APHRODITE to be the Olympian goddess that love, beauty, pleasure and also procreation.She was illustrated as a beautiful woman often accompanied through the winged godling Eros (Love). Her features included a dove, apple, scallop shell and mirror. In classic sculpture and also fresco she to be usually illustrated nude.
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MYTHS
several of the an ext famous myths featuring the goddess include:--
Her bear from the sea foam. More>>
Her adulterous affair with the god Ares. More>>
she love for Adonis, a handsome Cypriot youth who was tragically eliminated by a boar. More>>
Her love for Ankhises (Anchises), a shepherd-prince. More>>
The judgement of Paris in which the goddess to be awarded the prize of the gold apple in return because that promising Paris Helene in marriage. More>>
The Trojan war in which she supported her favourites Paris and also Aeneas and also was injured in the fighting. More>>
The race of Hippomenes for Atalanta, which to be won v the help of the goddess and her golden apples. More>>
The death of Hippolytos, who was destroyed by the goddess because that scorning she worship. More>>
The statue the Pygmalion i beg your pardon was carried to life by Aphrodite in answer come his prayers. More>>
The persecution that Psykhe (Psyche), the maiden loved by the goddess" son Eros. More>>
Many other myths are comprehensive over the complying with pages.
APHRODITE PAGES on usmam.org
This site includes a total of 18 pages explicate the goddess Aphrodite, including basic descriptions, mythology, and cult. The contents is outlined in the table of contents of Aphrodite Pages (left obelisk or below).
FAMILY the APHRODITE
PARENTS
<1> Born from the castrated genitals of OURANOS in the sea"s foam (Hesiod Theogony 188, Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.21, Apuleius 6.6, Nonnus Dionysiaca 1.86, et al)<2> ZEUS & DIONE (Homer Iliad 5.370; Euripides Helen 1098; Apollodorus 1.13, Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.21, et al)<3> OURANOS & HEMERA (Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.21)
OFFSPRING
See family members of Aphrodite
ENCYCLOPEDIA
APHRODI′TE (Aphroditê), one of the good Olympian divinities, was, according to the popular and also poetical notions that the Greeks, the goddess of love and also beauty. Some traditions declared that she had sprung from the foam (aphros) that the sea, which had actually gathered about the mutilated parts of Uranus, that had been thrown right into the sea through Kronos after he had actually unmanned his father. (Hesiod. Theog. 190; compare Anadyomene.) v the exemption of the Homeric hymn on Aphrodite there is no map of this legend in Homer, and also according come him Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and also Dione. (Il. v. 370, &c., xx. 105.) later on traditions contact her a daughter the Kronos and also Euonyme, or of Uranus and also Hemera. (Cic. De Nat. Deor. iii. 23; Natal. Com. Iv. 13.)
According come Hesiod and the Homeric singing on Aphrodite, the goddess after rising from the foam first approached the island that Cythera, and also thence saw Cyprus, and as she to be walking top top the sea-coast flower sprang increase under her feet, and Eros and Himeros accompanied she to the assembly that the other good gods, all of whom to be struck v admiration and love when she appeared, and also her surpassing beauty do every one desire to have actually her for his wife.
According to the cosmogonic views of the nature the Aphrodite, she to be the personification of the generative powers of nature, and also the mother of all living beings. A trace of this notion seems to be included in the legacy that in the contest of Typhon through the gods, Aphrodite metamorphosed herself right into a fish, which pet was considered to own the greatest generative powers. (Ov. Met. v. 318, &c.; comp. Hygin. Poet. Astr. 30.) yet according come the popular belief of the Greeks and their poetical descriptions, she was the goddess that love, who excited this enthusiasm in the hearts of gods and men, and by this power ruled over all the living creation. (Hom. Hymn. In Ven. ; Lucret. 15, &c.)
