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Greek Mythology Pantheon > Aphrodite (Venus) – Greek Goddess of Love, Beauty,
Pleasure, and Procreation
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Aphrodite (Venus) – Greek Goddess of Love, Beauty,
Pleasure, and Procreation
Picture by KamillYonsiya
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art
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Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by KamillYonsiya
Aphrodite (Roman equivalent is Venus) is the Greek Olympian goddess of
love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. It would be impossible for the
Greeks, a people who so loved the natural beauty and pulchritude, not to
invent a deity who protects and personifies those values. For this reason,
Aphrodite was symbolizing the eternal beauty and sexual desire.
The most prevalent myth about her origin is that she was born on a coast of
Cyprus. From there the wind Zephyrus with a gentle gust pushed her to the
sea, into the white-crested waves. Aphrodite was greeted by the Ores (the
seasons), that dressed and adorned her. She wore inlaid, floral dresses from
purple, silk and other shiny fabrics. They plaited her rich braided hair and
pinned them with a beautiful, golden buckle. They adorned her glowing white
neck with precious necklaces, emeralds and rubies. Finally, they wore pearl
earrings to her ears. Then they transferred Aphrodite to Olympus and
presented her to Zeus and the other gods. Everyone admired her, were
dazzled by her beauty, told her countless compliments and wanted to make
her their wife.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by
jjlovely
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Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by jjlovely
Hesiod in his Theogony presents us a different version. Aphrodite was born
from the members of Uranus after his amputation by Cronus. The sea kept for
very long the celestial members inside her infinite body. Foam formed around
them and through the foam the gorgeous Aphrodite emerged. Zephyr
travelled her, upon a huge seashell, for a long time in the immense Ocean.
During this journey, the strange ship of Aphrodite passed through Kythera
and then went to Cyprus.
The beautiful goddess descended on the island and everywhere she stepped,
colorful and fragrant flowers were sprouted. From the places the goddess of
beauty traveled, after her birth, she was named Kythireia and Cypriot.
Moreover, the name Aphrodite indicates her birth from the sea foam (Aphros
in Greek Language is foam). About her birth, we should also note here the
version of Homer, who informs us that she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione
(she was an Oceanid).
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess underwater - Art
Picture
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess underwater - Art Picture
There are too many myths showing the gorgeous goddess having always as
weapons her seductive beauty and her irresistible sexual desire. Initially, we
meet her fighting the Giants alongside the Olympians. With her incomparable
charms, Aphrodite lured fifteen Giants into a cave where Heracles (Hercules)
was hidden. Heracles then exterminated them one by one with great ease.
Aphrodite with her sweet cravings could conquer all the gods and mortals but
also the beasts of the land and the sea, she exercised great power in the
entire universe. Her greatest amusement was to seize the gods with erotic
lust for mortal women and goddesses for mortal men.
Once her purpose was fulfilled, she started mocking the Olympians who
accepted to mate with lesser beings. The only ones that could not fool over at
Olympus were the goddesses of eternal virginity, Athena, Artemis and Hestia.
Aphrodite’s largest victim was Zeus, whom she often threw into the arms of
one or other of mortals thus causing the uncontrollable hatred of Hera. Of
course, she always tried for the naughty actions of Zeus not to arrive at his
wife’s ears.
Aphrodite (Venus) and Ares (Mars) Art Picture by hellstern
Aphrodite (Venus) and Ares (Mars) - Art Picture by hellstern
Aphrodite is the lawful wife of Hephaestus. Unfortunately, the ugly and cripple
god did not manage to keep for long the most beautiful goddess his own, who
started cheating on him with Ares. Other myths are told that it was the lawful
wife of Mars and from their relationship she had four sons: Imeros (Lust) and
Eros (Love) were the permanent winged attendants of Aphrodite. Deimos
(Terror) and Phobos (Fear), on the other hand, were the inseparable warlike
followers of the God of War. In accompaniment of Aphrodite also attended
Hebe, Harmony, Times, Persuasion and Graces.
They say that Aphrodite paired also with other immortals. So, she mated with
Poseidon and had with him a son, Eryka, the hero who gave his name to a
mountain of Sicily. The daughter born from their divine intercourse was
Rhodes. Also, the goddess of eternal beauty joined with mischievous
Dionysus. Hera, in order to avenge Aphrodite that constantly lured Jupiter in
extramarital relations, when she was pregnant by Dionysus, rubbed her belly
with a magic wand. So the goddess gave birth to the ugly and shameless god
of fertility, Priapos. From her relationship with Hermes, a son was born and
since he looked very much to both of his heavenly parents, they named him
Hermaphroditus.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by
Isikol
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by Isikol
He was brought up by the nymphs of Ida and when he grew up he became a
very handsome man. He once traveled to Caria and came to a lake where the
water was so clear that he could clearly see the bottom. The Nymph of the
lake, the beautiful Salmakida, just after she saw the Hermaphrodite, fell
madly in love with him. After she was dressed and adorned, she appeared in
all her glory to the divine man and asked him to mate with her. But he
resisted and rejected the nymph’s proposal.
