Charites: The Goddesses of Beauty, Charm, Creativity and Fertility
The Charities, according to Greek mythology were goddesses that inspired artistry, beauty, nature, fertility, and goodwill. These goddesses were always in the company of Aphrodite the goddess of love and fertility. The number of the Charites differs according to ancient sources with some sources claiming they were three while others believed the Charities were five. This article will cover the names and roles of the Charites in ancient Greek mythology.
Who Were Charites?
In Greek Mythology, Charities were multiple goddesses of charms of different kinds and aspects, like for fertility, kindness, beauty, nature, and even creativity. These were all goddesses representing the good things in life, hence they were with the goddess of love, Aphrodite.
The Parents of the Charites
Different sources name different deities as the parents of the Charites with the most common being Zeus and the ocean nymph Eurynome. The less common parents of the goddesses were Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility, and Coronis.
Other sources claim the Charites were daughters of the sun god Helios and his consort Aegle, a daughter of Zeus. According to some myths, Hera bore the Charities with an unknown father while others say Zeus was the father of the Charities with either Eurydome, Eurymedousa or Euanthe.
The Names of the Charites
The Members of the Charites According to Hesiod
As we read earlier, the number of the Charites differs according to each source but the most common was three. The name of the three Charites, according to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod, were Thalia, Euthymia (also referred to as Euphrosyne) and Aglaea. Thalia was the goddess of festivity and rich banquets while Euthymia was the goddess of joy, amusement and good cheer. Aglaea, the youngest of the Charites, was the goddess of abundance, fertility and wealth.
The Constituents of the Charites According to Pausanias
According to the Greek geographer Pausanias, Eteocles, the king of Orchomenus, first established the concept of the Charites and gave only three Charites names. However, there are no records of the names that Eteocles gave the Charites. Pausanias continued that the people of Laconia venerated only two Charites; Cleta and Phaenna.
The name Cleta meant renowned and was the deity for sound while Phaenna was the goddess of light. Pausanias noted that the Athenians also worshipped two Charites – Auxo and Hegemone.
Auxo was the goddess of growth and increase while Hegemone was the goddess who made plants blossom and bear fruit. However, the ancient Greek poet Hermesianax added another goddess, Peitho, to the Athenian Charites making them three. In Hermesianx’s view, Peitho was a personification of persuasion and seduction.
The Charites According to Homer
Homer referred to the Charites in his works; however, made no mention of a specific number. Instead, he wrote that one of the Charites called Charis was the wife of Hephaestus, the god of fire. Also, he made Hypnos, the god of Sleep, the husband of one of the Charites called Pasithea or Pasithee. Charis was the goddess of beauty, nature and fertility and Pasithee was the goddess of relaxation, meditation and hallucination.
The Charites According to Other Greek Poets
Antimachus wrote of the Charites but gave no number or their names but indicated that they were the offspring of Helios, the sun god, and Aegle, the sea nymph. The epic poet Nonnus gave the number of the Charites as three and their names were Pasithee, Aglaia, and Peitho.
Another poet, Sosrastus also maintained three Charites and named them Pasathee, Cale, and Euthymia. However, the city-state of Sparta venerated only two Charites; Cleta, the goddess of sound, and Phaenna, the goddess of benevolence and gratitude.
The Role of the Charites in Mythology
According to Greek mythology, the Charites’ main role was to serve the major deities, especially during festivities and gatherings. For instance, before Aphrodite went to seduce Anchises of Troy, the Charites bathed and anointed her in the city of Paphos to make her appear more attractive. They also attended to Aphrodite after she left Mount Olympus when her illicit affair with the god Ares came to light. The Charites also wove and dyed the long garments of Aphrodite.
The goddesses also attended to some humans especially Pandora, the first woman created by Hephaestus. To make her more beautiful and enticing, the Charites presented her with alluring necklaces. As part of their responsibilities, the Charites organized feasts and dances for the gods on Mount Olympus. They performed some of the dances to entertain and herald the birth of some deities including Apollo, Hebe and Harmonia.
In some myths, the Charites danced and sang with the Muses who were deities that inspired science, arts and literature.
Role of the Charites in the Iliad
In the Iliad, Hera arranged a marriage between Hypnos and Pasithee as part of her plans to seduce Zeus and distract him from the Trojan War. According to Homer’s Iliad, Aglaea was the wife of Hephaestus. Some scholars believe that Hephaestus married Aglaea after Aphrodite, his former wife, was caught having an affair with Aphrodite.
When Thetis needed body armor for her son, Aglaea invited her to Mount Olympus so Thetis could speak with Hephaestus to fashion armor for Achilles.
The Worship of the Charites
Pausanias narrates that Eteocles of Orchomenus (a town in Boeotia) was the first to pray to the Charites, according to the people of Boeotia. Eteocles, the King of Orchomenus, also taught his citizens how to sacrifice to the Charites. Later, the sons of Dionysus, Angelion, and Tectaus made a statue of Apollo, the god of Archery, and sculpted in his hand the three Charites (also known as the Graces).
Pausanias continues that the Athenians placed the three Graces at the entrance to the city and conducted certain religious rites near them. The Athenian poet Pamphos was the first to write a song dedicated to the Charites but his song did not contain their names.
