The Worship of Aphrodite in Miletos

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of physical love, is one of the few deities that is extraordinarily well known throughout the world. To the general public she was the beautiful Greek goddess who was the cause of the Trojan War and had dozens of mortal lovers. However, in recent decades scholars have determined that Aphrodite was in fact a Mesopotamian goddess brought to Greece by way of Anatolia (Modern day Turkey) who was better known as Astarte, Ishtar or Inanna.

In 1989, excavations in Turkey unearthed the remains of a sanctuary to Aphrodite at Zeytintepe, a low hill immediately adjoining the metropolis of Miletos. Before this discovery of this temple, the earliest reference to her worship in Miletos and her colonies was an inscription dating to the 3rd century BCE where she was called Aphrodite Ourania. Scholars found that evidence for her worship was abundant during the Classical period but earlier evidence was sorely lacking. However, the discovery of the temple confirmed that Aphrodite had been worshipped during the archaic period.

Although known primarily as the goddess of physical love (her son Eros as the god of romantic love), Aphrodite had a strong sea connection which we can see by her epitaphs found at Miletos and her colonies. These included Eupoia (‘good sailing’), Pontike (‘of the open sea’), Nauarchis (‘mistress, or guardian, of ships’), Aphrogenia (‘foam-born’) and Ourania (‘celestial’). It is easy to see Aphrodite as a fertility goddess but even during the centuries of Greek worship she never lost the marine aspect of her character – she was constantly depicted with sea creatures around her.

It was this aspect of her character, the marine element, which was worshipped in this location. In Mesopotamia, where the goddess was more widely recognised as Astarte, Ishtar or Inanna (the Sumerians, Babylonians and Akkadians all had their own names for this goddess), she was known as the protector of seafarers.

The destruction of the temple is believed to have occurred in 494 BCE when Miletos was sacked by the Persian army. The temple was thoroughly destroyed, making it extremely difficult for scholars to make a detailed architectural reconstruction of the building.

The excavation of the temple of Miletos is of great importance to scholars. The information gathered at Miletos and her colonies shows that Aphrodite was worshipped as a sea goddess rather than a fertility goddess. It also shows that her epitaphs and her cults were adopted and adapted to suit local practices.

Bibliography:

Greaves, Alan M. (2004) The Cult of Aphrodite in Miletos and Its Colonies, Anatolian Studies, British Institute at Ankara.