Aphrodite

Aphrodite (af-roh-dye-tee) was a Greek Olympian goddess.

Abode and Attributes
Aphrodite was the goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, desire, fertility, flirtatiousness, sexuality, and procreation. She is also sometimes considered a goddess of marriage since she is part of the Theoi Gamelioi, which meant "Gods of Marriage", although she may have presided more over the consumation of the marriage and the bride's fertility. In many Athenian vase paintings she is followed by the younger Charites, who were goddesses of parties and merriment, which may also mean that Aphrodite was associated with merriment and parties as well. Like Apollo, Aphrodite presided over poetry and songs, but those of love. As the lover of Ares and the goddess that restrained and calmed him, she could be seen as the goddess of peace as well.

Her sacred animals include a dolphin, dove, sparrow, and swan. Her sacred objects include a rose, scallop shell, myrtle, apple, girdle, and a mirror. She chose the scallop shell as one of her symbols because after she rose from the sea foam, she floated to shore on a scallop shell. The girdle is also her sacred symbol because after she married Hephaestus, he gave her a magic girdle that made her irresistible.

Depiction
As the god of beauty, Aphrodite was depicted as a beautiful woman that was often accompanied by her winged child, Eros. She was also typically nude in classical sculpture and fresco.

According to Hesiod
In the Hesiod, Aphrodite is said to have been born after Cronus castrated his father, Uranus, and threw his genitals into the sea, creating the sea foam. Aphrodite then rose from the sea foam with no clothes and floated on a scallop shell to Cyrpus. She was blown to the island by Zephyrus, the god of the west wind. When she arrived on shore, she was greeted by the Horae, goddesses of the seasons, who clothed her, gave her a golden crown, put earrings on her, and gave her a necklace.

This is the more common story of the origins of Aphrodite, as opposed to the story that Homer writes about.

According to Homer
In the Iliad, Homer writes about Aphrodite being the daughter of Zeus and Dione, the titan goddess of the Oracle of Dodona.

This is the less common version of the story, as opposed to what is written in the Hesiod.

Love of Adonis
Adonis was an incredibly handsome figure in Greek mythology. He was even handsome from the time that he was a child. He was so beautiful that Aphrodite fell in love with him, even though he was still a child. Because his parents both died, Aphrodite brought him to Persephone for her to care for him until he was an adult. However, Persephone fell in love with him as well and refused to give him back to Aphrodite. The two goddesses went to Zeus and he decided that Adonis would spent a third of the year with Aphrodite, another third of the year with Persephone, and he could choose to spend the last third of the year with whichever goddess he wanted to, but he always chose Aphrodite.

Adonis was attacked by a wild boar, who was either thought to be sent by Artemis or was Ares disguised in the form of a boar. Also, sometimes Apollo is thought to have caused the death of Adonis because a son of Apollo, Erymanthus, saw Aphrodite naked so she blinded him.

Judgment of Paris and the Trojan War
Aphrodite is typically accused as having caused the Trojan War. When Peleus and Thetis got married, they invited all of the gods, goddesses, nymphs, and spirits to their wedding, except Eris, the goddess of discord. Because of this, Eris threw a golden apple into the wedding that was inscribed with, "For the fairest,". Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite all claimed this apple to be for them. The three goddesses went to Zeus to settle the debate. Not wanting to make any of the goddesses angry at him, he sent the goddesses to Paris.

Each of the goddesses tried to bribe Paris; Athena promised him success in war and battle, Hera promised to help Paris rule the world, and Aphrodite promised him the hand of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, despite the fact that Helen was married to the king of Sparta.

Paris awarded Aphrodite the golden apple and he kidnapped and eloped with Helen. Helen's husband, Menelaus, raised the Greek army to get back his wife, which started the Trojan War.

Intervening with Jason
While Jason was on his quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece, he had to seek permission from the king of Colchis before doing so. The king of Colchis had no objections so Hera asked Aphrodite to intervene. Aphrodite, being the goddess of love, caused Medea, the daughter of the king, to fall in love with Jason. However, this backfired on Hera since Medea actually helped Jason get the Golden Fleece.

Race of Hippomenes
Atalanta was a Greek woman that was very beautiful and was followed by many suitors. She could also run faster than any other person in Greece.

