Aphrodite Greek Goddess of Love

Aphrodite, as is common knowledge, is the Greek Goddess of love and sexuality. The word aphrodisiac is derived from her name. She is said to reside on the mount Olympus and is depicted by various symbols some of them being the Dolphin, Rose and Swan.

As per the ancient mythological stories, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranus genitals and threw them into the sea, and from the sea foam, she rose. Her Roman equivalent is Venus. As her great beauty was looked upon as something of a threat, for it was inevitable that there would be fights of envy over her, Zeus married her off to the non threatening Hephaestus. She had many lovers one of them being Ades to whom she was also surrogate mother. In many other cultures various other goddesses who were more or less based on her began to emerge.

BIRTH

As previously mentioned, she rose out of the sea foam. This is very similar to the belief of Venus rising from the sea. As per Hesiods Theogony, she must have been from an older generation than Zeus. The Iliad (Book V) expresses another version in which she is actually the daughter of Dione, the original oracular goddess. Once the popularity of Zeus rose, he was called the father of Aphrodite. Her chief center of worship has remained at Paphos.

ADULTHOOD

Aphrodite is believed to have had no childhood. She is always depicted as an adult. The early legends portray her to be vain and ill tempered. She is also frequently unfaithful to her husband and prefers Ares, the god of war, as she was supposedly drawn to his violent nature. She was also one of the main causes of the Trojan War.

OTHER LEGENDS

There are various other stories about Aphrodite. One of them is that of Aphrodite and Psyche. Psyche, being a mortal of great beauty, was able to stir up considerable envy in Aphrodite. She then urged Eros to make Psyche fall in love with the ugliest man on earth by hitting her with an enchanted arrow. The plan backfires when Eros accidentally shoots himself and falls in love with her. In the end, however, Aphrodite dances at their wedding.

Another is the story of Aphrodite and Adonis, to whom she was a surrogate mother.Adonis, in the story, is killed by a jealous Ares disguised as a wild boar.

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