Ancient mythology furnishes plenty of instances in which Aphrodite punished those who neglected her praise or despised her power, as well as others in i m sorry she favoured and also protected those that did homage come her and recognized her sway. Love and beauty are ideas essentially connected, and Aphrodite to be therefore also the goddess that beauty and also gracefulness. In this points she exceeded all other goddesses, and also she got the compensation of beauty from Paris; she had further the power of giving beauty and also invincible charm to others. Youth is the herald, and Peitho, the Horae, and Charites, the attendants and also companions of Aphrodite. (Pind. New. viii. 1, &c.) marital relationships are dubbed by Zeus her work and also the things around which she should busy herself. (Hom. Il. v. 429; comp. Od. xx. 74; Pind. Pyth. ix. 16, &c.) as she herself had sprung from the sea, she is stood for by later on writers as having some influence upon the sea (Virg. Aen. viii. 800; Ov. Heroid. xv. 213; comp. Paus. Ii. 34. § 11.)
During the Trojan war, Aphrodite, the mommy of Aeneas, who had been declared the most beautiful of every the goddesses by a Trojan prince, naturally sided through the Trojans. She saved Paris from his dispute with Menelaus (Il. iii. 380), however when she endeavoured come rescue her darling Aeneas native the fight, she was sought by Diomedes, that wounded her in she hand. In her fright she abandoned her son, and also was brought by Iris in the chariot that Ares to Olympus, wherein she complained of she misfortune to her mom Dione, however was laughed at by Hera and Athena. (Il. v. 311, &c.) She likewise protected the human body of Hector, and anointed it with ambrosia. (Il. xxiii. 185.)
According to the most typical accounts of the ancients, Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus (Odyss. viii. 270), who, however, is said in the Iliad (viii. 383) to have actually married Charis. Her faithlessness come Hephaestus in she amour with Ares, and also the manner in i beg your pardon she was caught by the resourcefulness of her husband, are beautifully defined in the Odyssey. (viii. 266, &c.) by Ares she became the mommy of Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia, and, according to later on traditions, that Eros and also Anteros also. (Hesiod. Theog. 934, &c., Scut. Herc. 195; Hom. Il. xiii. 299, iv. 440; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. iii. 26; Cic. De Nat. Deor. iii. 23.)
But Ares was no the just god whom Aphrodite favoured; Dionysus, Hermes, and Poseidon an in similar way enjoyed she charms. Through the an initial she was, follow to some traditions, the mom of Priapus (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 933) and Bacchus (Hesych. s. V. Bakchou Diônês), through the second of Hermaphroditus (Ov. Met. iv. 289, &c.; Diod. Iv. 6; Lucian, Dial. Deor. xv. 2), and also by Poseidon she had actually two children, Rhodos and Herophilus. (Schol. ad Pind. Pyth. viii. 24.)
As Aphrodite so regularly kindled in the understanding of the gods a love because that mortals, Zeus in ~ last fixed to make her pay for she wanton sport by motivating her too v love for a mortal man. This was accomplished, and Aphrodite conceived one invincible passion for Anchises, by who she became the mom of Aeneas and Lyrus.
Respecting she connexions with various other mortals check out Adonis and also Butes. The ancient story ran for this reason : Smyrna had neglected the praise of Aphrodite, and was punished by the goddess with an unnatural love for she father. Through the help of her nurse she contrived to share she father"s bed without being known to him. When he found the crime that wished to kill her; yet she fled, and on being virtually overtaken, prayed to the gods to make her invisible. Lock were moved to pity and changed her right into a tree dubbed smurna. After the slide out of ripe months the tree burst, and Adonis was born. Aphrodite was so lot charmed v the beauty beauty of the infant, that she hidden it in a chest which she entrusted to Persephone; however when the latter discovered the treasure she had in her keeping, she refuse to offer it up. The instance was brought before Zeus, who determined the conflict by proclaiming that throughout four month of yearly Adonis should be left come himself, during four month he need to belong to Persephone, and during the remaining 4 to Aphrodite. Adonis but preferring come live with Aphrodite, also spent v her the four months end which he had controul. Later on Adonis passed away of a wound i beg your pardon he got from a boar during the chase. Thus much the story that Adonis was related by Panyasis.
