Agalmatofilia. L'amore per le statue nel mondo antico: l'Afrodite di Cnido e il caso di Pigmalione

Abstract

The sexual attraction to statues, also known as 'agalmatophilia', seems to be prevalent in the Ancient World: the case of the Cnidian Aphrodite is of particular interest. According to multiples ancient sources, this statue, made by Praxiteles was able to arouse the erotic desire in the observer. However, this case must be contextualised in the ancient Greece, where different powers were ascribed to the divinities and great importance was given to Mimesis. The literary case of Pygmalion, recorded by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, plays a key role in this context as well. Here, the power of poetry allows the achievement of a happy end through the transformation of the statue into a real woman. Hereof we underline the analogies between the sculpture moulded by Pygmalion and the doll, which allow us to perceive in this myth a sort of conceptual bridge towards a contemporary form of agalmatophilia, the one that employs sex dolls.