Geneza i początki kultu Afrodyty

Katarzyna Zeman-Wiśniewska

doi:10.21697/sc.2020.27.2.1

Published: 2021-01-20

Vol. 27 No. 2 (2020)

Genesis and beginnings of the cult of the goddess Aphrodite

Katarzyna Zeman-Wiśniewska

Saeculum Christianum. Historical Writings

Section: Rozprawy i Artykuły

https://doi.org/10.21697/sc.2020.27.2.1

Abstract

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, according to ancient authors, was supposed to have come from Cyprus, where her oldest known temple was located in Palaepaphos. However, the alleged process of transforming the local Cypriot deity into the Hellenic Aphrodite is difficult to trace. Without questioning her Cypriot roots, this article focuses on the issue of the origins of her presence in the Greek pantheon of deities, proving that Aphrodite was from the beginning a strictly Greek (Greek-Cypriot) and not a Levantine deity, whose worship was only secondarily influenced by the cult of Astarte, before she eventually became part of the pantheon of deities revered by the Greeks.

Keywords:

Aphrodite, Cyprus, Mycenaean culture, the late Bronze Age, the early Iron Age

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Zeman-Wiśniewska, K. (2021). Genesis and beginnings of the cult of the goddess Aphrodite . Saeculum Christianum. Historical Writings, 27(2), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.21697/sc.2020.27.2.1

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Katarzyna Zeman-Wiśniewska

Affiliation:

Wydział Nauk Historycznych Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego, Warszawa Poland

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

Dr Katarzyna Zeman-Wiśniewska: adiunkt w Instytucie Archeologii UKSW; zainteresowania badawcze – archeologia Cypru, zwłaszcza epoki brązu i wczesnej epoki żelaza (religia, sztuka, kontakty z kulturami egejskimi i Lewantem).