The Aphrodite of Knidos: A Precedent of Female Vulnerability in the Visual Arts

Final research paper

Allison Storey

7100:309, Greek Art, Dumser

11/18/12

The Aphrodite of Knidos: A Precedent of Female Vulnerability in the Visual Arts

Praxiteles's Aphrodite of Knidos was said to be so anthropomorphic that "...the hard stone appears as flesh and bone in every limb". The only difference perhaps being that it was exceedingly more beautiful than any human body the people of Ancient Greece had ever laid their eyes upon. Even Aphrodite herself, according to an account by Pliny the Elder, was mystified at how Praxiteles could have reproduced her likeness so accurately without ever having seen her disrobed: "Paris, Adonis, and Anchises saw me naked. Those are all I know of, but how did Praxiteles contrive it?" Not only was Praxiteles's Aphrodite the most exquisite artistic interpretation of beauty, she was the first full-scale female nude in antiquity.

While a relatively large number of copies have survived to present day only the c.350 Roman copy in the Vatican Museums in Rome is said to give justice to the original. Standing 6 feet, 8 inches tall, the Parian marble copy is a clear derivation of Praxiteles hand. The Aphrodite's facial features, often compared to those of Hermes of Praxiteles's statue Hermes and Dionysus, are typical of the artist. Her face has "a tapering shape, narrow eyes, a smiling mouth,

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detailed modulation of the forehead, and a dreamy expression". She has elongated legs and her weight is shifted ever-so slightly on to her right foot. Accordingly, her right hip is thrust out in the tradition of High Classical Greek sculpture, demonstrating contrapposto and creating an "S-curve" throughout the figure. Her back is slightly hunched, her legs drawn in together, and her right hand blocks the viewer's gaze from her pubis. We have caught the goddess as she prepares to enter, or leave her ritual bath.

The statue was meant to be viewed from in-the-round. In order to appreciate it from every angle the original version was housed in an open air, round temple or tholos: "The building has entrances at front and back for those who want a good view of the goddess form behind; the result is that every part of her may be admired". Praxiteles had received a commission from the island of Kos to create an image of Aphrodite. He made both a nude and a draped version of which the citizens of Kos chose the draped. Lacking the humility of Kos, the island of Knidos purchased the nude interpretation. The infamy of the Aphrodite of Knidos was widespread. It was a tourist attraction, one of the most widely copied statues in the ancient world, and both a cult image and symbol of national pride for the city of Knidos. Despite various generous offers for the acquisition of the Aphrodite of Knidos by different nation-states and wealthy individuals the statue remained in Knidos until it was taken by force. In 324 AD Emperor Constantine had it brought to him in Constantinople along with Phidias's colossal Olympian Zeus to grace the new city he was building over the old town of Byzantium. It was later destroyed in 475 AD when

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large portions of Constantinople were set ablaze and the palace of Lausus, where the statue was kept, was burned to the ground.

Nudity was not a concept unbeknownst to Grecian life but it was restricted to privileged males. Public nakedness took place in bathing houses, gymnasiums, the Olympic Games, and in art. The Greek canon of beauty was the nude, heroic male youth. This precedent contributed to the social and legal hierarchy of the sexes in Ancient Greece. In the polis women were caught in a purgatory between citizenship and slavery. Despite their exclusion of rights, women were technically free under the law but the conditions of their freedom were in the hands of the male head of their household. This disparity of worth is perhaps best captured in the Kouroi and Korai statues. The archaic Kouroi was revered as the epitome of physical perfection and its figure was refined over time until it culminated into Polykleitas's Doryphoros. The Korai however was seen as an external surface to be adorned. The only significant evolution of its form is seen in the styling of its hair and the drapery of its peplos or chiton.

The oppression of women and in particular the female body is even evident in the Greek language. The etymology of "aidos", which is the root of the word "aidoios", describes both the sexual organs of men and women alike. However, while aidoios has the same denotative meaning for its male and female counterparts, its connotative meaning for each is significantly different. Pseudo-Lucian is attributed with the earliest application of this linguistic double

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meaning in his work Erotes. "Aidos is a virtue to be taught as part of a young boy's education between the ages of fourteen and twenty to balance out his natural tendency to hubris or arrogance". Reversely, a woman's aidos is the defining aspect of her sexuality and she must exhibit pudor or "a sense of modesty or shame" to conceal it.

To have power over one's actions is an important Grecian principle known as sophrosyne. For men their morality came from an internal sense of rationality. Feminine sophrosyne on the other hand "always includes, and is frequently no more than chastity", which stemmed from obedience and dutifulness. This concept is also discussed by Phintys, a woman who lived in Pythagorean, in her essay on chastity: "Accordingly a woman must learn about chastity and realize what she must do quantitatively and qualitatively to be able to obtain this womanly virtue. I believe that there are five qualifications: (1) the sanctity of her marriage bed, (2) the cleanliness of her body, (3) the manner in which she chooses to leave her house, (4) her refusal to participate in secret cults or Cybeline ritual, (5) her readiness and moderation in scarifying to the gods."

Phintys also provides her thoughts on what constitutes as appropriate attire for a Grecian woman: "As far as adornment of her body is concerned, the same arguments apply. She should be dressed in white, natural, plain. Her clothes should not be transparent or ornate. She should not put on silken material, but moderate, white-coloured clothes. In this way she will avoid