"Strongyla". I rituali di Santa Venera (Paestum) e il "Simposio" di Platone

This paper examines the "strongyla" («circles»), known from a Latin inscription (EDR100734) and identified with circular niches placed on either side of the "naós" (the so-called “Oikos”) of the sanctuary in Santa Venera at Paestum. These niches were distributed into two separate systems and functional in the practice of the "loutrón nymphikón", the “nuptial bath” of the girls in preparation for marriage and motherhood. In this regard, the author highlights that the term "strongylon" was used in Plato’s "Symposium" to define the circular shape of the first human beings in the account of the famous, etiological myth of the missing halves. Consequentially, the ritual still celebrated under the Roman period in the "strongyla" was the result of a centuries-old tradition permeated by specific concepts and beliefs. Finally, the dichotomy between Aphrodite Urania and Aphrodite Pandemos is considered, as well as that between Eros Uranius and Eros Pandemos. This distinction is discussed in the "Symposium" and was expressed at the sanctuary of Santa Venera through the spatial and social polarity of the “Rectangular Hall” as opposed to the “West Wing”.