Was Agape a goddess?

Question

I found an article titled The Heart of the Matter: Eros and Agápe that says:

Finally, a few words about the goddess Agape. She is virtually ignored by Plato and Aristotle, as well as every other Greek philosopher, so all we know about her in the specifically Greek context is her mythology. As I noted a moment ago, she is the goddess of divine love. She is also Aphrodite’s sister. Agape was idolized by all the women in ancient Greece because she refused to give in to any man’s orders. Perhaps she was the first feminist? Greek women never saw themselves as very important, even in marriages. This wasn’t so for Agape. She knew that men felt superior to women but she saw no evidence of their alleged supremacy. She vowed to be an independent goddess and to never let any man or god lie to her. As years went by Agape became lonely, but discovered that she had stopped aging and became increasingly sensuous and beautiful. The gods took notice and tried to seduce her, but they only made fools of themselves in the process. Mortal women began to realize that men weren’t the only power in the universe, and that women could make decisions of their own. Greek women began to achieve a higher marital status and were treated more fairly. This only made Greek men more attracted to them and less likely to break their marital vows. One wonders why Greek philosophers – all men – have so little to say about her?

No source is cited for this myth. What evidence, if any, is there that Ἀγάπη was a goddess and not just an abstract word for love?

Answer 1

In his book Greek In Jewish Palestine, Rabbi Saul Liberman asserts that in some parts of the Roman empire, Agape was another name for the goddess Isis:

In conclusion we shall finish our chapter with the explanation of an obscure oath pronounced by a Gentile, as recorded in Talmudic literature. Sifre and TB have preserved a peculiar story about a man who succeeded in controlling his violent passion. According to it there was a certain man who had always been very observant regarding the wearing of fringes (ציצית‎). Once he learned of a very beautiful courtesan in the costal cities (כרכי הים) who received four hundred gold pieces for her favors; he at once sent her the sum and arrived at her house. When he disrobed, however, his fringes "slapped him in the face"; he abandoned his purpose and sought to withdraw. "By the Gappa (גפה) of Rome," she swore—I will not let you go till you tell me what blemish you saw in me—etc.

Many interpretations were given to the courtesan's oath by גפה של רומי. Among others Loew mentions Sachs' suggestion that גפה is ἀγάπη, "Love of Rome"; he correctly rejects it, remarking that this word still remains an unsolved riddle; this is also the opinion of Horovitz.

It seems quite certain to me that גפה דרומי really means ἀγάπη of Rome, but refers not to some obscure love of Rome, but to the famous goddess—Isis, who was called ἀγάπη. In an invocation of Isis we read:

ἐν Δώροις φιλίαν·
ἐν Στράτωνος πύργῳ Ἑλλάδα, ἀγαθήν...
ἐν Πέρσαις λατείνην...
ἐν Ἰταλία ἀγάπην θεῶν.

"At Dora [Isis was called] 'Affection', At Straton's Tower—'Greek', 'Good'... In Persia—'Latin', In Italy—'Love of gods'."

Thus, we have contemporary evidence that at the coast cities of Palestine Isis was called "Affection" or "Greek", and it is almost certain that the disciple of R. Hiyya who studied in Galilee visited a courtesan who lived in Caesarea which was termed כרכי הים. The oath "By Isis"—ἡ παρὰ γυναιξὶ θεὸς καλουμένη—is only natural in the mouth of a courtesan, especially when we remember that Isis took the place of Venus by whom the courtesans had been previously swearing.

The oath ‫גפה דרומא‬ is recorded once more in TB in the name of a Gentile. R. Juda the Patriarch (III c.) commissioned R. Oshaia to debate with this Gentile. The latter, who apparently was in a position to harm the Jews, was a Roman official who lived in the same place as R. Oshaia, the head of the school in Caesarea. That a Roman, stationed at a place in whose vicinity Isis was called φιλία, swore by the ἐν Ἰταλία ἀγάπην θεῶν is natural and understandable.