Venus Anadyomene: Venus orta mari (Ovidius, Heroides, XV, 213)
Venus Anadyomene: Venus Orta Mari

Summary/Abstract: According to the legend told by Hesiod, the goddess of beauty and love in Greek mythology was born from Uranus’s genitals, severed by Cronus and thrown into the primordial sea. The graceful image of Venus Anadyomene rising from the sea was made famous in antiquity thanks to a much-admired painting by Apelles, and it became especially enticing for ancient writers, being often taken up in Latin literature by various authors – from Ovid to Pliny the Elder, Servius, or Apuleius. Apuleius, in particular, dedicates several exquisite passages to the subject, rich in chromatic terms, and highly picturesque. Beyond their refinement and graphic brilliance, the Apuleian depictions draw attention through the physical detail found therein. For example, the goddess’s head reveals capillo fluente undater – “undulating locks of hair overflowing in waves” – an image which must be interpreted through the aquatic symbolism of the feminine dishevelled hair. Celebrated in antiquity through the writings of Hesiod, Homer, Plato, Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Ovid, Apuleius, and so forth, the image of Venus Anadyomene is also present in modern literature, which takes on to exploit this magnificent creation of the Greek-Roman culture, further enriching and enlivening it.

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