Sara Teasdale 33 - അനദ്യോമിനി Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

Poet's Note: Venus Anadyomene (from Greek, 'Venus Rising From the Sea') is one of the iconic representations of the goddess Venus (Aphrodite) , made famous in a much-admired painting by Apelles, now lost, but described in Pliny's Natural History, with the anecdote that the great Apelles employed Campaspe, a mistress of Alexander the Great, for his model. According to Athenaeus, the idea of Aphrodite rising from the sea was inspired by the courtesan Phryne, who, during the time of the festivals of the Eleusinia and Poseidonia, often swam nude in the sea. According to Greek mythology, Aphrodite was born as an adult woman from the sea off Paphos in Cyprus, which also perpetually renewed her virginity. A motif of the goddess wringing out her hair is often repeated. The subject was often repeated in Antiquity, a fourth-century sculptural representation from a Gallo-Roman villa in Aquitania (Louvre) testifying to the motif's continued viability in Late Antiquity. Apelles' painting was executed for the temple of Asclepius at Kos, from which it was taken to Rome by Augustus in part payment of tribute, and set up in the Temple of Caesar. In the time of Nero, owing to its dilapidated condition, it was replaced by a copy made by the painter Dorotheus. Pliny, listing Apelles' best paintings, noted 'Venus emerging from the sea, dedicated by the late Augustus of blessed memory in the shrine of Caesar called 'The Anadyomene', praised in Greek verses like other works, conquered by time but undimmed in fame.' The picture I have shared here, is of a bronze statue of Venus Anadyomene made in the 1st or 2nd century. Venus is shown wringing out her hair. The statue was discovered in Kortrijk and is now in the collection of the Musée royal de Mariemont.