When the young man thought he was alone, he took his clothes off and
plunged into the clear waters of the lake. The nymph, hidden beside the lake,
was stalking him and was unable to resist at the sight of his naked body. She
lunged into the water and started hugging and kissing the young man. He
resisted, but the nymph squeezed him with all her strength, prayed to Zeus
and asked him never to be split from her lover. Zeus heard her prayer and
joined the two bodies into one. The Nymph and Hermaphroditus since then
form a face and a body that is simultaneously male and female.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by
jdm
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by jdm
Zeus wanted to punish Aphrodite because she was constantly using her erotic
passion in order to keep ruling on the immortals. She was luring the gods
through romances with mortals and then laughed at them and made them
blush with shame. So Zeus decided to throw herself into the arms of a mortal.
Since he was omnipotent, he succeeded to cause her sexual desire for
Anchises, a young shepherd on the Ida, whose beauty and bravery was
exceptional. When Aphrodite felt the irresistible attraction to the young
shepherd, she immediately ran to the temple of Paphos. There she called the
Graces and after closing tightly the huge gates of the temple, she began to
groom and adorn herself with their help. The Graces bathed her with
perfumes and milk.
After that, they nursed her face and her body with cosmetics and magic
creams and made it sparkle even more. Graces dressed her in gossamer
dresses and various cloths and embellished her with delicate jewels, made
from the rarest gems of the sea. In the end, Aphrodite tied in her waist the
godly band that was sealing the desires and loves and flew to Mount Ida.
When she reached a clearing of the mountain, she transformed into a mortal
princess to fool Anchises. Then she headed to his hut. On the way he met
wild beasts that rushed to devour her. Immediately the goddess untied her
magic belt and that menacing lions and wild tigers began to wag their tails
amicably and lick the goddess. After the wild beasts were charmed, they
began to form couples and vanish to the forest to mate.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by
Valiant
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by Valiant
When she reached Anchise’s hut, the mortal shepherd was dazzled by her
beauty and realized that she was probably a goddess. Aphrodite, however,
convinced him that she was the mortal daughter of the king Otreas of Phrygia
and she was brought by the swift-footed Hermes to mate with him. Anchises
could no longer resist the erotic passion that was conquering him and mated
with the goddess in his hut’s bed.
After he fell asleep, Aphrodite took her real form. When Anchises woke up
and saw the head of the goddess reaching the roof of the hut, he got very
scared and called for her mercy. Aphrodite revealed that all that happened
was the will of Zeus. She also said that she would give him a son, Aeneas,
who would himself become glorious and leave illustrious offspring. But he had
to divulge his relationship with her and had to say that he obtained his son
from a nymph of Ida, otherwise Zeus would strike him with lightning.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess under moonlight
- Art Picture
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess under moonlight - Art Picture
Well known also is the love of Aphrodite for Adonis, the most beautiful young
man of the world. The story begins a long time ago. A princess of Syria,
Myrra, was boasting that she was more beautiful than Aphrodite. The
goddess, enraged, caused Myrra an unholy love for her father, managed to
fool him and joined him for twelve nights. When she recovered from the
temporary madness that Aphrodite had sent to her, she realized the deadly
sin and ran into the woods to hide. The goddess finally took pity of her and
transformed her into a tree, the known Myrsine. Later the bark of the tree
popped and a child was born, named Adonis.
Aphrodite was thrilled by the beauty of the infant and decided to protect it,
giving it to Persephone, wife of Hades, to raise him in the dark kingdom. But
when Adonis grew up and became a beautiful man with a very nice body and
divine aspect, Persephone, bewitched by his beauty, fell in love with him and
refused to give him back to Aphrodite. The goddesses began arguing and
fighting, but none could prevail. So they ran to the all-wise Zeus to solve
their dispute.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture
by lilok lilok
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by lilok lilok
Zeus decided that Adonis would spend the one third of the time next to
Aphrodite, the second third next to Persephone and the remaining third
everywhere he wanted to. So, after Zeus’s decision, he always lived four
months in the underworld with Persephone and eight months on earth with
Aphrodite. Whenever the time came for him to leave Hades and to climb over
the earth, the whole nature welcomed him with joy. The fields turned green,
flowers and trees blossomed and a wonderful aroma flooded the atmosphere.
Aphrodite was abandoning her divine palace on Mount Olympus and lived with
her young lover in the mountains and forests.
