Description
This painting is part of my Greek mythology series and depicts my modern interpretation of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. She’s the goddess of love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion & procreation.
Aphrodite is victoriously holding a golden apple which is a reference to the judgement of Paris.
Namely, through a ruse concocted by the goodess of discord (Eris), a young prince of Troy called Paris had been tasked to judge which of the three major goddesses (Aphrodite, Athena, Hera) he finds the ‘most fairest’ (ancient Greek: ‘tē(i) kallistē(i)’ ). After each of the goddesses tries to persuade Paris, he eventually choses Aphrodite because of her promise that he will receive the love of the most beautiful woman in return. Unfortunately, this turned out to be Helen of Troy causing the Trojan war in the making (woops).
For me, the judgement of Paris most clearly distills how I view Aphrodite: a fictional woman who’s narrative function is to strive and yearn for the approval of men trading in her and other women’s objectified bodies in the making.
Nonetheless, the judgement of Paris also clearly demonstrates a cunning nature and the feminist in me couldn’t resist capturing this agency and self-awareness through Aphrodite looking directly back at the viewer.
Finally, I also couldn’t resist giving her some human features which I find beautiful but current beauty standards don’t.
