As Beautiful as Aphrodite: Beauty in the Hymn to Aphrodite and the Hippias Major.

A literary criticism of the lyric poetry "Hymn to Aphrodite" by poet Sappho and philosopher Plato's dialogue "Hippias Major" is presented. Topics discussed include the plot of the "Hymn to Aphrodite" which is Greek god Zeus' move to force the goddess of beauty and love Aphrodite to fall in love with a mortal, six failed definitions of the beautiful offered by sophist Hippias and philosopher Socrates in "Hippias Major" and the portrayal of Aphrodite as a victim of her own power.