Editing Aphrodite (section)

== Forms and epithets ==
{{Main|:Category:Epithets of Aphrodite}}

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| image1    = Turtle Aphrodite AO20126 mp3h9188.jpg
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| caption1  = ''[[Aphrodite Urania|Aphrodite Ourania]]'', draped rather than [[nude]], with her foot resting on a [[tortoise]] ([[Louvre]])
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| caption2  = Ancient Greek [[herma]] of [[Aphroditus]], a male form of Aphrodite,{{sfn|Bullough|Bullough|1993|page=29}}{{sfn|Clark|2015|page=381}}{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=81}} currently held in the [[Nationalmuseum]] in [[Stockholm]]}}

Aphrodite's most common cultic epithet was ''[[Aphrodite Urania|Ourania]]'', meaning "heavenly",{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=28}}{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=80}} but this epithet almost never occurs in literary texts, indicating a purely cultic significance.{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|pages=28–29}} Another common name for Aphrodite was ''[[Aphrodite Pandemos|Pandemos]]'' ("For All the Folk").{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=35}} In her role as Aphrodite Pandemos, Aphrodite was associated with ''[[Peitho|Peithō]]'' ({{lang|grc|Πείθω}}), meaning "persuasion",{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|pages=35–38}} and could be prayed to for aid in seduction.{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|pages=35–38}} The character of Pausanias in [[Plato]]'s [[Symposium (Plato)|''Symposium'']], takes differing cult-practices associated with different epithets of the goddess to claim that Ourania and Pandemos are, in fact, separate goddesses. He asserts that ''Aphrodite Ourania'' is the celestial Aphrodite, born from the sea foam after Cronus castrated Uranus, and the older of the two goddesses. According to the ''Symposium'', ''Aphrodite Ourania'' is the inspiration of [[Human male sexuality#Male homoeroticism|male homosexual desire]], specifically the [[Ephebic Oath|ephebic]] [[Eros (concept)|eros]], and [[pederasty]]. ''Aphrodite Pandemos'', by contrast, is the younger of the two goddesses: the common Aphrodite, born from the union of Zeus and Dione, and the inspiration of [[Heterosexuality|heterosexual desire]] and sexual promiscuity, the "lesser" of the two loves.<ref>[[Plato]], ''[[Symposium (Plato)|Symposium]]'', 181a-d.</ref><ref>Richard L. Hunter, ''Plato's Symposium'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2004, pp. 44–47</ref> ''Paphian'' (Παφία), was one of her epithets, after the [[Paphos]] in Cyprus where she had emerged from the sea at her birth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/pi/825 |title=Suda, π, 825}}</ref>

Among the [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonists]] and, later, their Christian interpreters, Ourania is associated with spiritual love, and Pandemos with physical love (desire). A representation of Ourania with her foot resting on a tortoise came to be seen as emblematic of discretion in conjugal love; it was the subject of a [[chryselephantine sculpture]] by [[Phidias]] for [[Elis (city)|Elis]], known only from a parenthetical comment by the geographer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]].<ref>Pausanias, ''Periegesis'', vi.25.1; ''Aphrodite Pandemos'' was represented in the same temple riding on a goat, symbol of purely carnal rut: "The meaning of the tortoise and of the he-goat I leave to those who care to guess", Pausanias remarks.</ref> The image was taken up again after the Renaissance.<ref>[http://www.emblems.arts.gla.ac.uk/french/emblem.php?id=FALc195 Andrea Alciato, ''Emblemata / Les emblemes'' (1584)].</ref>

One of Aphrodite's most common literary epithets is ''Philommeidḗs'' ({{lang|grc|φιλομμειδής}}),{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=39}} which means "smile-loving",{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=39}} but is sometimes mistranslated as "laughter-loving".{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=39}} This epithet occurs throughout both of the Homeric epics and the ''First Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite''.{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=39}} Hesiod references it once in his ''[[Theogony]]'' in the context of Aphrodite's birth,{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|pages=39–40}} but interprets it as "genital-loving" rather than "smile-loving".{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|pages=39–40}} [[Monica Cyrino]] notes that the epithet may relate to the fact that, in many artistic depictions of Aphrodite, she is shown smiling.{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|pages=39–40}} Other epithets of her include ''Mechanitis'' meaning skilled in inventing<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |editor-link=William Smith (lexicographer) |title=Mechaneus |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |title-link=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |volume=2 |page=1003 |date=1867 |url=https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfGreekAndRomanBiographyAndMythology/Dictionary%20of%20Greek%20and%20Roman%20Biography%20and%20Mythology%20-%20Vol%202/page/n1007/mode/2up |publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]]}}</ref> and ''Automata'' because, according to [[Servius the Grammarian|Servius]], she was the source of spontaneous love.<ref>{{cite book |first=Lewis Richard |last=Farnell |title=The Cults of the Greek States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YGfXAAAAMAAJ |publisher=[[Oxford University Press|Clarendon Press]] |date=1896 |page=666}}</ref>

Common literary epithets of Aphrodite are ''Cypris'' and ''Cythereia'',{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=27}} which derive from her associations with the islands of Cyprus and Cythera respectively.{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=27}} On Cyprus, Aphrodite was sometimes called ''Eleemon'' ("the merciful").{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=80}} In Athens, she was known as ''Aphrodite en kēpois'' ("[[Aphrodite of the Gardens]]").{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=80}} At Cape Colias, a town along the Attic coast, she was venerated as ''Genetyllis'' "Mother".{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=80}} The Spartans worshipped her as ''Potnia'' "Mistress", ''Enoplios'' "Armed", ''Morpho'' "Shapely", ''[[Ambologera]]'' "She who Postpones Old Age".{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=80}} Across the Greek world, she was known under epithets such as ''Melainis'' in Corinth "Black  or Dark One",<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Schmitz |first=Leonhard |title=Melaenis |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |title-link=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |volume=2 |page=1012 |date=1867 |url=https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfGreekAndRomanBiographyAndMythology/Dictionary%20of%20Greek%20and%20Roman%20Biography%20and%20Mythology%20-%20Vol%202/page/n1017/mode/2up |publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]]}}</ref> ''Skotia'' "Dark One", ''Androphonos'' "Killer of Men", ''Anosia'' "Unholy", and ''Tymborychos'' "Gravedigger",{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=81}} all of which indicate her darker, more violent nature.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=81}}

A male version of Aphrodite known as [[Aphroditus]] was worshipped in the city of [[Amathus]] on Cyprus.{{sfn|Bullough|Bullough|1993|page=29}}{{sfn|Clark|2015|page=381}}{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=81}} Aphroditus was depicted with the [[Female body shape|figure]] and [[Cross-dressing|dress]] of a woman, but had a [[beard]], and was shown lifting his dress to reveal an erect [[phallus]].{{sfn|Bullough|Bullough|1993|page=29}}{{sfn|Clark|2015|page=381}} This gesture was believed to be an [[apotropaic magic|apotropaic symbol]], and was thought to convey [[good fortune]] upon the viewer.{{sfn|Koloski-Ostrow|Lyons|2000|pages=230–231}} Eventually, the popularity of Aphroditus waned as the mainstream, fully feminine version of Aphrodite became more popular, but traces of his cult are preserved in the later legends of [[Hermaphroditus]].{{sfn|Clark|2015|page=381}}