἔτι φρεσὶ νήπια εἰδώς 1.509. Δικταῖον ναίεσκεν ὑπὸ σπέος· οἱ δέ μιν οὔπω 1.510. γηγενέες Κύκλωπες ἐκαρτύναντο κεραυνῷ 1.511. βροντῇ τε στεροπῇ τε· τὰ γὰρ Διὶ κῦδος ὀπάζει. 1.570. Οἰάγροιο πάις νηοσσόον εὐπατέρειαν 1.571. Ἄρτεμιν, ἣ κείνας σκοπιὰς ἁλὸς ἀμφιέπεσκεν 2.700. καῖον, ἐπικλείοντες Ἑώιον Ἀπόλλωνα. 2.701. ἀμφὶ δὲ δαιομένοις εὐρὺν χορὸν ἐστήσαντο 2.702. καλὸν Ἰηπαιήονʼ Ἰηπαιήονα Φοῖβον 2.703. μελπόμενοι· σὺν δέ σφιν ἐὺς πάις Οἰάγροιο 2.704. Βιστονίῃ φόρμιγγι λιγείης ἦρχεν ἀοιδῆς· 2.705. ὥς ποτε πετραίῃ ὑπὸ δειράδι Παρνησσοῖο 2.706. Δελφύνην τόξοισι πελώριον ἐξενάριξεν 2.707. κοῦρος ἐὼν ἔτι γυμνός, ἔτι πλοκάμοισι γεγηθώς. 2.708. ἱλήκοις· αἰεί τοι, ἄναξ, ἄτμητοι ἔθειραι 2.709. αἰὲν ἀδήλητοι· τὼς γὰρ θέμις. οἰόθι δʼ αὐτὴ 2.710. Λητὼ Κοιογένεια φίλαις ἐν χερσὶν ἀφάσσει. 2.711. πολλὰ δὲ Κωρύκιαι νύμφαι, Πλείστοιο θύγατρες 2.712. θαρσύνεσκον ἔπεσσιν, Ἰήιε κεκληγυῖαι· 2.713. ἔνθεν δὴ τόδε καλὸν ἐφύμνιον ἔπλετο Φοίβῳ. 2.714. αὐτὰρ ἐπειδὴ τόνγε χορείῃ μέλψαν ἀοιδῇ 4.905. εἰ μὴ ἄρʼ Οἰάγροιο πάις Θρηίκιος Ὀρφεὺς 4.906. Βιστονίην ἐνὶ χερσὶν ἑαῖς φόρμιγγα τανύσσας 4.907. κραιπνὸν ἐυτροχάλοιο μέλος κανάχησεν ἀοιδῆς 4.908. ὄφρʼ ἄμυδις κλονέοντος ἐπιβρομέωνται ἀκουαὶ 4.909. κρεγμῷ· παρθενικὴν δʼ ἐνοπὴν ἐβιήσατο φόρμιγξ. | |
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6. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 10.15-10.39, 10.73-10.75, 10.147-10.721, 10.723-10.739, 11.15-11.22 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
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7. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.14.7, 3.23.1 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 1.14.7. Hard by is a sanctuary of the Heavenly Aphrodite; the first men to establish her cult were the Assyrians, after the Assyrians the Paphians of Cyprus and the Phoenicians who live at Ascalon in Palestine ; the Phoenicians taught her worship to the people of Cythera . Among the Athenians the cult was established by Aegeus, who thought that he was childless (he had, in fact, no children at the time) and that his sisters had suffered their misfortune because of the wrath of Heavenly Aphrodite. The statue still extant is of Parian marble and is the work of Pheidias. One of the Athenian parishes is that of the Athmoneis, who say that Porphyrion, an earlier king than Actaeus, founded their sanctuary of the Heavenly One. But the traditions current among the Parishes often differ altogether from those of the city. 3.23.1. Cythera lies opposite Boeae ; to the promontory of Platanistus, the point where the island lies nearest to the mainland, it is a voyage of forty stades from a promontory on the mainland called Onugnathus. In Cythera is a port Scandeia on the coast, but the town Cythera is about ten stades inland from Scandeia. The sanctuary of Aphrodite Urania (the Heavenly) is most holy, and it is the most ancient of all the sanctuaries of Aphrodite among the Greeks. The goddess herself is represented by an armed image of wood. |
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8. Vergil, Georgics, 4.464-4.467
| 4.464. Arched mountain-wise closed round him, and within 4.465. Its mighty bosom welcomed, and let speed 4.466. To the deep river-bed. And now, with eye 4.467. of wonder gazing on his mother's hall |
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