1. Apollo & Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares, and Hephaestus
Lecture 4
Apollo & Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares, and Hephaestus

2. Apollo and Artemis: Their Birth
Krater, c. 450 BCE
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

3. Leto Koios (Coeus) & Phoebe Hera has Gaia deny Leto land to give birth Delos, Ortygia

4. Slaying of the Niobids
Krater, BCE

5. Artemis

6. “I sing of Artemis, whose shafts are of gold, who cheers on the hounds, the pure maiden, shooter of stags, who delights in archery, own sister to Apollo with the golden sword. Over the shadowy hills and windy peaks she draws her golden bow, rejoicing in the chase, and sends out grievous shafts. The tops of the high mountains tremble and the tangled wood echoes awesomely with the outcry of beasts: earthquakes and the sea also where fishes shoal. But the goddess with a bold heart turns every way destroying the race of wild beasts: and when she is satisfied and has cheered her heart, this huntress who delights in arrows slackens her supple bow and goes to the great house of her dear brother Phoebus Apollo, to the rich land of Delphi, there to order the lovely dance of the Muses and Graces.”
Homeric Hymn 27

7. Phoebus Apollo Kouros, called Apollo of Piraeus c. 520 BCE
National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece

8. Apollo (on the omphalos) and the Python
Apollo & Python, Athenian black-figure lekythos C6th B.C., Musée du Louvre

9. “Rot now right here on the man-nourishing earth;
You shall not ever again be an evil bane for living men
Who eat fruit of the earth that nurtures many
And will bring to this place unblemished hecatombs….” ….
Hence the place is now called Pytho, and people
Call the lord by the name Pytheios [from putho ‘to rot’]

10. Death of the Python in Ovid: A thousand arrows…
The Archer god, whose shafts till then were used only against wild goats and fleeing deer, destroyed the monster with a thousand arrows, his quiver almost emptied…

11. …versus one.
“Your bow, Apollo, may vanquish all, but mine shall vanquish you. As every creature yields to power divine, so likewise shall your glory yield to mine.” He drew two arrows of opposing power…

12. Apollo and Daphne
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, , Galleria Borghese

13. Orpheus

14. Apollo and Kalliope (Calliope) Eurydice Ganymede, Pygmalion, Hyacinth, Myrrha, Adonis, Atalanta & Hippomenes Thracian (Bacchic?) Women tear him apart Orphism (Orphic Hymns)

15. Asklepios / Asclepius

16. Apollo & Koronis Asklepieion near Epidauros Children: Hygeia (“health”); Panakeia (“all-cure”); Iaso (“cure”); Akeso (“healing”)

17. Aphrodite
Aphrodite nursing Erotes
c. 380 BCE, from Taranto (Italy)

18. Aphros / Zeus & Dione Ares, Hermes, Anchises, Adonis Hermaphroditus & Salamacis; Aeneas; Harmonia

19. Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite
Zeus beats Aphrodite at her own game
Aphrodite falls in love with a mortal (Anchises)
Disguises self as Phrygian maiden

20. The Morning After…
But when he saw the neck and lovely eyes of Aphrodite, he was afraid and turned his eyes aside another way, hiding his comely face with his cloak. Then he uttered winged words and entreated her: "So soon as ever I saw you with my eyes, goddess, I knew that you were divine; but you did not tell me truly. Yet by Zeus who holds the aegis I beseech you, leave me not to lead a palsied life among men, but have pity on me; for he who lies with a deathless goddess is no hale man afterwards."

21. Aphrodite and Ares Red-figure kylix from Attica; found at Tarquinia
BCE

22. Ares Offspring of Zeus and Hera God of War (esp. Bloodshed)
Often conquered by other beings (e.g., Athena, Diomedes)

23. Hephaistos / Hephaestus

24. HERMES To think that a cripple and a blacksmith like him should marry two such queens of beauty as Aphrodite and Charis!
APOLLO Luck, Hermes—that is all. But I do wonder at their putting up with his company; they see him running with sweat, bent over the forge, all sooty-faced; and yet they cuddle and kiss him, and sleep with him!
HERMES Yes, it makes me angry too; how I envy him! Ah, Apollo, you may let your locks grow, and play your harp, and be proud of your looks; I am a healthy fellow, and can touch the lyre; but, when it comes to bedtime, we lie alone.
APOLLO Well, my loves never prosper….
HERMES Ah, once, once, I and Aphrodite--but no; no boasting.