Editing Paphos (section)

=== Aphrodite and Paphos ===
{{See also|Sanctuary of Aphrodite Paphia}}

The Greeks agreed that Aphrodite had landed at the site of Paphos when [[Venus Anadyomene|she rose from the sea]].<ref>[[Tacitus|Tac.]] ''Hist''. ii. 3; [[Pomponius Mela|Mela]], ii. 7; [[Marcus Annaeus Lucanus|Lucan]] viii.456</ref> According to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (i. 14), although her worship was introduced to Paphos from [[Syria]], it was much more likely that it was of [[Phoenicia]]n origin. Before being proven by archaeology it was thought that Aphrodite's cult had been established before the time of [[Homer]] (c. 700 BC), as the grove and altar of Aphrodite at Paphos are mentioned in the ''[[Odyssey]]'' (viii. 362).<ref name=SmithDGRG/> Archaeology established that Cypriots venerated a fertility goddess in a cult that combined Aegean and eastern mainland aspects before the arrival of the mainland Greeks. Female figurines and charms found in the immediate vicinity date back to the early third millennium. The [[temenos]] was well established before the first structures were erected in the [[Late Bronze Age]]:
{{Blockquote|text=There was unbroken continuity of cult from that time until 391 AD when the Roman Emperor Theodosius I [[Christian persecution of paganism under Theodosius I|outlawed all pagan religions]] and the sanctuary fell into the ruins in which we find it today.|author=Ashmolean Museum<ref>[http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/ash/amps/cyprus/AncCyp-Aph-02.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060511202815/http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/ash/amps/cyprus/AncCyp-Aph-02.html|url-status=dead|date=11 May 2006}}</ref>}}

Old Paphos was the centre of worshipping Aphrodite for the whole Aegean world. The Cinyradae, or descendants of Cinyras, were the chief priests; Greek by name but of Phoenician origin. Their power and authority were great, but it may be inferred from certain inscriptions that they were controlled by a senate and an assembly of the people. There was also an [[oracle]] here.<ref>Engel, i.p. 483.</ref> Few cities have ever been so much sung and glorified by the poets.<ref>For example, Aeschylus ''Suppliants'' 525; Virgil ''Aeneid'' i. 415; Horace Odes i. 19, 30, iii. 26; Status Silvius i. 2. 101; Aristophanes ''Lysistrata'' 833, etc.</ref> The ruins of Aphrodite's vast sanctuary are still discernible, its circumference marked by huge foundation walls. After its destruction by an earthquake it was rebuilt by [[Vespasian]], on whose coins it is represented, as well as on earlier and later ones, and in the style on those of [[Septimius Severus]].<ref>Engel, vol. i. p. 130.</ref> From these representations and the existing ruins, [[Gustav Friedrich Hetsch]], an architect of [[Copenhagen]], has attempted to restore the building.<ref name=SmithDGRG/><ref>''Müller's Archäol.'' § 239, p. 261; Eckhel, vol. iii. p. 86.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Münter|first1=Friedrich Christian Carl Hinrich|author-link=Friedrich Münter|last2=Hetsch|first2=Gustav Friedrich|title=Der Tempel der himmlischen Göttin zu Paphos: zweite Beilage zur Religion der Karthager|publisher=Schubothe|year=1824|oclc=13923976|language=de}}</ref>