Classical Mythology, 7th Edition - obinfonet: dia logou

APHRODITE AND EROS 175
The Godhead Fires. By Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898); oil in canvas, 1878, 39 X 30 in.
This is the third of the four scenes painted by Burne-Jones to illustrate William Morris'
poem "Pygmalion and the Image" in The Earthly Paradise. Venus, clothed in a diaphanous
garment and holding a sprig of myrtle, appears with her doves and roses and by her
touch brings Galatea to life, with the words, "Come down, and learn to love and be alive."
(Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery.)
has something in common with Hermes. He also resembles Dionysus and Pan
(two of his other reputed fathers), and is sometimes confused with them or their
retinues. Whatever the origins of Priapus in terms of sincere and primitive reverence
for the male powers of generation, stories about him usually came to be
comic and obscene. In the jaded society of later antiquity, his worship meant little
more than a cult of sophisticated pornography. (See Color Plate 6.)
PYGMALION
Although many stories illustrate the mighty power of Aphrodite, the story of
Pygmalion has provided a potent theme in subsequent literature. Ovid tells how
Aphrodite (Venus in his version) was enraged with the women of Cyprus be-