Voting for Pandemos

Today is Election Day in the US. I know (and am thrilled) that this blog has a high international readership, so please believe me when I say that this post will not become laboriously encumbered with US politics. Rather, I'd like to take a brief moment to talk about Aphrodite in her role as Pandemos.

The epithet PANDHMOS means "common to all people." In his Symposium, Plato interpreted this guise of Aphrodite as a vulgar, common-place Aphrodite due to her associations with the flesh; whereas OUPANIA, or "heavenly" Aphrodite was above such mundane, physical matters. Truthfully, the reverse was probably true. Aphrodite Ourania is the  oldest known epithet of Aphrodite, the one that most clearly links her with her eastern predecessors whose worship was so intimately linked with sexuality, fertility and cult prostitution. Aphrodite Pandemos, who was honored in Athens, Cos and only a few other locals, was very distinctly associated with abstracts ideals dealing with the city/state.

Aphrodite Pandemos was honored in the Athenian agora so that, according to many scholars, the assemblies who met there to discuss the issues of the city would remember their love for Athens and each other and act in kind. She was a particular patroness of Athenian magistrates, who made sacrifices and inscriptions to her, asking for her guidance in the performance of their duties.

I voted today and prayed to Aphrodite Pandemos that the men and women who take office based on today's results will serve their cities, counties, states and nation from a place of love for the people and place that they represent.

...As If I'm Someone That You Love

I came across an interesting tool a few weeks ago in O Magazine. It was a set of flashcards for couples -- things you could interject into an argument simply by holding up a sign. The one that struck me was, "Speak to me as if I'm someone that you love."

Wow. I mean really. Wow.

The card got stuck in my head. It flashes at me all the time. I hear the words echoing in there in the voices of all the people that I love, and I feel that pang that tells me that I haven't always spoken to them "as if I loved them" when we're fighting.

Lesson the first was for me as an individual. Love the people you love, even when you disagree. Even when you're angry. Love them, and make sure it's still obvious.

Lesson the second was buried a little deeper, and it was for the greater Hellenic community.

Aphrodite Pandemos was honored in the agora. Why is that? Why was the Goddess of Love, Beauty, Sexuality, and Fecundity revered in the marketplace? Well, it was the place where public debates took place. It was the place where heated discussions could boil over, but her presence was there to remind people to have love and compassion for each other. Perhaps she was that reminder for the ancients to speak to each other as if they loved each other.