ON THE TRACKS OF HIDDEN APHRODITE

Similar passages in previous poetic works can illuminate how the original audience might have reacted to the phrase. For the most part, encounters associated with secret Aphrodite or secret love are far from virtuous. In Homer, the attempted seduction of Bellerophon by his stepmother is meant to be a secret affair: τῷ δὲ γυνὴ Προίτου ἐπεμήνατο δῖ᾽ Ἄντεια | κρυπταδίῃ φιλότητι μιγήμεναι (‘and the wife of Proitos, noble Anteia, was burning to join with him in secret love’, Il. 6.160–1). The proposed extramarital liaison must by necessity be kept hidden. Mimnermus praises the gifts of youth as κρυπταδίη φιλότης καὶ μείλιχα δῶρα καὶ εὐνή (‘secret love and gentle gifts and the bed’, fr. 1.3).Footnote ² Mimnermus is less clear about the contexts for secretive love, but certainly suggests sexual interactions that occur outside of legitimate marriages. He echoes the Homeric terminology to designate secret love in vocabulary similar, but not identical, to that of the Euripidean chorus. In these texts, φιλότης designates a mutually pleasing interaction, while Euripides’ Kypris extends to the many realms of the goddess Aphrodite, who plays a prominent role in the choral ode.Footnote ³

Other Euripidean plays mention secret love in phrases closer to that of IA. Like the earlier passages, they also designate sexual activity outside of marriage. At Ion 71–3, the god Hermes explains the plan for the protagonist:

This vocabulary is repeated later in the play when Ion asks Kreousa about whether she had engaged in ‘secret unions’ (ἐς κρυπτοὺς γάμους, 1524). At Hipp. 154, the chorus asks Phaedra if she is upset because her husband has engaged in ‘secret intercourse’ (κρυπτᾷ κοίτᾳ) with some other woman.Footnote ⁴ These Euripidean examples all use the same word for secret (κρυπτός) as the IA ode. Since they clearly characterize secret sexual unions as extramarital and illegitimate, it is reasonable to suppose that the passage in the IA would do the same.

Because of these obvious associations with secrecy and extramarital intercourse, the chorus’ assertion that women's virtue (ἀρετή) is κατὰ Κύπριν κρυπτάν has confounded editors and critics. While the text of the play as a whole is notoriously corrupt and disputed, these lines come from one of the more secure passages and are generally considered part of the authorial text.Footnote ⁵ Some have tried to emend the lines. Willink, for example, prints μοῖραν (‘fate’) instead of Κύπριν.Footnote ⁶ Diggle prints the lines without question but does wonder if κρυπτὰν should modify ἀρετὰν in the previous line. Even if he is right, the sense is little changed and the reading is, as he notes, rather strained.Footnote ⁷ Kovacs's Loeb edition follows Diggle in keeping the phrase, but marks it as questionable by obelizing it.

Since it is likely that the lines should stand as printed, we must seriously evaluate what it means for Kypris to be hidden. In explaining the passage, many commentators, such as Cesareo and Stockert, note that it flies in the face of earlier depictions of hidden love as extramarital and morally risky for women.Footnote ⁸ Some justify the phrase according to Greek sexual norms by explaining that it simply connects women with the privacy of the house and the marital bed.Footnote ⁹ Certainly, Athenian women are often associated with internal seclusion. But if Euripides wanted to designate the household, he could easily have done so using a less ambiguous phrase. The chorus, then, makes a confusing recommendation for female virtue. While the idea that women are concerned with the home is normative, hidden or concealed love is almost universally extramarital. The attempts of modern commentators to rephrase the latter in terms of the former are in the end unsatisfying. Rather, as I will argue, we should interpret the chorus’ claim in the light of their identity and later events of the play.

