Female Evolutionary Sexuality, Aphrodite-Venus: Lessons on Love & Sex

By Indrajit Bandyopadhyay

In the first part of this book series, the author, as characteristic of him in his Rational Approach to Ancient Indian Itihāsa-Puraṇas, studies the Aphrodite-Ares (Venus-Mars) Love Affair in Greek and Roman Mythology as found in Ancient Art, Sculpture, Renaissance Paintings, and other depictions. Without going into the technicalities of Art, the author attempts new Alternative Readings viewing them as Commentaries and Coded Messages on Gender Relation. In analyzing Aphrodite-Venus Greek and Roman Mythology, the author frequently refers to Ovid and Vātsyāyana’s (Kāmasūtra) immortal wisdom and also attempts comparative analysis of Sculptures of Khajuraho on same theme - to show the unity of Ancient Wisdom on the Art of Love. This book can be read as an interpretative study of Greek and Roman Myths of Aphrodite/ Venus and Ares/ Mars, and Renaissance paintings on them, as also as a guideline on Love-Sexual Relation, and ‘Modern’ Dating with insights on Female Psychology and Woman Mystery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781300047872

Book preview

Female Evolutionary Sexuality, Aphrodite-Venus: Lessons on Love & Sex

Female Evolutionary Sexuality, Aphrodite-Venus: Lessons on Love & Sex

Indrajit Bandyopadhyay

Copyright © 2012 Indrajit Bandyopadhyay

All rights reserved.

ISBN:  978-1-300-04787-2

Dedication

To All Who Believe in the Right to Self-Evolution through Wisdom in Love-Sex and Sexuality, and to All Who Demand a Heterosexual Love Relation free from Exploitation and Power-Games

Content

Acknowledgments

Preface

Female Evolutionary Sexuality, Aphrodite-Venus: Lessons on Love & Sex

Acknowledgments

I express my gratitude to wikimediacommons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/) for the image of paintings and sculptures in public domain I have taken from them for illustration.

Preface

I intend to write this book Female Evolutionary Sexuality as a series, in each of which I will discuss on the ‘epic’ heroes and heroines of Ancient India and Greece, focusing on their Love-Sexual Life as depicted and found in Culture, that is, not only in Classical Literature or ‘mainstream’ Literature, but also in other forms of Culture like Sculptures, Painting, Oral-Mythology, Folk Art and Performance etc.- to try to understand Ancient Wisdom, and Wisdom acquired over the ages on Love, Sex and Sexuality.

What is the necessity of such understanding?

Life demands that Man and Woman enter into Love-Sexual Relation with each other – either through marriage that marks the formation of the basic unit of Society – Family, or with intent of marriage, or with intent of a Relation without marriage-tie – however, whatever it is, one truth is constant that without a Fulfilling Love-Sexual Relation, or, without a ‘meaningful’ Relation that offers much scope of Learning, a Man or Woman cannot ‘grow’ or ‘evolve’ personally as a contributory Human Resource to Society. 

With so much social chaos around us, gender oppressions and exploitations, divorces, broken hearts – need any specialist point out to us that something is terribly wrong somewhere in the domain of Love-Sexual Relation?

What goes wrong in Love Relation that often starts with flying colours and high-soar in the skies?

Why has Man-Woman Heterosexual Love Relation of our times – the so-called ‘Modern’ and/or ‘Post-Modern’ era – has become problematic? What is the problem? Is it really problematic? Or, is the very perception of problem problematic?

Love and Sex – Love Relation and Sexual Relation – Love-Sexual Relation – is the most beautiful part and experience of Human Existential Reality – and perhaps the most dangerous too – because, often the most beautiful nourishes within it the possibility of most ugly – and when indeed the ‘once’ most beautiful turns out to be ‘seemingly eternal’ most ugly, we call it problematic, and then we try to ‘solve the problem,’ either by ourselves, or by taking ‘third-party’ professional help – the professionals being the socially acclaimed and proclaimed ‘all-solvers.’

This Script – that is, beginning of a beautiful Love Relation, then birth of symptoms of decay and degeneration, then its steady degeneration in middling pace, then in rapid fast pace, and then the snap – the end of what ‘once’ seemed to be celestial – the end, occasionally in sadness, rarely in grace, seldom in joy, and frequently in bitterness and Negative Feelings – this Script, is so deeply ingrained in our existence like the regular rhythm of breath, that one, who once goes through this experience, often finds oneself again rotating in the same Wheel – with rotating Day and Night – so that the one and the Wheel both are fixed in an eternal action, and the Wheel seems to turn and still be forever still[i]

One cause of a problematic Love Relation is that there is lack of mutual understanding and proper communication and Connection.

Now, as Human Beings and in the eyes of Social Law, Man and Woman are equal, but there is much Psycho-Biological diference – and as ‘recent’ Scientific findings suggest, there is difference in brain structure and functioning between Man and Woman – that seems to confirm the ageold belief that Man is from Mars, and Woman is from Venus.

More importantly, it suggests, Man and Woman are true complementary to each other because one cannot ‘be’ the other, one cannot view the World and Reality like the other – and therefore, each is unique in one’s own way. Love, Man-Woman Heterosexual Love Relation, then, truly means Unity in Diversity.

It is imperative therefore, that Man and Woman should know each other’s uniqueness instead of trying to bring the other in one’s mould – the uniqueness of each other’s Psychology, in particular – before entering a Relation, while in a Relation, and also after a Relation is over (for any cause whatsoever), because, it is the demand of Life again that Man and Woman should learn to grow and evolve with the Experience of a Love Relation.

That does not mean every Man and Woman should be specialists in Psychology or Behavioural Psychology, but it definitely means that Man and Woman must have proper knowledge and understanding of each other.

Why Art?

As Auden says:

"About suffering they were never wrong,

The Old Masters; how well, they understood

Its human position…" (Musee des Beaux Arts)

Bernard Shaw’s Tanner says in Man and Superman:

the artist's work is to show us ourselves as we really are. Our minds are nothing but this knowledge of ourselves; and he who adds a jot to such knowledge creates new mind as surely as any woman creates new men.

We can no longer keep literature in the showcase of august institutions high above the perceived ordinary brain for the pastime of celebrating our elite intellectualism, or labeled as ‘Religious’ and therefore not to be touched. Literature, like Dharma must be connected with life, real life, our daily bread, our every moment’s breath, perhaps, that is why, even concepts of Dharma have been handed down to us through literature; what is RgVeda, Upanishad, Ramayana-Mahabharata if not literature, at least, ‘also’ literature?

Litterateurs and sages have said much on man, woman, and relations, particularly Love Relations, and it shocks and pains me that instead of learning from them, our youths and even children have to learn from perverts or Self-styled Gurus.

I take Art as an integrated Whole in understanding any genre of Art, and Tradition as a Whole in understanding Art.

Thus, though not being a ‘formal specialist’ in painting and Sculpture, and with some knowledge in English Literature, and Ancient Indian Literature, I will venture into ancient Sculptures and paintings as well, and in the context on this book, I would peep particularly into Renaissance paintings and thereafter of great masters on Greek Mythology, if not for any other reason but for the sole reason that I am interested in them.

There are much scholarly articles, researches, and discussions on these Paintings and Sculptures, and I have