Tongue-tied Aphrodite. The paradeigmata in the Hymn to Aphrodite

Abstract

The presence of mythological examples in Aphrodite’s speech to Anchises is one of the traits which impart to the (fifth Homeric) Hymn to Aphrodite its distinctive character as the ‘most Homeric’ of the early hexametric hymns. Without assuming or claiming a direct link between the Hymn to Aphrodite and Homer, this paper simply sets out to explore the interpretative perspectives that may be gained if Aphrodite’s mythological examples are considered in the light of the scholarly discussion on Homeric paradeigmata.