Cyprus II: Mythology

Botticelli's Aphrodite

This small island has amassed an incredible amount of historical importance over the centuries, which I will expand on in a different entry, but something that really intrigued me was the overlap of actual history and mythology. While reading information on a historical site, both types of stories are written as fact.

Dionysus
I’ve already touched on the mythology of Dionysus in Cyprus, but just as a recap: The Cypriots claim to be the first among mortals to drink and produce wine, this knowledge was imparted by The Greek God of Wine (and lots of other things) himself: Dionysus. The first round went fairly poorly, but picked up after that.
Still, there are many sites around the island claiming to be important areas for some of Dionysus’ sidekicks: nymphs, satyrs, fauns, etc.

Aphrodite
There are hundreds of versions of the legends of Aphrodite, I am just going to describe a few.
Aphrodite was a half-goddess, ‘born’ to Cyprus. The story of her birth begins with the God Uranus (God of Heaven, way up no the God Hierarchy), or in some versions of the story, Zeus. Uranus was married to Gaia (Earth) and the two had several children, including Cronus, their youngest. Due to many manipulative act’s on the part of Uranus, the rest of the family was seriously displeased and Gaia convinced Cronus to castrate him. He did so, and the penis fell into the sea and as it washed up towards the shore it turned into foam, and the foam and blood turned into Aphrodite ("aphro" means foam). The story goes that she landed on a specific rock,’ Petra tou Romiou’, (near Pafos), which people have been visiting for centuries.

There have also been centuries of women who formed the Cult of Aprhrodite, with pilgrimages being recorded to the Sanctuary of Aphrodite, constructed in 1500 b.c. (But Aphrodite-worshiping artifacts have been found dating back to 3800 b.c.) Many of the worshippers over the centuries have been prostitutes. The famous mosaic of Aphrodite and the swan was originally in this sanctuary.

(More information on her cult: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/cyprus/paphos-sanctuary-of-aphrodite.htm) I find this site incredibly interesting.

Aphrodite Falls

Early on, Aphrodite was married off to a lesser god named Hephaestus who was mean, ugly and crippled. She had thousands of love affairs, one of the most notable being with the beautiful Adonis (also born on Cyprus, but his story is a lot more incestuous) and she allegedly would meet him at some waterfalls near the town of Polis. (We visited; there was an eel in the water, which kind of freaked me out).

Achilles
One of the sites we visited was the ruins of Kourion (details to come in a future entry). Along with a theatre, a palace, a basilica, etc., there is also a building (4th century A.D.) on the outskirts of the town that some claim was the home of Achilles. There is a mosaic on the floor of this building portraying the following story:
“In order to prevent Achilles from entering the Trojan War, his mother, Thetis, dressed him in women's clothes and hid him among the daughters of King Lykomedes. However, Odysseus blew his cover by displaying a range of weapons alongside a selection of jewellery and watching Achilles’s reaction.” (http://www.cyprus.com/the-house-of-achilles-t-info.html).

Another mosaic was found  depicting the first bath that Thetis gave Achilles, allegedly making him immortal.

Venus and Adonis. 1635.Pieter Pauwel Rubens. ''The story tells that Adonis was the offspring of the incestuous union of King Cinyras of Paphos, in Cyprus, with his daughter Myrrha. His beauty was a byword. Venus conceived a helpless passion for him as a result of a chance graze she received from Cupid's arrow (Ovid: Metamorphoses). 

Click this link to read Ovid’s story of Venis and Adonis:
http://www.windowoncyprus.com/myths_and_legends_of_cyprus.htm#Venus%20and%20Adonis

Or Ovid’s story of Cinyras and Myrrha:
http://www.windowoncyprus.com/myths_and_legends_of_cyprus.htm#Cinyras%20and%20Myrrha

Both part of ‘Metamorphoses’
Written 1 A.C.
Translated by Sir Samuel Garth, John Dryden, et al