ABSTRACT
In classical antiquity there are two sovereign deities of Love, figures which are no mere doublets but separate and distinct beings. The one, Aphrodite, probably belongs to the same group of goddesses as Istar, Astarte and Isis; that is to say, she was originally a mother-goddess. The other love-deity is Eros, a mighty god and yet a child, a mischievous, wanton, impudent rogue. The important point for us is that Eros is never conceived of as a grown man; he is the constant companion of Aphrodite, but never her sexual partner. In sexual gratification authors have to distinguish fore-pleasure and end-pleasure, and of the latter infantile sexuality as yet knows nothing. The mechanism which produces fore-pleasure is very simple: it generally takes the form of stroking, tickling, licking or sucking. The end-pleasure function is serious, dramatic, if not tragic. It is often even a matter of deadly earnest, for the animals of many species die during the first orgasm.
