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"My muse, as always, is Aphrodite." ~ Joseph Fiennes as William Shakespeare in Shakespeare In Love
To say Aphrodite is simply the Greek goddess of love and beauty is a grand understatement. In fact, this goddess didn't start out as Grecian at all. She can be traced back to the Babylonian goddess, Ishtar, her Sumerian counterpart, Inanna, and the Semetic goddess, Astarte. These three goddesses presided over all things pertaining to love and beauty, yes - but so much more. Sexuality, passion, fertility, strength, courage, life and death, heaven and earth. Aphrodite's worshipers attributed to her all the strengths and powers her predecessors possessed.
It is believed worship of Aphrodite was brought from Phoenecia to Greece by way of Cypress. Her mythical home, in fact, is Cypress. There are several temples in Turkey and the Greek islands built in honor of her that are still standing today. A city in Turkey, Aphrodisias, is named after her.
Aphrodite's Temple in Aphrodisias, Turkey
I'm sure you're familiar with Sandro Botticelli's painting The Birth of Venus - Venus being the name the Romans gave Aphrodite when they absorbed her into their culture. The painting depicts the predominant myth describing how Aphrodite emerged into being.
Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, 1485
Ouranos, god of Heaven, refused to allow his children to move out of darkness and into the light - thus forcing them to stay within a void of formless nothingness, timelessness, meaninglessness. One of his sons, Cronus (Time), sought a way around this. He took a sickle and castrated his father. The severed genitals fell into the great womb of the sea.
"...and a white foam spread around them from the immortal flesh, and in it there grew a maiden... and came forth an awful and lovely goddess, and grass grew up about her beneath her shapely feet. Her gods and men call Aphrodite... because she grew amid the foam."
~ from Hesod's Theogony
Figs, depicted in the illustration, are one of Aphrodite's sacred fruits
Born of the sea, Aphrodite is often depicted near it, adorned with shells and pearls. If she doesn't appear entirely nude, she's shown wearing brightly colored flowing robes and a magic girdle said to be interwoven with her magical powers of love. It's also common to see her gazing at herself in a mirror or combing her long, lush hair. The affectionate white dove or a pair of turtledoves are her close companions. Surprisingly, so is the white goose as well as sparrows, swans, rabbits, dolphins and fish. Shellfish such as oysters and cockle shells are also of significance to her as they both resemble the female genitalia and are purportedly said to possess aphrodisiac qualities. The apple and myrtle tree were her sacred trees. Apples, pomegranates, and figs are her sacred fruits (see Pomona for more information on apples and pomegranates) and the rose and anemone are her most prized flowers.
Oysters and pearls - both an aphrodisiac and adornment
Aphrodite was very generous in using her powers to aid her followers. She assisted those who petitioned her in obtaining their heart's desire and she had the ability to generate and elicit desire for those who initially acted with indifference to the advances of a suitor or lover. She cared for orphans. She bestowed blessings and good fortune upon those who honored and loved her. However, at times she also used her powers to viciously punish and sometimes outright destroy those who tried to disrupt or prevent the natural workings of love and sexuality. She was also known to avenge slights by causing the offender to experience misfortune in the areas of love or beauty.
Simply put, it was best not to mess around with Aphrodite. She was a goddess who insisted she be loved, honored and respected with a full heart and absolute devotion for who she was and all she represented. Her love was fierce - which could feel like a heavenly blessing or, should you cross her, an absolute curse.
The Aphrodite illustration was the first one in this series where I worked off an image of the likeness of a girlfriend. Lynne, is a British glamour model for various popular UK men's magazines. It certainly isn't difficult to see why. Lynne is, in my opinion, absolutely, stunningly beautiful - both inside and out.
Her star is rising fast and bright. Life and love, despite the ups and downs, is presently on a very joyful upswing and I couldn't be more ecstatic for her. If anyone has put in their dues and is deserving of all good things under the sun, it's Lynne.
Prior to embarking on this project, I'd already been inspired to capture Lynne's likeness with pencil, pen and paintbrush. She was very much a muse to me as her physical features are those that I equate to my own personal sense of the feminine ideal. Like actresses Monica Bellucci, Salma Hayek, Isabelle Adjani and Aishwarya Rai (women whom I think are the most physically perfect women walking the face of this earth), Lynne has flawless creamy smooth skin cast against a gorgeous mane of long brunette hair. She has a voluptuous figure, pouting lips and alluring, sultry and expressive eyes. I see something exotic about her, something mysterious - despite the fact that many of the photos taken for her various magazine spreads are quite revealing. She is open and yet remains enigmatic.
You may have noticed there are strong similarities among the four women I've cited - and that Lynne strongly resembles them as well. Like most people, I have a distinct internal sense of an ideal when it comes to both men and women; a "type", if you will. The features I may find physically appealing are not necessarily the same as someone else's. After all, beauty is subjective and all in the eye of the beholder. The four women mentioned above may have similarities in physical features but each one of them are as different internally from one another as the seasons. They all "vibe" a totally different essence of energy from one another. I don't think I could ever pair Monica, Isabelle, Salma or Aishwarya with the archetypal essence of energy as that of Aphrodite. Monica has too much of a touch of tragedy to her, Isabelle has an air of haughty elitism, Salma's energy has always struck me as a little tomboyish and Aishwarya has an air of sweet, girlish innocence that just wouldn't do for a goddess whose energy is far more sexually charged and evocative.
When I work from a photograph, as I did with Lynne here and several other friends afterward, I feel as though I merge with them to some extent for a little while. After all, they are my total focus when I'm creating an illustration. It's not just about attempting to capture their physical features with my pen. It's also about their bringing through their essence.
I don't randomly match my female friends with the various goddesses I plan to draw. There has to be that internal and external match between one and the other. The model must be an incarnate form of the goddesses archetypal energy; as if that goddess is here - living, breathing and walking among us. Sometimes the match is just an intuitive sense on my part. Most of the time though, the match is crystal clear to me before I ever put pencil to paper - as was the case with Lynne.
She is Aphrodite. Aphrodite is Lynne.
Given the circumstances of how our paths crossed, her classic beauty and the symbolic connection of what she does for a living and how it relates to this particular goddess, I asked Lynne if she would be kind enough to allow me to attempt to capture the essence of Aphrodite I see reflected and sense contained within her. She was gracious enough to consent.
Again, thank you so much, Lynne!!
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