Alrighty Aphrodite
By Peach Pit
“Take a seat in your clam shell, the ocean’s not enough nor am I”
“Run your morning bath in the sea foam”
When Aphrodite was born, she emerged from the sea onto a bed of sea foam next to the island Cyprus. Aphrodite is most known today by the Sandro Botticelli painting of her Roman counterpart, Venus. In this painting, the goddess stands on a clamshell, likely inspiring the lyric above.
Invisible String
By Taylor Swift
“Isn’t it just so pretty to think all along there was some invisible string tying you to me?”
This lyric could reference either Greco-Roman mythology or Chinese and Japanese mythology. In Greek mythology, the Fates were three sister goddesses who controlled destiny. They are depicted spinning, weaving, and eventually cutting a string that represents a person’s life. Additionally, both Japanese and Chinese cultures have stories about the “red string of fate.” In Japanese legend, every person’s pinky finger is tied to another person through an invisible red string. These two people will have an important connection, either romantic or not; their connection could be of historical significance. Chinese tradition tells a similar story with a red string connecting two people by the ankles. While the string Swift sings about in this song is gold, rather than red, she uses gold and red as symbols of different types of love in her discography.
Mythology References in Modern Music
By Abby Almageur