Aphrodite: The Greek Goddess Of Love

Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. Despite her her natural beauty, she also had a magical girdle that compelled everyone to desire her. She was known to have been born from the foam of the sea, and would enchant everyone who saw her, as well as inciting people and places with love and lust everywhere she went. The Roman counterpart of Aphrodite was Venus. Her Holy Tree was the Myrtle.

Aphrodite is one of the daughters to well known, Zeus and Dione . She is commonly known to have been born near her chief center of worship on the island of Cyprus. She was one of several siblings including Apollo, Ares, Athena, Pandia, along with many more people. Her father married her to Hephaestus, who was the Greek god of blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes. They had 15 children named: Eros, Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia, Pothos, Anteros, Himeros, Hermaphroditos, Rhodos, Eryx, Peitho, Eunomia, The

One of the most commonly known myths is that her birth was the consequence of a castration. Cronus severed Uranus ' organs and threw them behind him into the sea. The foam from his organs gave rise to Aphrodite, illustrating the derivation of her name “foam arisen.” Aphrodite then floated to shore on a sea shell. This is a representation of Aphrodite as a mature “Venus rising from the sea" was made famous in a much-admired painting. This myth gave Aphrodite the Roman equivalent “Venus.” Another myth is that Aphrodite was the cause of death of Hippolytus. He scorned the worship of Aphrodite, wanting Artemis. Aphrodite made it so her stepmother would fall in love with him, already knowing the fact that he would reject Hippolytus. This caused Phaedra to commit suicide, and the death of Hippolytus. In another myth, she was said to be the daughter of Zeus and Dione. Aphrodite herself was sometimes also referred to as