Aphrodite

Objects and images made to remind us of our beliefs and to visually signify to others what our beliefs are.  I could forever research this topic. Leads me to The Museum of Jurassic Technology by David Wilson.  Interesting how this museum plays with our interpretation of objects and images.  

Lekythos (Oil Flask).  Mid 4th century B. C., 7.5 inches, ceramic, Late Classical Period. 

"Aphrodite was one of the earliest Greek gods, and we know the story of her birth from the 8th-century BC poet Hesiod: Aphrodite emerged from the sea—her name means ―"born from foam"—near the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. When she took her first step on dry land, Hesiod says, ―"the grass began to grow all around beneath her slender feet." Aphrodite’s birth was a favorite story for Greek artists. They used it as the basis for freestanding sculptures as well as objects like the oil bottle and wine cup on view here. The subject has remained popular ever since." - from MFA Educators Online.  Link here.

Figurine of woman nursing a child.  600-480 B.C., 7inches, Limestone.

"Aphrodite's origins are rooted in the goddesses worshipped by ancient cultures near Greece. The ancient Greeks considered Aphrodite a foreigner: born at sea, hailing from Paphos on southwestern Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. Cyprus was at the crossroads of Mediterranean trade routes—a place from which the religious and cultural ideas of the Near East traveled westwards. Aphrodite probably developed from a preexisting divinity, introduced to the Greeks through contact with Cyprus.These older goddesses lent Aphrodite many of her defining characteristics as a symbol of love, beauty, fertility, maternity, and strength."  - from MFA Educators Online.  Link here.

Second-century BC Greek terracotta from South Italy of Aphrodite flanked by cockle-shells.
Source link here.

The Prayer of Paris to Aphrodite