Atalanta consulted an oracle and was told that if she were ever to marry, it would bring her to her doom. Because of this, Atalanta decided that she would never get married. To make sure of this, she decided that a man would have to beat her in a footrace, but if she won, they would be killed.

Many people tried to beat Atalanta but she won every race that she participated in. Hippomenes knew that he couldn't beat Atalanta but he had fallen in love with her because of her beauty. Hippomenes prayed to Aphrodite can she came down to him and gave him three golden apples. Hippomenes arranged a race against Atalanta and, as expected, Atalanta could run faster than Hippomenes. Hippomenes threw the golden apples in front of Atalanta each time she took the lead in the race, which distracted her and slowed her down so that Hippomenes could catch up. Because of this, Hippomenes won the race and got to marry Atalanta, which she was happy of because Hippomenes was very handsome.

Due to their excitement, Hippomenes forgot to thank Aphrodite for helping him win the hand of Atalanta. While they were walking through the forest near a shrine of Rhea, Aphrodite caused them to lust for one another and had intercourse in the shrine. Offended by this, Rhea turned the two into lions because the Ancient Greeks believed that lions couldn't breed with other members of their species, but only with leopards, so Hippomenes and Atalanta could never have intercourse again.

Death of Hippolytus
Hippolytus was the son of Theseus and Hippolyte. Hippolytus wanted to remain a virgin and promised himself to Artemis. Hippolytus rejected all women and hated Aphrodite. Angered by this, Aphrodite caused Hippolytus' step-mother, Phaedra, to fall in love with him. When Phaedra confessed her love to him, he was revolted by her and Phaedra killed herself and left a message behind saying that Hippolytus tried to rape her.

Theseus, the son of Poseidon, had his father exact revenge by sending a monster that scared the horses that were driving the chariot of Hippolytus, causing his death. However, Hippolytus and his father reconciled before his death because Artemis told Theseus the truth about what Aphrodite had done.

Statue of Pygmalion
Pygmalion was a sculptor that lived on Aphrodite's sacred island, Cyprus. On Cyprus, there was a group of women called the Propoetides that didn't believe that Aphrodite was a goddess. Because of this, Aphrodite caused the women to have no sense of shame so they all began to prostitute themselves. Pygmalion was disgusted by them that he vowed that he would ignore all women for the rest of his life.

Pygmalion then decided to make a statue of a woman made out of ivory that was so beautiful that he fell in love with it. Pygmalion gives the statue gifts and treated the statue with so much love that he prays to Aphrodite to bring a woman to him who looks exactly like his statue.

According to some sources, Aphrodite went to Pygmalion's house and looked at the statue, which actually looked like her so she decided to bring the statue to life. She is given the name Galatea and the two get married and pay thanks to Aphrodite.

Trials of Psyche
Psyche was a mortal woman that was so beautiful that she made Aphrodite jealous. Aphrodite had her companion and son, Eros, fly down to earth and put a spell on Psyche. However, Eros accidentally pricked himself on one of his arrows and he fell in love with Psyche. The two god married but he would not let Psyche see him, so they would just lay together at night. Psyche's sisters made her suspicious of her husband's true identity so she looked at him while he was sleeping. He awoke and flew away.

Psyche, still in love with Eros, went to Aphrodite's temple and prayed for help. Aphrodite agreed to help but told Psyche that she had to complete four tasks before she would allow her and Eros to get married.

Psyche completed the four tasks and Aphrodite allowed the two to get married.

Relationships

 * Uranus (father according to Hesiod)
 * Zeus (father according to Homer)
 * Dione (mother according to Homer)
 * Hephaestus (husband; ex-husband according to some sources)
 * Ares (lover)
 * Adonis (lover)
 * Hermes (lover)
 * Dionysus (lover)
 * Poseidon (lover)
 * Anchises (lover)
 * Boutes (lover)
 * Harmonia (daughter by Ares)
 * Deimos (son by Ares)
 * Phobos (son by Ares)
 * Eros (son by Ares)
 * Himeros (son)
 * Anteros (son by Ares)
 * Hermaphroditus (son by Hermes)
 * Pothos (son)
 * Priapus (son by Dionysus)
 * Herophile (daughter of Poseidon)
 * Beroe (daughter by Adonis)
 * Aeneas (son by Anchises)
 * Eryx (son by Boutes)