CHORAL CONTEXTS

The status of the chorus is highly relevant to the nature of their song. The chorus is composed of women from Chalcis who have recently married. In their entry song, they refer to their ‘husbands’ (πόσεις, 176) and claim that they are ‘blushing … with youthful modesty’ (φοινίσσουσα … | αἰσχύνᾳ νεοθαλεῖ, 187–8). They have therefore been through the wedding ritual but appear to be young and still childless. Curiously, Euripides does not depict them as having an escort, which would be expected for citizen wives.Footnote ¹⁰ Their identity is worth keeping in mind when analyzing their songs. As Swift has shown, tragic choruses frequently appropriate the language of other choral genres, among them wedding songs.Footnote ¹¹ In IA the chorus echoes the wedding song in many of its odes, but does so in a disconcerting fashion. The performance of wedding songs was particularly associated with unmarried friends of the bride, not married ones like the chorus. These young wives praise the physical beauty of men other than their husbands when they gaze on the impressive heroes of the Greek army in the parodos (164–302).Footnote ¹² They promote secret Aphrodite in the first stasimon, as we have seen, and laud the ill-omened wedding of Peleus and Thetis in the third (1036–97), before possibly concluding the play with a paean to Artemis which accompanies Iphigenia to her death (1510–31).Footnote ¹³

The background and structure of the first stasimon of IA (543–89) provide important context for the chorus’ claims about female virtue. The song follows an overheard debate between Agamemnon and Menelaus about the sacrifice of Iphigenia, which the chorus is told to keep secret (542). The subject of their ode, the dangers of excessive love and the importance of moderation, is only loosely connected with the action in the play, and seems to be prompted by their horror at the actions of Helen.Footnote ¹⁴ In the strophe, the young matrons pray to experience moderate Aphrodite without the dangerous and destabilizing influence of Eros. Those that manage this goal are ‘blessed’ (μάκαρες, 543), a common expression in wedding poetry.Footnote ¹⁵ The chorus thus hopes that Eros will stay away from their wedding chamber (552–3). In the lines of the strophe that correspond to the antistrophe's praise of concealed Kypris, they desire only measured or moderate love: εἴη δέ μοι μετρία | μὲν χάρις, πόθοι δ᾿ ὅσιοι (‘May my favour be moderate, and my desires holy’, 554–5).Footnote ¹⁶

The antistrophe discusses how the virtue of moderation may be cultivated through good breeding and education, leading up to the brief and puzzling note on gendered virtue quoted at the start of this article. Their comment on women's virtue is paired with a slightly longer and more expansive claim about the nature of excellence for men, who are to increase the polis with ‘order that rests within’ (κόσμος ἐνών, 571, following the widely accepted emendation of Markland). The chorus thus follows typical divisions of gendered activity in its definition of women as inherently concerned with sex and men with public affairs. Finally, they condemn extramarital love in the epode, which describes how the dangerous love (ἔρως) of Paris and Helen led to the strife (ἔρις) between Greece and Troy (572–89).Footnote ¹⁷

At first glance, then, the ode expresses standard praises of moderate behaviour by condemning the dangers inherent in extramarital affairs, as exemplified by the passion of Helen. There is a place for love, but only if tempered by moderation and shame. This should give us pause, however. Helen, for example, is guilty not of concealed Kypris but rather of a Kypris that eventually becomes much too public. It seems almost that the chorus is suggesting that extramarital affairs might be acceptable as long as they are kept secret.Footnote ¹⁸ Part of the dilemma of secret Aphrodite is due to the paradox of the wedding itself. The chorus, having recently married, would be all too aware of the contradictions inherent in the wedding ceremony. Brides are supposed to dread their weddings and to offer public proof of their chastity by lamenting.Footnote ¹⁹ But the wedding ceremony works to inaugurate brides into longing and to create an appreciation for erōs within marriage to their legitimate husbands.Footnote ²⁰ Aphrodite plays a major role in this process, inculcating the ritual with erotic elements. This can be seen, for example, on numerous vases created in the late fifth century, around the time of IA, which show Aphrodite and Eros preparing brides for their wedding.Footnote ²¹ As recent brides, the chorus are in a curious and delicate position: they have embraced sexuality, but must ensure that it remain within respectable limits. Their praise for moderate Aphrodite and rejection of Eros demonstrate the unstable and limited sexuality of Greek wives, who must desire their husbands and no one else.