Cult of the Charites
Existing literature indicates that the cult of the goddesses was rooted in pre-Greek history. The goal of the cult was centered around fertility and nature and had a special link to springs and rivers. The Charites had a great following in the Cyclades (a group of islands in the Aegean sea). One cult center was located on the island of Paros and scholars have found evidence of a 6th Century cult center on the island of Thera.
Connection to the Underworld
The trio was Chthonic goddesses also referred to as Underworld deities because there were no flowers or music during their festivals. A phenomenon that was common with all deities connected to the Underworld.
However, according to legend, the festivals had no wreaths or flutes because Minos, the King of Crete, lost his son during a festival on the island of Paros and he immediately stopped the music. He also destroyed all the flowers at the festival and since then the festival of the goddesses has been celebrated without music or wreaths.
However, the festival involved a lot of dancing comparable to the festival of Dionysus and Artemis, the god and goddess of revelry and childbirth respectively.
Temples of the Charites
The cult of the goddesses built at least four temples that they dedicated to their honor. The most prominent temple was in Orchomenus in the Boeotian region of Greece. This is because many believed that their cult originated from the same place.
The Temple in Orchomenus
At Orchomenus, the worship of the goddesses took place at an ancient site and it involved three stones probably representing each deity. However, the three stones were not peculiar only to the worship of the goddesses as cults of Eros and Herakles in Boeotia also used three stones in their veneration. Also, the people of Orchomenus dedicated the Kephisos river and the Akidalia spring to the three deities. Since Orchomenus was an agriculturally vibrant city, some of the produce were offered to the goddesses as a sacrifice.
According to the Greek Geographer Strabo, an Orchomenus King named Eteokles laid the foundation for the temple probably due to the wealth he believed he got from the Charites. Eteokles was also known to carry out charitable deeds in the name of the goddesses, according to Strabo.
Other cities and towns that housed the temple of the goddesses included Sparta, Elis and Hermione. Scholars report another temple in Amyclae, a city in the region of Laconia, which King Lacedaemon of Laconia built.
Association With Other Deities
In some places, the worship of the goddesses was associated with other deities such as Apollo, the god of archery and Aphrodite. On the island of Delos, the cult connected Apollo to the three goddesses and worshipped them together. However, this was only unique to the cult of the Charites as Apollo’s cult did not recognize this association nor participated in its worship.
In the Classical period, the goddesses were associated with Aphrodite only in civil matters but not religious. Since Aphrodite was the goddess of love, fertility and childbirth, it was common to discuss her in the same breath as the three goddesses of love, charm, beauty, goodwill and fertility.
Representation of the Charites in Greek Arts
It is common to see the three goddesses often represented as stark naked but it was not so from the beginning. Paintings from Classical Greek indicate that the goddesses were finely dressed.
Scholars believe that the reason the goddesses were visualized as naked was due to the third century BCE Greek poets Callimachus and Euphorion who described the trio as naked. However, it wasn’t until the sixth and seventh century BCE that the trio was depicted as unclad.
Evidence for this was the statue of the goddesses discovered in the temple of Apollo in Thermos which dates back to the sixth and seventh centuries BCE. Also, the goddesses were probably depicted on a golden ring from Mycenean Greece. The illustration on the golden ring showed two female figures dancing in the presence of a male figure which is believed to be either Dionysus or Hermes. Another relief depicting the goddesses was found in the town of Thasos which dates back to the fifth century.
The relief depicts the goddesses in the presence of Hermes and either Aphrodite or Peitho and was placed at the entrance to Thasos. On the other side of the relief was Artemis crowning Apollo in the presence of some nymphs.
Furthermore, at the entrance was a sculpture of the Charites and Hermes which dates back to the Classical era of Greece. The popular belief was that the Greek philosopher Sokrates sculpted that relief, however, most scholars think that it was unlikely.
Depictions of the Charites in Roman Arts
A wall painting in Boscoreale, a town in Italy, which dated back to 40 BCE depicted the goddesses with Aphrodite, Eros, Ariadne, and Dionysus. The Romans also depicted the goddesses on some coins to celebrate the marriage between the emperor Marcus Aurelius and empress Faustina Minor. The Romans also depicted the goddesses on their mirrors and sarcophagi (stone coffins). The Romans also depicted the goddesses in the famous Piccolomini library during the Renaissance era.
Conclusion
This article has looked at the origins of the Charites also known as Kharites, their role in mythology, and how they were visually represented both in Greek and Roman arts. Here is a recap of what we’ve read so far:
- The Charites were daughters of the Greek god Zeus and the sea nymph Eurynome though other sources name Hera, Helios, and the parents of the goddesses.
- Though most sources believe the Charites are three in number, other sources think they were more than three.
- The goddesses inspired beauty, charm, nature, fertility, creativity, and goodwill and were mostly found in the company of Aphrodite the goddess of fertility.
- The role of the goddesses in the mythology of Greece was to serve the other deities by entertaining or helping them to dress up and look more attractive.
- Initially, the goddesses were depicted fully clad but since the 3rd Century BCE, especially after the descriptions of the poets Euphorion and Callimachus, they were shown naked.
The Romans minted coins depicting the goddesses to celebrate the marriage between emperor Marcus Aurelius and empress Faustina Minor. The Charites have made several appearances in major Roman artworks including the famous Primera painting by Sandro Botticelli.