But this fact caused the wrath of Ares, who was jealous of Adonis. So, one
day he sent a wild boar which with its tusks mortally wounded the young
man. They say that once the goddess ran to help her injured friend, she
stepped on a thorn and from the blood that flowed, a rose was painted red.
Until then there were only white roses.
Another version tells that the goddess shed so many tear drops as many were
the drops of blood that flowed from the wound of Adonis. From every tear a
rose was born, while from every drop of blood grew an anemone.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture
by LinzArcher
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by LinzArcher
The anger and curses of the goddess were infamous and her victims were
many. So when Dawn (Io) mated with Ares, Aphrodite was enraged. To take
revenge of her, she inspired Dawn a fierce love for the giant Orion. Dawn,
flowing with erotic passion, kidnapped the beautiful giant and led him to
Delos. But her desire could not be satisfied in any way, because she was
doomed by Aphrodite to live eternally in love.
Additionally, the goddess avenged with fierce way the women of Lemnos who
forgot to honor her. She sent them an intolerable smell, so no men would like
to approach them. The men chose to mate with some women prisoners from
Thrace. The women of Lemnos, in order to avenge them, killed them all and
founded a society of women. Much later, the Argonauts arrived at Lemnos
and gave sons to women, resuming the normal life on the island.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art
Picture by zeoxisace71
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by zeoxisace71
Aphrodite wanted to retaliate in any way Helios (Sun), who had revealed her
infidelities to Hephaestus. But because she could not harm the almighty god,
he turned against his daughter and granddaughters. First victim was
Pasiphae, wife of Minos of Crete. The goddess conquered her with an unholy
passion for a bull. To manage this absurd pairing, the daughter of Helios used
the effigy of a heifer. Fruit of this union was Minotaur. Many years later, it
was the turn of the daughters of Pasiphae and Minos. When Theseus came to
fight with the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, Ariadne helped him with the magical
clew (ball), after Aphrodite had inspired her fierce love for the prince of
Athens. So, she betrayed her father for the sake of her lover, who eventually
abandoned her.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture
by laclillac
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by laclillac
The destructive wrath of the goddess also hit Phaedra, sister of Ariadne.
Initially she was enraged with Hippolytus, son of Theseus and an amazon,
because he despised her, preferring Artemis. Then Aphrodite sent an
overwhelming sexual desire in Phaedra, the second wife of Theseus, for her
progenitor (the child of her husband), who resisted the love of his
stepmother. Phaedra, in order to avenge him, told her husband that
Hippolytus tried to rape her. This story ends with the death of Hippolytus and
Phaedra.
The goddess of course punishes her deniers, but also protects her friends.
Many myths have Aphrodite help mortals who were victims of sexual passion
or had won her sympathy with a kind action.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess under
sunlight - Art Picture
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess under sunlight - Art Picture
For example, a shepherd, Selemnos with his beauty and gallantry managed to
conquer the Nymph Silver. They lived together for years, but as he grew old,
his beauty vanished. His eternally young and beautiful bride also abandoned
him. Selemnos died of sorrow. Aphrodite was touched by his erotic drama and
transformed him into a river. But Selemnos was still sad and tormented by his
passion. The goddess intervened for a second time and gave him the gift of
forgetfulness. Since then, all the young people who were bathing in the
waters of Selemnou forgot their erotic torment.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by nataly1st
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by nataly1st
There is also a myth in Lesvos, according to which, a boatman named Phaon,
accepted a request by the goddess freely pass an old lady on the opposite
shore. Aphrodite personally transformed into an old woman to determine the
obedience of the poor boatman. In order to reward him, she gave him a
magic potion. Phaon used it and immediately became the most handsome
man of Mytilene, causing the love of all women.
In another case, Aphrodite advised a merchant from Samos, Dexikreontas, to
fully load his ship only with drinking water and sail immediately. The
merchant obeyed her divine advice. When they were in the open sea, the
winds stopped blowing and all sailing ships were immobilized for several days.
Soon they were running out of drinking water and Dexikreontas acquired a
fortune by selling the large stock he had in his boat. When the winds started
to blow again and he reached ashore, he dedicated a bright statue in
Aphrodite.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess at sea Art Picture
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess at sea - Art Picture
Once, Atalanta, a princess of Boeotia, because she did not want to marry,
was putting all the candidate grooms that asked to marry her, to a test. More
specifically, Atalanta was inviting the aspiring grooms to a race, giving them
even the opportunity to start running first. Then rushing forward, she was
reaching and killing them. Melanippos while knowing the tactics followed by
the princess, motivated by Aphrodite, accepted to take the test. The goddess
had given him many golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides. Each
time the young man saw Atalanta approaching him, he threw an apple to the
ground and she was stopping to pick it up. With this trick he managed to end
first in the race and marry the rebellious girl.
