Aphrodite of

Cnidus

The statue became famous for its beauty, meant to be appreciated from every angle, and for being the first life-size representation of the nude female form. It depicted the goddess Aphrodite as she prepared for the ritual bath that restored her virginity, discarding her drapery in her left hand, while modestly shielding her genitals with her right hand.

The Colonna Venus

According to a possibly apocryphal account by Pliny, Praxiteles received a commission from the citizens of Kos for a statue of the goddess Aphrodite. Praxiteles then created two versions—one fully draped, and the other completely nude. The shocked citizens of Kos rejected the nude statue and purchased the draped version. The design and appearance of the draped version is today unknown as it didn't survive, nor did it appear to have merited attention, to judge from the lack of surviving accounts.

The rejected nude was purchased by some citizens of Knidos and set up in an open air temple that permitted viewing of the statue from all sides. It quickly became one of the most famous works by Praxiteles for the bold depiction of Aphrodite as proudly and erotically nude.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphrodite_of_Cnidus

Aphrodite of Cnidus HERE

Cnidos ... the fourth century BC to Aphrodite Euploia, the Aphrodite of fair voyages

Aphrodite

Aphrodite of Cnidos

Aphrodite from Cnidos (Roman copy)

Aphrodite (a-fro-DIE-tee) was the Greek goddess of love. Naturally she was always falling in love with somebody, or somebody was falling in love with her. She is one of the oldest goddesses, the daughter of Ouranos. The most famous story about Aphrodite is that she started the Trojan War.

baby

The Romans thought Aphrodite was like their goddess Venus. And the Germans thought she was like their goddess Freya.

Aphrodite is a fertility goddess, like Demeter. But while Demeter makes the earth grow grain, Aphrodite makes women have babies. Aphrodite herself, however, does not have children.

The Birth of Aphrodite

Figure 1. Attic Pelike, ca 370-360 BC

There are two versions of Aphrodite's birth. Hesiod's Theogony portrays Aphrodite as being sprung from Uranus alone. Uranus, or Heaven, refused to allow his children to emerge into the light, and perpetually embraced the Earth, his wife Gaia. His son Cronus then castrated him with a sickle and threw his genitals into the sea.

And so soon as he had cut off the members with flint and cast them from the land into the surging sea, they were swept away over the main a long time: and a white foam spread around them from the immortal flesh, and in it there grew a maiden...and came forth an awful and lovely goddess, and grass grew up about her beneath her shapely feet. Her gods and men call Aphrodite...because she grew amid the foamTheogony, 185 -200

HERE