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Comparing Perseus And The Marble Statue Of Aphrodite

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Both Perseus and ‘The Marble Statue of Aphrodite’ are connected intimately with the theme of female beauty. The pieces are connected through the importance and influence the female form has on men. The statue represents the sexuality and the beauty of a goddess who represents love and sex, while the story of Perseus is constantly influenced by women who are beautiful or influence others with their femininity.

The statue depicts Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sex, the ultimate beauty. The female form and the sexuality it suggests is prevalent and holds importance both in the depiction of the goddess of love and in the ideal woman of the gods. Zeus is known for procreating with many beautiful women, most being goddesses. Danae, Perseus's mother is so beautiful she attracts the attention of Zeus; her beauty is enough to make a god love her. “How it was revealed to her that it was Zeus who visited her in this shape we are not told, but she knew that the child she bore was his son.” (Hamilton, 198) Just like the statue, the female form influences both artists and gods. The sexuality is admired and inspires stories. Aphrodite's female form encourages worshippers, as Danae encourages Zeus’s affections. …show more content…

Medusa is hated because she is ugly. Medusa’s ugliness has such power that men turn to stone if they look at her. “Medusa was one of the Gorgons, for the reason that whoever looked at them was instantly turned into stone.” (Hamilton, 200-201) The statue of Aphrodite has such power that it represents a goddess. Medusa has power, but is a monster and not considered a deity. This is because she doesn't have the femininity or the beauty of the female form that is glorified. That statue represents a powerful woman that is beautiful. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t be considered a

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The myth and Medusa is discussed in the poem “perseus” and the story “Heroes Every Child Should Know” Perseus was a brave boy who killed a monster with snake hair and eyes of stone named Medusa. Medusa was a monster with snake hair,and eyes of stone,she would turn people to stone if you looked her in the eyes. The two stories are similar because they both have the same conflict and the same setting, but different because they have different amounts of characters. The two stories are similar because they both have the same conflict, how Perseus is going to kill Medusa. In the story it talks about “He thought awhile with himself,and remembered Athene’s words”.

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This paper will discuss the well-published work of, Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken, 1975. Print. Sarah B. Pomeroy uses this book to educate others about the role women have played throughout ancient history. Pomeroy uses a timeline to go through each role, starting with mythological women, who were called Goddesses.

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It is important to begin with the vital role of women in the pervasive Greek pantheon of gods. These female deities represented an extensive range of female personae and were the foundation upon which revolved Hellenic cult life. While goddesses represented the feminine through their physical attributes, they also bolstered the status of women through the facets of life for which they were charged with protecting. Perhaps the most vital deity in the ancient Greek world was the goddess Athena. Known by multiple epithets like Polias, Promachos, Ergane and Nike, Athena embodied traits of “masculine womanhood,” serviced a multitude of polis needs and was the patron goddess of the city of Athens, The virgin goddess Artemis played a particularly

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If it weren’t for Aphrodite, there would be no Trojan war, and the other gods wouldn’t have to compete with each other because of her beauty. Aphrodite was very beautiful and all the Gods wanted to marry her, and she used this to her advantage. She would get all the attention and almost everyone liked her. It might seem like Aphrodite was perfect because of her beauty, but her personality was the total opposite. She was always afraid someone would be better than her, and this caused her to be very jealous.

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In one section of the Pergamon Frieze, the goddess Athena has forced a winged monster to his knees, inscriptions along the base of the structure identify Athena’s enemy as Alkyoneos, son of the earth goddess. Who rises up from the ground to plead for her son’s life deliberately depicting an elaborate, dramatic story. Also creating each god or goddess with their idea of the “perfect body”. The ancient greeks were fixated on what the perfect body actually was, and studied the human appearance closely. The last greek value that is depicted into the Pergamon frieze would be the architecture.

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Unsurprisingly, most of the analysis of the Aphrodite of Knidos has been conducted by men, and it shows when one does any sort of research about her. Both ancient and modern commentators have concluded that the intended audience of this statue would have been male, since it played upon a man’s sexual desire for the goddess. This is true in the sense that it is a sensual work that surely inspired passion in many men, but I ague that they were not the primary audience of this fine work. Aphrodite was a goddess who was venerated by married women or women who were about to get married, as well as high profile sex workers known as hetairai. Brides would invoke her to help them in the marital realm, and the hetairai invoked her as their protectress.

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In the Greek creation story there are several goddesses created, but there is only one or two whose story is more than but a few lines. The creation of Aphrodite is different than the creation of the others. Most of the other goddesses are the result of a comingling of the primal deities, but Aphrodite is created from the castrated genitals of Ouranos. In many cultures, societies, and religions, men are generally placed as being superior to women. The story of Aphrodite’s creation may offer some deeper psychological insight into this way of thinking within the Greek culture.

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As proven by her actions in myth and her appearance in art, Aphrodite was truly an influential goddess. It is claimed that without Aphrodite there would be no joy or loveliness in the world. She was a misunderstood goddess but she deserves appreciation as one of the most powerful and important Greek deities. She produced many children from her many affairs with gods and mortals. Zeus had to solve many complications Aphrodite had with other goddesses.

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It is evident in Zeus’s and Apollo’s obsession with women, Orpheus’s winning over of Hades with his lovely music, the sparking of the Trojan War over Helen’s legendary loveliness, and Hera’s and Athena’s bitterness

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The Greek sculptures reach the new height of beauty, not only because the mastery of the technique, but also the fascination of human body. Greek art uses the outer appearance to reflect the inner power, it is the representative pattern of western art. The myth inspires the creation of sculpture. The fantasy of nature and society and the admire of god’s shape and personality makes the sculpture more multiple and abundant.

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Besides the fact that she had a head of snakes in place of hair, the knowledge of the mythical, goddess Medusa to many is limited. Medusa was a powerful creature who represented royalty and all things feminine. The name Medusa means ruler or queen, and it could also be a form of the Greek word metis, which means feminine wile. These terms are immensely unique, because they suggest a powerful position, which typically is not associated with proper Greek women. Though, the many stories of Medusa are often contradictory, what she represented will forever remain true.

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Made from parian marble sculpted separately before being fixed with vertical legs, this piece of art is usually thought to portray Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of physical love and beauty. Venus de Milo is a statue of a naked woman with no arms, restoration experts have said that the statues arms and original base or plinth have been lost almost since the work arrived in Paris in 1820. It has been said that this was partly due to an error of identification because when the statue was originally reassembled, the other pieces that came of the left hand and arm were not believed to belong to it because of their overall rough appearance. This goddess is often shown with mystery, her attitude always tends to be unknown. However to this day, many experts are confident that these additional pieces were part of the original work of art despite the variation in the final product since it was often common to spend less time and effort to the parts believed to be less visible of a sculpture, Many sculpture reconstruction experts guess that the separately carved right arm of the Venus de Milo laid across her torso with her right hand rested on her raised left knee, hence her clasping the clothing covering

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