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by
crashdowngrrl
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by crashdowngrrl
Very important also is the participation of Aphrodite in the most famous and
renowned battles of antiquity. Particularly in the Trojan War, we can say that
the goddess was the reason that the decade-long war started. It all started
when Athena, Hera and Aphrodite claimed the title of most beautiful goddess.
Zeus then appointed Paris, the prince of Troy, as judge who was tending his
father's sheep on Mount Ida. In this peculiar beauty contest, Paris gave the
title to the goddess of beauty and she in return gave him the most beautiful
woman in the world, Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Paris traveled
with ships to Sparta and was hosted at the palace. Then Aphrodite conquered
Helen with an overwhelming sexual desire for Paris. This resulted in the
beautiful princess to follow, like hypnotized, her guest to Troy. The abduction
of Helen was the cause for the outbreak of war.
Aphrodite participated in the war always supporting the Trojans, since Paris,
her official protégé, was Trojan. But Aeneas also was Trojan, the son she
gained from her mate with Anchises. The goddess intervened at crucial
moments. Most important was her involvement in the duel of Paris and
Menelaus.
Aphrodite Rising from the sea - Art Picture by
TheArtistDarklady
Aphrodite Rising from the sea - Art Picture by TheArtistDarklady
The two sides had agreed that Helen would be delivered into the hands of the
winner of the duel. The moment that Menelaus would be victorious, Aphrodite
suddenly appeared into a cloud, grabbed Paris and took him to the Trojan
palace. Additionally, conquering Helen again with sexual desire, threw her in
his arms, although she actually wanted to return to her lawful husband.
Moreover, Aphrodite intervened many times in the battle to protect Aeneas,
who was the bravest Trojan warrior after Hector. When the Greeks succeeded
in conquering Ilium (Troy), he with the help of his mother goddess, took his
family, several companions and with their ships went to Italy and founded
Rome.
The role of Aphrodite in the Argonauts was decisive. With her intervention,
Medea, the princess of Colchis, fell in love with Jason. To help him complete
all the hard labours, that her father was putting, she built a magic ointment
and gave it to Jason. With this ointment, Jason become fearless and grabbed
the golden skin. Medea followed her lover in Greece.
Greek Goddess Aphrodite (Venus) Statue
Greek Goddess Aphrodite (Venus) Statue
There was intervention of the goddess at other times also in their campaign.
When the Argonauts passed through the island of the Sirens, Orpheus saved
them playing the lyre. Only Voutis, a very brave lad, managed to resist the
allure of the Sirens and dived into the sea to reach their island. The moment
he was approaching, the charming singers were ready to kill him. Aphrodite
saved him by grabbing him and carrying him on a promontory of Sicily.
The beautiful goddess, except patroness of sensual and extramarital sex,
sometimes was shown as protector of legitimate associations. A typical
example is her participation in the upbringing of Pandareou’s orphan maidens.
Aphrodite had undertaken to nourish them with milk, sweet honey and
exquisite wine. When the girls reached the age of marriage, Aphrodite
ascended to Olympus and asked from Zeus the appropriate grooms for the
young women, in order to each have a happy marriage. But during her
absence the Harpies snatched the girls and gave them as attendants on
Erinyes.
Greek Goddess Aphrodite (Venus) Statue (Aphrodite of Milos)
Greek Goddess Aphrodite (Venus) Statue (Aphrodite of Milos)
Moreover, the protector of the legitimate marriage herself, Hera, when she
wanted to seduce her unstable husband, asked the help of Aphrodite. Without
a trace of shame, Hera was asking Aphrodite to lend her the magic girdle
which contained the loves, tender caresses, desires and sweet talks.
Aphrodite was also a sea goddess. That is stated by the myths about her birth
and her endless adventures on the Greek islands. Moreover, the stories of
Phaon and Dexikreontas show that she protected the sailors. Furthermore,
the statue of Emerging Aphrodite graced most ports in antiquity.
Aphrodite was more a goddess of beauty and sensual love and rarely
protected the marital life. Sanctuaries symbols were the white doves.
Additionally, a pair of these birds dragged her chariot. Other symbols were
apple, poppy, rose, myrtle, anemone and the flower of pomegranate.
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Greek Gods and Goddesses
o Aphrodite (Venus)
o Apollo
o Ares (Mars)
o Artemis (Diana)
o Athena (Minerva)
o Demeter (Ceres)
o Dionysus (Bacchus)
o Hades (Pluto)
o Hephaestus (Vulcan)
o Hera (Juno)
o Hermes (Mercury)
o Poseidon (Neptune)
o Zeus (Jupiter)
Mythical Creatures
o Furies (Erinyes)
o Medusa (Gorgon)
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Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by jjlovely
Aphrodite (Venus) Greek Goddess - Art Picture by KamillYonsiya