Symbols
Sacred animals: dolphins, doves, sparrows, horses, and swans
Plant: myrtle tree and myrrh bush (supposedly, it was from one these plants that her beloved Adonis was born)
Weapon: a magical girdle that compels anyone she wishes to desire her
Others: scallop shell, mirror
Plant: myrtle tree and myrrh bush (supposedly, it was from one these plants that her beloved Adonis was born)
Weapon: a magical girdle that compels anyone she wishes to desire her
Others: scallop shell, mirror
Family
There are a couple of stories surrounding Aphrodite’s parents. The first source suggests that According to Hesiod (a Greek poet)'s Theogony, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranus's genitals and threw them into the sea, and she arose from the sea foam (aphros). However, in Homer (another ancient Greek poet)'s Iliad, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione.
Siblings: The Tree Nymphs, The Furies and The Gigantes
Consorts: Hephaestus, although she had many adulterous affairs.
The more prominent of Aphrodite’s children include:
Eros, Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia, Pothos, Anteros, Himeros, Hermaphroditos,
Rhode, Eryx, Peitho, Tyche, Eunomia, the Graces, Priapus and Aeneas
Siblings: The Tree Nymphs, The Furies and The Gigantes
Consorts: Hephaestus, although she had many adulterous affairs.
The more prominent of Aphrodite’s children include:
Eros, Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia, Pothos, Anteros, Himeros, Hermaphroditos,
Rhode, Eryx, Peitho, Tyche, Eunomia, the Graces, Priapus and Aeneas
Adulthood
Aphrodite is consistently portrayed, in every image and story, as having had no childhood, and instead being born as a nubile, infinitely desirable adult. She is often depicted nude. In many of the later myths, she is portrayed as vain, ill-tempered and easily offended.
In one version, due to her immense beauty, Zeus fears that the other gods will be jealous and become violent with each other in their rivalry to possess her. To forestall this, he forces her to marry Hephaestus, the dour, humorless god of smithing. In another version of the story, Aphrodite marries Hephaestus after his mother, Hera casts him off Olympus, deeming him too ugly and deformed to inhabit the home of the gods. His revenge is to trap his mother in a magic throne. In return for her release, he demands to be given Aphrodite's hand in marriage. Her unhappiness with her marriage causes Aphrodite to seek other male companionship, including with Adonis and Ares. |
Plots (Trojan War Derivation)
A portrait depicting the ‘Trojan War‘ derivation
Aphrodite was said to have caused the Trojan War. When the hero Peleus was married to the sea-nymph Thetis, Aphrodite was not invited to the ceremony. The slighted goddess deposited a golden apple on the banquet table, inscribed with the legend, "For the fairest". Immediately all the goddesses began to argue about whose beauty entitled her to be the rightful owner of this prize. The designated judge to decide the winner among the finalists (Aphrodite, Hera and Athena) was to be the most handsome mortal in the world – a noble Trojan youth named Paris, who was a shepherd at the time. The goddesses proceeded to offer bribes. Hera, Queen of Olympus, told Paris she would help him rule the world while Athena, goddess of war, said she would make him victorious in battle. Aphrodite decided he would be more impressed with the guaranteed love of the most beautiful woman in the world. This was Helen, who happened to be married to the king of Sparta. Paris declared Aphrodite the winner, enabling him to elope with Helen, who thenceforth became notorious as Helen of Troy. Helen's husband and his brother raised a Greek army to retrieve his wife, and this was the inception of the Trojan War.
Plots (Aphrodite and Adonis)
Depiction of Aphrodite and Adonis
Aphrodite was Adonis' lover and a surrogate mother to him. Cinyras, the King of Cyprus, had an intoxicatingly beautiful daughter named Myrrha. When Myrrha's mother claimed her daughter is more beautiful than the famed goddess, Myrrha is punished with a never-ending lust for her own father. Cinyras is repulsed by this, but Myrrha disguises herself as a prostitute, and secretly sleeps with her father at night. Eventually, Myrrha becomes pregnant and is discovered by Cinyras. In a rage, he chases her out of the house with a knife. Myrrha flees from him, praying to the gods for mercy as she runs. The gods hear her plea, and change her into a myrrh tree so her father cannot kill her. Eventually, Cinyras takes his own life in an attempt to restore the family's honor. Myrrha gives birth to a baby boy named Adonis. Aphrodite happens by the myrrh tree and, seeing him, takes pity on the infant. She places Adonis in a box, and takes him down to Hades so Persephone can care for him. Adonis grows into a strikingly handsome young man, and Aphrodite eventually returns for him. Persephone, however, is loath to give him up, and wishes Adonis would stay with her in the underworld. The two goddesses begin such a quarrel, Zeus is forced to intercede. He decrees that Adonis will spend a third of the year with Aphrodite, a third of the year with Persephone, and a third of the year with whomever he wishes. Adonis, of course, chooses Aphrodite.