IPHIGENIA'S SECRET UNION

Concealed Kypris has further significance in the context of the play's well-established motif of the tragic wedding. Iphigenia's sacrifice has often been interpreted as a perverse wedding.Footnote ²² Instead of being offered by her father to her new husband, as she and her mother had expected, Iphigenia will be garlanded, paraded before the army, and finally sacrificed by her father. Concealed love stands in sharp contrast to the legitimacy of the normative wedding ceremony, and contributes to Iphigenia's anomalous trajectory.

In myths, erotic secrecy characterizes non-marital unions between mortals and gods.Footnote ²³ These encounters are certainly well known to the woman in question but not to the larger community. Most importantly, they are kept secret from the mortal woman's father or male guardian. This is made explicit in Pindar, Pyth. 3.13–14: ἄλλον αἴνησεν γάμον κρύβδαν πατρός, | πρόσθεν ἀκερσεκόμᾳ μιχθεῖσα Φοίβῳ (‘She agreed to another union in secret from her father, although she had previously joined together with unshorn Apollo’). In this case, even though Coronis is cheating on Apollo, her illegitimate action is described as secret not from him but from her father. Such a union may result in a child that is accepted and raised by the woman's family, but these encounters are marked as secret from the bride's father by occurring without the sanction of the wedding ceremony.Footnote ²⁴ As recognized by Maria Lyghounis, the wedding is markedly public.Footnote ²⁵ Even the wedding ceremony emphasizes the public appearance of the bride, or at least her appearance before the groom, in the revelation (anakalyptēria) of the bride.Footnote ²⁶ In addition to being communally recognized, weddings are organized by the bride's father and represent an agreement between groom and father-in-law. A proper wedding hinges on the father's or guardian's consent and participation.

The IA contains explicit remarks on the paternal sanctions required for legitimate marriage.Footnote ²⁷ When Clytemnestra questions Agamemnon about Achilles upon her arrival, she specifically asks whether his mother Thetis had been given in marriage by her father, the god Nereus. In response, Agamemnon informs her that ‘Zeus betrothed her and her guardian [Nereus] gave her’ (Zεὺς ἠγγύησε καὶ δίδωσ’ ὁ κύριος, 703), using typical terminology of enguē and ekdosis. Clytemnestra assumes that her husband is following similar protocol by selecting a groom for her daughter; she wants details about his choice of groom and the upcoming ceremony, but understands that the selection is his prerogative. As she learns, however, the engagement is only a pretence for something more sinister. Agamemnon's choice to sacrifice his daughter leads to a series of actions that draw her instead into a secret relationship with Achilles.

I argue that Iphigenia's interactions with Achilles can be fruitfully interpreted through the lens of concealed Kypris, especially in the sense of a relationship that is hidden from the father. From the first, Iphigenia's encounters with Achilles are mediated by Clytemnestra. She is the one who convinces him to intercede on Iphigenia's behalf and take responsibility for her safety.Footnote ²⁸ Clytemnestra's agency in manipulating her daughter's interactions with Achilles puts her in the role typically taken by a maiden's father, who would arrange the marriage between his daughter and her prospective groom. Her uncharacteristically masculine behaviour foreshadows her transformation into the man-killer of Aeschylus’ Oresteia.Footnote ²⁹ Forced to seek help from Achilles in saving her daughter's life, Clytemnestra colludes to make him act as her fiancé, behind Agamemnon's back and contrary to his wishes.Footnote ³⁰

After negotiations with Agamemnon break down, Clytemnestra forces Iphigenia to reveal herself to Achilles (1341–4), even though she prefers to hide inside (διαχαλᾶτέ μοι μέλαθρα, δμῶες, ὡς κρύψω δέμας, ‘unbar the dwelling, slaves, so that I may hide myself’, 1340). Iphigenia's response echoes Agamemnon's command upon her arrival, when he tells her ‘but go within the dwelling—for it is bitter for maidens to be seen’ (χώρει δὲ μελάθρων ἐντός—ὀφθῆναι κόραις | πικρόν, 678–9). It is at this moment, when Iphigenia agrees to her mother's command to appear before Achilles in secret, that the young couple enter into a direct relationship with each other. Some scholars have even argued that Iphigenia's willingness to sacrifice herself may be inspired by a concealed love for Achilles.Footnote ³¹ While the young woman never admits to such an emotion, her self-sacrifice comes only after his life is endangered on her behalf. I would propose that whatever feelings she has for him result from their ersatz wedding and their viewing of each other.Footnote ³² Her affection and the nuptial atmosphere stem from a secret liaison, understood by Iphigenia and Achilles to be a bond that breaches her maidenly status. As such it could indeed be conceived of as a type of concealed Kypris, one that occurs without the knowledge of Agamemnon.Footnote ³³

