Hiding Aphrodite

Once the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its state religion, numerous laws designed to reduce the influence of polytheistic religion—and eventually ban it altogether—came into effect. Among these is the Theodosian Code, which says the following about freedom of practice and belief:

Theodosian Code XVI.1.2

It is our desire that all the various nation which are subject to our clemency and moderation, should continue to the profession of that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe in the one diety of the father, Son and Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since in out judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that the[y] shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give their conventicles the name of churches. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of divine condemnation an the second the punishment of out authority, in accordance with the will of heaven shall decide to inflict. [source]

Many of us polytheists understand that the transition from polytheism to monotheism did not happen smoothly, but was aided by discrimination, coercion, and persecution. Pious Hellenic Polytheists resisted these orders both openly and covertly.

Archeology Daily News reveals that some polytheists even safeguarded divine images by burying them:

An ancient treasure comprising three figurines of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, which was buried underground for over 1,500 years, was uncovered during the tenth season of excavations that are carried out by researchers of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, headed by Prof. Arthur Segal and Dr. Michael Eisenberg. “It is possible that during the fourth century A.D., when Christianity was gradually becoming the governing religion in the Roman Empire, there were still a number of inhabitants in Sussita who remained loyal to the goddess of love and therefore wished to hide and preserve these items,” suggests Prof. Segal.

The hidden figurines were discovered when the researchers exposed a shop in the southeastern corner of the forum district of Sussita, which is the central area of the Roman city that was built in the second century B.C., existed through the Roman and Byzantine periods and destroyed in the great earthquake of 749 A.D. According to the researchers, it was clear that the followers had wished to hide the figurines, as they were found complete. The clay pieces are 23 cm tall and represent the common model of the goddess of love known to the experts as Venus pudica, "the modest Venus." This name was given to the form due to its upright stature and the figure's covering her private parts with the palm of her hand—perhaps another reason for concealing them from the new religion that presided over the empire. [source]

This is wonderful news for polytheists because it provides the modern world with unharmed images of Aphrodite. Christians defaced so many of our sacred images during the persecutions in the first millennium C.E. that the discovery of intact figurines is heartening.

If our polytheistic predecessors truly hid these items to escape scrutiny, perhaps some ancient pagan somewhere hid our important texts. I, for one, would love it if archaeologists found the complete works of Sappho and several more plays by Aeschylus.