Aphrodite

Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

Birth and Marriage
Aphrodite was born from the sea foam created by the castrated Ouranos. She rose from the foam on a scallop shell and was guided to the island of Cythera by one of the winds. She arrived on Olympus and Zeus knew that her beauty would cause the gods to fight over her hand in marriage. Zeus quickly married Aphrodite to Hephaestus. However, it was an unhappy marriage and Aphrodite had several affairs with other gods including Ares, Hermes, and several mortals.

Trojan War
At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, all gods and goddesses were invited except for Eris, the goddess of discord. In retaliation, she threw a golden apple into the party that said "To the fairest". Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claimed that the apple was for them. When they couldn't settle the argument themselves they turned to Zeus. Not wanting to anger any of the goddesses, Zeus told Hermes to have the first mortal he saw to settle the debate.

The first mortal that Hermes found was Paris. Hera offered Paris control over all of Europe and Asia. Athena offered him battle intelligence and fighting skills. Aphrodite offered him the love of the most beautiful woman he knew, Helen. He chose Aphrodite as the fairest and she told Eros to make Helen and Paris fall in love.

Eros did as his mother had asked. Paris took Helen back to Troy which angered Helen's husband Meneleus. Meneleus and his brother, Agamemnon, started a campaign which started the Trojan War.

Adonis
The King of Cyprus, Cinyras, had an extremely beautiful daughter named Myrrha. Myrrha's mother claimed that her daughter was more beautiful than Aphrodite which angered her. Aphrodite punished the family by making Myrrha fall in love with her father. Cinyras declined his daughters advances but he ended up sleeping with her when she disguised herself as a prostitute.

Myrrha had gotten pregnant by her father. When Cinyras found out he chased her out of the house. While running away from her father, Myrrha was turned into a myrrh tree by the gods so that she couldn't be killed by her father. Cinyras then took his own life out of shame and to restore his family's honor.

Aphrodite found the baby Adonis next to the myrrh tree that Myrrha had been turned into. She took him to the Underworld so that he could be raised by Persephone. As Adonis grew up, he became strikingly handsome and Persephone had fallen in love with him. When Aphrodite returned for Adonis, Persephone refused to return him and Zeus had to intervene. Zeus decreed that Adonis would spend four months with Aphrodite and four with Persephone. The remaning four months could be spent with whichever goddess he chose, although he always chose Aphrodite.

Adonis loved to hunt and him and Aphrodite would often go hunting together. Aphrodite began to neglect her duties as a goddess and eventually had to leave Adonis for a little while. She warned him before she left to never attack an animals that shows no fear. Adonis soon forgot her warning as he didn't think she was much of a huntress.

Ares, the jealous lover of Aphrodite, disguised himself as a boar and appeared to Adonis. Adonis tried to attack the boar but Ares impaled Adonis with his tusks and Adonis was killed.

Race of Hippomenes
Atalanta was a virgin hunress that never wanted to get married. Several men had admired her and asked for her hand in marriage. Her father wanted her to be married so she agreed to marry any man that could beat her in a foot race. Those that lost to her would be punished by death.

Hippomenes prayed to Aphrodite for help in beating Atalanta in the race. Aphrodite gave Hippomenes three golden apples that would distract Atalanta from the race. By dropping the apples in front of Atalanta when she was about to pass him, Hippomenes won the race and was allowed to marry Atalanta.

After the race the couple were traveling back to Hippomene's home when they stopped in a temple of Cybele to rest. Hippomenes had forgotten to thank Aphrodite for her help so she drove the couple made with lust and the two had sex in the temple which angered Cybele. Cybele turned them into lions (Ancient Greeks believed that lions couldn't mate with other lions, only with leopards) and they pulled Cybele's chariot.

Pygmalian
Pygmalian was a sculptor that made a piece of art that was so beautiful that he fell in love with it. Pygmalian was too embarassed to admit that he had fallen in love with his statue so he prayed to Aphrodite to help him find a woman just like his statue. When he returned home, his statue was alive as a woman named Galatea. The couple lived together in marital harmony for the rest of their lives, never forgetting to thank Aphrodite for her gift to the both of them.

Eros and Psyche
Psyche was the youngest daughter of a king and queen. Psyche was so beautiful that people began worshipping her instead of Aphrodite. Angered by this, Aphrodite ordered Eros to avenge this but he ended up falling in love with Psyche.

Eros and Psyche lived together in a beautiful cabin but Psyche could never see Eros because he is a god so after Psyche would turn out the lights and go to bed, Eros would arrive and sleep with her. When Psyche woke in the morning, Eros would be gone. Her sister, jealous of her beautiful home, told her that her husband could be someone pretending to be the god or a monster so that night, while Eros was asleep, Psyche turned on the light and looked upon the god. Eros fled from Psyche and she began to wander around, looking for her husband.

Aphrodite, knowing that Psyche truly loved Eros, agreed to allow the two to live together but Psyche must first complete four tasks that Aphrodite gives to her. Her first task is to sort a pile of seeds, which she does, passing Aphrodite's first task.

Psyche's second task is to obtain the golden wool from the flesh-eating sheep that graze on the opposite side of a river. She completes the task and is given her third task. She is to collect water from the sources of the River Styx and the River Cocytus.

Psyche's last task is to retrieve the beauty ointment of Persephone. She traveled to the Underworld and Persephone allowed her to take some of the ointment.

Psyche is then granted immortality so that she and Eros can live forever in their blissful marriage.

Abode
Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty as well as lust, desire, pleasure, and sexuality. She is seen as the most beautiful goddess and would punish those that claimed they were more beautiful than she. In addition to her beauty, Hephaestus crafted her a magic girdle that would make her even more attractive.

Her sacred symbols include an apple, a scallop shell, a mirror, a rose, and myrtle. Her sacred animals are doves, swans, and sparrows.

Family

 * Father: Rose from the foam of Ouranos
 * Husband: Hephaestus (See Notes)
 * Lover: Ares (See Notes)
 * Children: Deimos, Phobos, Harmonia, Eros, or See All