Linguistic clues in the play also point to the importance of Clytemnestra's machinations as a type of secret wedding. The most direct statement of Clytemnestra's role comes in an almost certainly spurious passage, when Achilles says that ἡ Κλυταιμήστρα δ᾽ ἐμοὶ | μάλιστ’ ἐπείσθη θυγατέρ’ ἐκδοῦναι πόσει (‘Clytemnestra in particular was persuaded to hand over her daughter to me as husband’, 963–4). The lines are probably non-Euripidean, because Achilles’ speech is in fact addressed to Clytemnestra, making his third-person reference to her jarring.Footnote ³⁴ Even if these lines are indeed by a later author, they build on the established dynamic between the characters and show that, to an ancient Greek, Clytemnestra appears to be usurping her husband's role and disposing of her daughter in a masculine fashion. Furthermore, the concealment and revelation of Iphigenia and her emotions are matched by the concealment and revelation of Agamemnon's plan to sacrifice his daughter. This comes to a head in the confrontation between Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, which contains markedly nuptial and erotic language. Both have been hiding their plans for Iphigenia from each other. Echoing the chorus, Agamemnon complains that his ‘secrets’ (κρυπτά, 1140) have been discovered when Clytemnestra confronts him. On her part, Clytemnestra promises to ‘uncover’ (ἀνακαλύψω, 1146) her response, as if it were a bride.Footnote ³⁵ By framing their plots as brides, finally revealed, Iphigenia's parents foreshadow her eventual revelation before the entire army as a sacrifice instead of a bride.

The confounding claim of the chorus that a woman's virtue rests in concealed Kypris is clearly matched by the confounding behaviour of Iphigenia: her secret interactions with Achilles, concealed from her father, lead to her public statement of civic virtue (1368–400). This, in turn, is matched by the collapse in public agency on the part of Agamemnon and Achilles, both of whom fail to display the internal κόσμος (‘order’) seemingly required by the chorus’ praise of virtue. Or do they? The chorus describes this κόσμος as being μυριοπληθής (‘manifold’). Achilles and Agamemnon display an internal multiplicity that in the end results in their acceptance of Iphigenia's death as necessary for the advancement of the Greek army. Both Iphigenia and Achilles appear to be highly virtuous by the end of the play, having followed the chorus’ appeals for virtue but in paradoxical and unexpected ways.Footnote ³⁶

I have suggested that the chorus’ appeal to the virtue of concealed Kypris would surprise an ancient audience. The chorus’ startling claim, part of their subtle divergence from Greek gender norms, prepares the audience for other shocking events in the play. Iphigenia's quasi-engagement to Achilles is deeply untraditional, and the concepts of concealment and revelation characterize not only their relationship but also Agamemnon's plans. Because of Agamemnon's deceit, Clytemnestra takes on the traditional role of the bride's father. Instead of arranging a well-publicized wedding, however, she becomes the go-between for an illegitimate encounter between Achilles and her daughter. However noble Iphigenia's eventual self-sacrifice is, the operations of concealed Kypris do not undergird traditional gender norms but signify their destabilization. Just as the sacrifice of Iphigenia is a perversion of the wholesome animal sacrifice normally so pleasing to the gods, so her final benevolent acquiescence is a perversion of the willing desire of the persuaded bride. In the end, concealed Kypris does lead to fame and virtue for Iphigenia, but in an unsettling and atypical fashion that presages future disturbances for Agamemnon.