Venus Kallipygos
Aphrodite Kallipygos means, "Venus of the Beautiful Bottom." Her pose suggests that she is examining herself in the reflection of a pool, perhaps the pool in which she has just finished bathing. It is also possible that the statue illustrates a story from classical antiquity, recorded by Athenaeus in Deipnosophistae, or "Philosophers at Dinner." I will try to tell it in just a few words.
A farmer in Syracuse has two beautiful daughters. One day, they begin to argue over who has a prettier bottom. Unable to settle the dispute between themselves, the girls go out onto the street and show themselves to a young nobleman who happens to be passing by and ask him to give them his verdict. The embarrassed nobleman excuses himself and stumbles on so sick with desire for the elder of the two that he eventually returns home to lie down in bed. That night, he tells his brother what happened. His brother (naturally) decides to visit the girls and offer them his opinion. And the girls show themselves to him, too, and he falls in love with the younger. And so the daughters of a humble farmer marry noblemen. Wealthy and famous, the girls build a temple to Aphrodite, and call her Kallipygos, "Venus with a Beautiful Bottom." The reader unmoved by this charming story is a dolt. |
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