Aphrodite / Venus
The goddess of love and beauty. She was identified with the Roman goddess, Venus.
According to Homer, Aphrodite was known as the daughter of Zeus and Dione. Dione was either a Titaness, daughter of Uranus and Gaea, or an Oceanid, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. But according to Hesiod, she was earlier deity than the Olympians.
When the Titan Cronus wounded his father (Uranus) and flung him into the sea near the island of Cythera, the blood and sea water caused foam to gather and float across the sea to the island of Cyprus. For this reason, Aphrodite was often called Cythereia, and Cyprian or Cypris, after her two holy islands. There, Aphrodite rose out of the sea from the foam (hence her name came from the word aphros, which means "foam"). She had experienced no infancy or childhood. She was born a grown, young woman.
Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus but had numerous affairs with gods and mortals. The most notorious of these affairs was her long dalliance with Ares.
To Ares, she was said to have become the mother of Anteros (Passion), Eros (Love), Deimus (Fear), Phobus (Panic) and Harmonia, wife of Cadmus of Thebes.
Hephaestus knew that Aphrodite was having a long term affair with Ares, so he decided to punish them. During his apparent absence, Hephaestus trapped the guilty pair in the bedchamber that he shared with the love goddess. Ares and Aphrodite hanged suspended in a golden net. Hephaestus invited the other Olympians to witness the humiliated adulterers. They were the source of amusement and ridicules. Hephaestus wanted to leave them trapped in his net but he reluctantly released them on the insistence of Poseidon who admired the beauty of Aphrodite and paid reparations in return for her and her lover's freedom. Aphrodite rewarded Poseidon, by sleeping with the sea god, whence she became mother of Eryx.
Hermes also admired Aphrodite's beauty but she wasn't interested in a relationship with the herald god. Hermes was so depressed with longing that Zeus decided to intervene on behalf of his son. Zeus sent an eagle that stole Aphrodite's favorite pair of sandals. Aphrodite had to retrieve the sandals from Hermes. So Aphrodite surrendered to Hermes and became mother of a son, named Hermaphroditus.
Through the wine god Dionysus, Aphrodite was the mother of Priapus (Priapos), the god of fertility.
One of her mortal sons was the Dardanian hero Aeneas, by her lover Anchises, king of Dardania. Her affair with Anchises was recorded in one of the Homeric Hymns. Anchises was crippled by a thunderbolt from Zeus, when he boasted and revealed that he made love to the goddess. Aphrodite supported the Trojans during the war, not only because Paris had awarded the golden apple to her as the fairest, but also because Aeneas was ally of the Trojans. When she tried to rescue her wounded son, Diomedes wounded her and drove Aphrodite off the battlefield; the rash hero harshly rebuked the goddess that the battlefield was no place for her. Apollo had to save Aeneas. Aphrodite would later punished Diomedes, when he returned home. He would find that his wife had taken a lover, who banished him from Argos.
Love can be kind as it can be cruel. There can be great rewards for being her followers. She rewarded one faithful worshipper, Pygmalion who fell in love with a statue he created. Aphrodite gave the statue life, with living flesh and blood. Pygmalion married this woman, Galatea.
Her favorite haunts were Cyprus and Cythera. Aphrodite's favorite animals were the dove, sparrow, swallow, swan and turtle.
The Greeks identified her with the Middle Eastern Astarte and the Egyptian Hathor. She may also be identified with the Sumerian Inanna or the Babylonian Ishtar.
According to Homer, Aphrodite was known as the daughter of Zeus and Dione. Dione was either a Titaness, daughter of Uranus and Gaea, or an Oceanid, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. But according to Hesiod, she was earlier deity than the Olympians.
When the Titan Cronus wounded his father (Uranus) and flung him into the sea near the island of Cythera, the blood and sea water caused foam to gather and float across the sea to the island of Cyprus. For this reason, Aphrodite was often called Cythereia, and Cyprian or Cypris, after her two holy islands. There, Aphrodite rose out of the sea from the foam (hence her name came from the word aphros, which means "foam"). She had experienced no infancy or childhood. She was born a grown, young woman.
Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus but had numerous affairs with gods and mortals. The most notorious of these affairs was her long dalliance with Ares.
To Ares, she was said to have become the mother of Anteros (Passion), Eros (Love), Deimus (Fear), Phobus (Panic) and Harmonia, wife of Cadmus of Thebes.
Hephaestus knew that Aphrodite was having a long term affair with Ares, so he decided to punish them. During his apparent absence, Hephaestus trapped the guilty pair in the bedchamber that he shared with the love goddess. Ares and Aphrodite hanged suspended in a golden net. Hephaestus invited the other Olympians to witness the humiliated adulterers. They were the source of amusement and ridicules. Hephaestus wanted to leave them trapped in his net but he reluctantly released them on the insistence of Poseidon who admired the beauty of Aphrodite and paid reparations in return for her and her lover's freedom. Aphrodite rewarded Poseidon, by sleeping with the sea god, whence she became mother of Eryx.
Hermes also admired Aphrodite's beauty but she wasn't interested in a relationship with the herald god. Hermes was so depressed with longing that Zeus decided to intervene on behalf of his son. Zeus sent an eagle that stole Aphrodite's favorite pair of sandals. Aphrodite had to retrieve the sandals from Hermes. So Aphrodite surrendered to Hermes and became mother of a son, named Hermaphroditus.
Through the wine god Dionysus, Aphrodite was the mother of Priapus (Priapos), the god of fertility.
One of her mortal sons was the Dardanian hero Aeneas, by her lover Anchises, king of Dardania. Her affair with Anchises was recorded in one of the Homeric Hymns. Anchises was crippled by a thunderbolt from Zeus, when he boasted and revealed that he made love to the goddess. Aphrodite supported the Trojans during the war, not only because Paris had awarded the golden apple to her as the fairest, but also because Aeneas was ally of the Trojans. When she tried to rescue her wounded son, Diomedes wounded her and drove Aphrodite off the battlefield; the rash hero harshly rebuked the goddess that the battlefield was no place for her. Apollo had to save Aeneas. Aphrodite would later punished Diomedes, when he returned home. He would find that his wife had taken a lover, who banished him from Argos.
Love can be kind as it can be cruel. There can be great rewards for being her followers. She rewarded one faithful worshipper, Pygmalion who fell in love with a statue he created. Aphrodite gave the statue life, with living flesh and blood. Pygmalion married this woman, Galatea.
Her favorite haunts were Cyprus and Cythera. Aphrodite's favorite animals were the dove, sparrow, swallow, swan and turtle.
The Greeks identified her with the Middle Eastern Astarte and the Egyptian Hathor. She may also be identified with the Sumerian Inanna or the Babylonian Ishtar.