Later writers furnish miscellaneous alterations and enhancements to it. According to Hyginus (Fab. 58, 164, 251, 271), Smyrna was punished with the love for she father, since her mommy Cenchreis had actually provoked the rage of Aphrodite by extolling the beauty beauty of she daughter above that that the goddess. Smyrna ~ the exploration of her crime fled into a forest, wherein she was readjusted into a tree native which Adonis come forth, as soon as her father split it with his sword. The dispute in between Aphrodite and also Persephone to be according to part accounts settled by Calliope, who Zeus appointed as mediator in between them. (Hygin. Poet. Astron. ii. 7.) Ovid (Met. x. 300, &c.) to add the complying with features: Myrrha"s love of she father was excited through the furies; Lucina aided her when she provided birth come Adonis, and the Naiads anointed him through the tears that his mother, i. E. through the liquid which trickled from the tree. Adonis prospered up a most beautiful youth, and Venus loved him and also shared through him the pleasures of the chase, though she constantly cautioned him versus the wild beasts. At critical he hurt a boar which eliminated him in that fury.
According to some legacies Ares (Mars), or, follow to others, Apollo suspect the type of a boar and thus killed Adonis. (Serv. ad Virg. Ecl. x. 18; Ptolem. Hephaest. I. P. 306, ed. Gale.) A 3rd story related that Dionysus brought off Adonis. (Phanocles ap. Plut. Sumpos. iv. 5.) once Aphrodite was notified of she beloved gift wounded, she accelerated to the spot and also sprinkled nectar into his blood, native which instantly flowers sprang up. Various other adjustments of the story might be review in Hyginus (Poet. Astron. ii. 7), Theocritus (Idyll. xv.), Bion (Idyll. i.), and also in the scholiast on Lycophron. (839, &c.) from the dual marriage of Aphrodite through Ares and Adonis sprang Priapus. (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 9, 32.) besides him Golgos and Beroe are an in similar way called children. The Adonis and also Aphrodite. (Schol. ad Theocrit. xv. 100; Nonn. Dionys. xli 155.) top top his death Adonis to be obliged come descend right into the lower world, yet he was enabled to spend six months the end of annually with his beloved Aphrodite in the upper world. (Orph. Hymn. 55. 10.)
Aphrodite own a magic girdle which had the strength of inspiring love and also desire because that those who wore it; hence it was obtained by Hera once she wished to stimulate the love that Zeus. (Hom. Il. xiv. 214, &c.) The arrowhead is likewise sometimes pointed out as among her attributes. (Plnd. Pyth. iv. 380; Theocrit. Xi. 16.) In the vegetable kingdom the myrtle, rose, apple, poppy, and also others, were spiritual to her. (Ov. Fast. iv. 15. 143; Bion, Idyll. i. 64; Schol. ad Aristoph. Nub. 993; Paus. Ii. 10. § 4; Phornut. 23.)
The animals sacred to her, i beg your pardon are regularly mentioned as drawing her chariot or serving together her messengers, room the sparrow, the dove, the swan, the swallow, and a bird dubbed iynx. (Sappho, in Ven. 10; Athen. Ix. P. 395; Horat. Carm. iv. 1. 10; Aelian, Hist. An. x. 34; Pind. Pyth. L. C.) together Aphrodite Urania the tortoise, the price of domestic modesty and also chastity, and as Aphrodite Pandemos the lamb was spiritual to her.
All the surnames and epithets provided to Aphrodite are derived from locations of she worship, indigenous events associated with the legends about her, or have actually reference to her character and also her affect upon man, or room descriptive of her extraordinary beauty and also charms. Every her surnames are described in different articles.
The principal areas of her worship in Greece were the islands of Cyprus and Cythera. At Cnidus in Caria she had actually three temples, one of which contained her renowned statue by Praxiteles. Mount Ida in Troas was an ancient place of her worship, and amongst the other locations we may mention an especially the island of Cos, the communities of Abydos, Athens, Thespiae, Megara, Sparta, Sicyon, Corinth, and also Eryx in Sicily. The sacrifices readily available to she consisted mainly of incense and garlands of flower (Virg. Aen. i. 416; Tacit. Hist. ii. 3), but in some places animals, such as pigs, goats, young cows, hares, and also others, were sacrificed to her. In some places, together at Corinth, an excellent numbers of females belonged to her, that prostituted themselves in she service, and bore the surname of hierodouloi. (Dict.of Ant. S. V. Hetairai.) Respecting the festivals that Aphrodite see Dict. Of Ant. S.v. Adônia, Anagôgia, Aphrodisia, Katagôgia.
