What can the gods and goddesses of love in the ancient world teach us how our ancestors viewed love?
The ancient pantheons of the world share many similarities such as sky, ocean and thunder gods. however, one similarity between most of these ancient religions stands out like a saw thumb. A theme consistently reappears, Love. Gods and Goddesses of love continually reappear through the ancient world, from Britain to the levant and further. though these figures tend to differ in appearance and power, however there are similarities that these figures share. Blog wishes to discuss the gods and goddesses of love across the ancient world.

APHRODITE/VENUS

One name that may not shock most readers is Aphrodite, or Venus for those more familiar to Roman mythology. The differing versions of Aphrodite/Venus between the Greeks and Romans was based upon the differing moral, cultural and environmental factors placed upon these people. Among these differences, the names of these gods changed, such as Zeus to Jupiter, Ares to Mars and Aphrodite to Venus. Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love, was a major deity in the Ancient Greek Pantheon. As is usual with Greek mythology, sources differ upon the birth and parentage of Aphrodite, with Hesiod in his Theogony claiming that she was born from an appendage cut from the sky god Uranus by his son Kronos (read page 188-190 of Hesiod’s Theogony), however other sources such as the Iliad claim that she was in fact a daughter of Zeus (read book 5 of Homers Iliad). To the Ancient Greeks and Romans Aphrodite was a major influencer in mythology appearing in many myths and getting involved in mortal affairs plentiful times.

ISHTAR

Ishtar, the goddess of love and war to the Mesopotamians and patron god of Babylon, was a very powerful and prevalent deity. She appears in literature such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and appears in many forms of idolatry, from necklaces to statuettes. Her cult can be dated as far back as the Ancient city of Uruk in the Late 3000’s BCE. She is represented as a very Promiscuous goddess who is willing to partner with powerful individuals.

HATHOR

Hathor, goddess of love and the sky but also the mother goddess the ancient Egyptian pantheon, was the mother of the gods Horus and consort of Ra, both of whom connected to kingship. She represented music, joy, sexuality, love and maternity. She was a loyal goddess, and wouldn’t marry many gods. She represented a form of love outside of sexuality, such as familial love.

FREYJA

Freyja, goddess of love, fertility, sex, lust, beauty, death and war, was the lover of Óðr. She remained loyal to Odr and was a very influential figure in Norse mythology. representing a lustful form of love but also war, she shares this in common with Ishtar. Surprisingly she wasn’t among the same group of gods that Odin was (the Aesir) but actually to the Vanir, different gods from Vanaheim not Asgard.

WHAT DO THESE ANCIENT BEINGS HAVE IN COMMON?

Most of these figures appear to be feminine, whilst also being gods of beauty. This may be due to patriarchal beliefs that women should be beautiful, however gods such as Eros may stand as an effective counter to this. being that Eros/Cupid was a male god of love this may display how both male and female gods can represent love. The roles of these gods being the same doesn’t mean that their role/power within their pantheons would be similar. Hathor holds the role of queens over her, both of which fell in love with the king gods of her pantheon. Freya however would marry Óðr, not a king of the gods although he is theorised to be a hypostasis of Odin, who was king of the Nordic Pantheon. Ishtar and Aphrodite however, didn’t partner with one individual god, with Aphrodite partnering with several gods such as Hephaestus, Ares and Hermes. Ishtar even attempted to partner with the God King Gilgamesh, demi-god ruler of Ur.

WHAT CAN THIS TEACH US ABOUT THE ANCIENT VEIW’S OF LOVE?

These differing interpretations of love by these ancient societies display how the idea of love and its role on the world differs greatly between peoples. With the more promiscuous, Aphrodite and Ishtar differing vastly to the loyal Freya and Hathor . These represent different forms of love represented in the ancient world. One thing however is obvious, the importance of love to all these peoples as these figures remained prominent inside their pantheons.

Bibliography

modern sources

Ackerman, Susan (2006) Gender and Difference in Ancient Israel, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press,
Anderson, Graham (2000), Fairytale in the Ancient World, London, England: Routledge
Arscott, Caroline; Scott, Katie, (2000), Manifestations of Venus: Art and Sexuality, Critical Perspectives in Art History, Manchester, England: Manchester University Press,
Bertman, Stephen (2003), Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press,
Black, Jeremy (2004). The Literature of Ancient Sumer. Oxford University Press, England.
Black, Jeremy; Green, Anthony (1992), Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary, London, England: The British Museum Press,
Bleeker, C. J. (1973). Hathor and Thoth: Two Key Figures of the Ancient Egyptian Religion. Brill.
Bonner, Campbell (1949), “KESTOS IMAS and the Saltire of Aphrodite”, The American Journal of Philology, The Johns Hopkins University Press,
Bordes, Philippe (2005), Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University,
Breitenberger, Barbara (2007), Aphrodite and Eros: The Development of Greek Erotic Mythology, New York City, New York and London, England,
Bull, Malcolm (2005), The Mirror of the Gods: How Renaissance Artists Rediscovered the Pagan Gods, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press,
Burkert, Walter (1985), Greek Religion, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press,
Clark, Nora (2015), Aphrodite and Venus in Myth and Mimesis, Cambridge, England: Cambridge Scholars Publishing,
Collins, Paul (1994), “The Sumerian Goddess Inanna (3400-2200 BC)”, the Institute of Archaeology, 5, UCL
Cyrino, Monica S. (2010), Aphrodite, Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World, New York City, New York and London, England: Routledge,
Dalley, Stephanie (1989), Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press,
Ancient Sources

Hesiod. Theogany (1914) Hugh G. Evelyn-White. (trans. ) Cambridge, Harvard University Press
Homer. The Iliad (1924) A.T. Murray (trans.) Cambridge, Harvard University Press
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Posted byjacobsummers180114215th Nov 2020Posted inUncategorized