Aphrodite's KESTOS and Apples for Atalanta: Aphrodisiacs in Early Greek Myth and Ritual

Abstract

uses the eca6b ipdi to facilitate her famous deception of Zeus. Deianeira, in a last-ditch effort to save her marriage, mistakenly and tragically destroys her philandering husband, Heracles, when she employs an aphrodisiac to win him back (Hesiod fr. 25.17-25 MW). In yet another early myth, Pindar tells us how Jason uses a magic iuvS-wheel to woo Medea-an act of seduction, which leads to elopement and marriage (Pyth. 4.213-219). Elsewhere we hear how apples, quinces, pomegranates and other fruit designated by the Greek word firov were apparently used to strengthen marital affections; they were regularly offered to brides-to-be, both in myth (e.g., Atalanta, Persephone) and in actual ceremony (e.g., Plut. Solon 20.4). In all these Greek legends involving aphrodisiacs, a magic spell is employed to bring about a desired, new marriage, or save a faltering one. Drawing attention to close parallels in Akkadian erotic spells of the Neo-Assyrian period and in the much later Greek magical papyri, I shall argue that in some cases such myths reflect the actual use of aphrodisiacs in early Greek culture, and that awareness of these practices can give us a much deeper insight into the narrative structure of the poetic texts in which they appear.