The worship of Aphrodite was without doubt of east origin, and probably introduced from Syria come the archipelago of Cyprus, Cythera, and others, indigenous whence it spread anywhere Greece. The is said to have actually been lugged into Syria indigenous Assyria. (Paus. I. 14. § 6.) Aphrodite appears to have been originally similar with Astarte, dubbed by the Hebrews Ashtoreth, and also her connexion through Adonis plainly points to Syria. But with the exception of Corinth, whereby the prayer of Aphrodite had eminently an Asiatic character, the entirety worship the this goddess and also all the concepts concerning she nature and character are so entirely Greek, the its development into Greece need to be assigned to the very earliest periods. The facets were obtained from the East, but the peculiar breakthrough of it belongs come Greece. The roman goddess Venus was determined with the Greek Aphrodite.
Aphrodite, the appropriate of female graec and also beauty, commonly engaged the talents and also genius of the old artists. The most commemorated representations of her were those that Cos and also Cnidus. Those which space still extant are divided by excavators into several classes, appropriately as the goddess is stood for in a was standing position and naked, as the Medicean Venus, or bathing, or fifty percent naked, or dressed in a tunic, or as the victorious goddess in arms, together she was represented in the temples of Cythera, Sparta, and Corinth. (Paus. Iii. 23. § 1, ii. 5. § 1, iii. 15. § 10.)
Source: dictionary of Greek and also Roman Biography and also Mythology.
CLASSICAL literary works QUOTES
HYMNS to APHRODITE
I) THE HOMERIC HYMNSHomeric singing 5 to Aphrodite (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epos C7th to fourth B.C.) :"Moisa (Muse), phone call me the deeds of golden Aphrodite Kypria (Cyprian), that stirs increase sweet passion in the gods and also subdues the tribes of mortal men and birds the fly in air and also all the countless creatures that the dry land rears, and also all the sea: all these love the deeds the rich-crowned Kythereia.
Homeric chant 6 to Aphrodite :"I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and also beautiful, whose preeminence is the walled urban of all sea-set Kypros (Cyprus). Over there the moist breath the Zephyros the west wind wafted she over the tide of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, ad there the gold-filleted Horai (Horae, Seasons) invited her joyously.
Homeric hymn 10 come Aphrodite :"Of Kythereia (Cytherea)
Orphic hymn 55 come Aphrodite (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. To 2nd A.D.) :"To Aphrodite. Ourania (Urania) (Heavenly), illustrious, laughter-loving (philommeideia) queen, sea-born (pontogenes), night-loving (philopannyx), of dreadful mien; crafty, from whom Ananke (Necessity) first came, producing, nightly, all-connecting dame. "Tis thine the human being with harmony come join, for all things spring from thee, O power divine. The triple Moirai (Fates) room ruled by thy decree, and all productions yield alike to thee: every little thing the heavens, encircling all, contain, earth fruit-producing, and the stormy main, thy guide confesses, and also obeys your nod, terrible attendant the Bakkhos
PHYSICAL explanation OF APHRODITE
Classical literary works offers just a few, brief descriptions the the physical features of the gods.
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Homer, Iliad 3. 396 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epos C8th B.C.) :"She
Stasinus the Cyprus or Hegesias that Aegina, Cypria Fragment 6 (from Athenaeus 15. 682) (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epos C7th or sixth B.C.) :"She
Homeric singing 5 come Aphrodite 78 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epos C7th to 4th B.C.) :"Aphrodite, the daughter the Zeus stood prior to him
Homeric hymn 6 come Aphrodite 6 ff :"The Horai (Horae, Seasons) clothed she
Philostratus the Younger, Imagines 8 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) :"
Orphic hymn 57 come Chthonian Hermes (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. To second A.D.) :"Celestial Aphrodite, Paphian queen, dark-eyelashed Goddess, of a lovely mien."
Apuleius, The golden Ass 10. 30 ff (trans. Walsh) (Roman novel C2nd A.D.) :"
Apuleius, The golden Ass 2. 8 ff : "Venus
Colluthus, Rape that Helen 82 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek city C5th to sixth A.D.) :"Kypris (Cypris)