Aphrodite and the sea within John of Gaza’s Tabula Mundi

Abstract

This article focuses on a passage of John of Gaza’s Tabula Mundi, i.e. the one regarding Aphrodite and the Sea (vv. 454-466), which raises an exegetical problem. Generally, scholars tend to assume that they are the same figure. On the contrary, I argue that they are two different figures, making reference to the cultural context of the poem, especially to its philosophical background. Indeed, in a Neoplatonic perspective the goddess can be interpreted as the Soul that triumphs over the matter, i.e. the sea, since they are both represented shining bright and staring at the sunlight, i.e. the Intellect. This interpretation is confirmed by references to Aphrodite in Neoplatonic authors as well as in John’s Anacreontics and in the authors of the so-called “school of Gaza”, strongly influenced by Neoplatonism. Therefore, John wants to emphasize the triumph of the light and, ultimately, of the One/God, through the mystical vision of a late antique intellectual, in a definitely syncretistic context.