Statuette of Hermaphrodite,

2nd century BCE

These three sculptures, two of the goddess of love, Aphrodite, and one of Hermaphrodite, the child of Aphrodite and Hermes, demonstrate how specific aspects of a deity’s persona could be communicated through the particular way in which the divine body is represented. Aphrodite, associated with sensuality and love, is shown nude in each example, following the convention established in fourth-century BCE images of the goddess that radically departed from earlier modes of depicting her clothed. Captured mid-action, she is presented to the viewer in an intimate, private moment of undressing or bathing, as if inviting anyone who sees her to enter into that space of close familiarity where one might reach out to touch her tantalizing skin, only to discover that she is made of hard marble. Her child, Hermaphrodite, similarly embodies the sensuality and softness associated with the goddess, and indicates through their very body and position how they are connected with their mother.