Greek Mythology - Aphrodite

Aphrodite is one of the most famous figures of Greek mythology, because Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexual rapture. She was desired by nearly all of the Greek gods. Aphrodite was one of the twelve main gods on Mt. Olympus, and she was the most powerful goddess when it came to members of the opposite sex. There are many origins to Aphrodite's birth. Some of them are: She arose full-grown out of the foam of the sea, She is the daughter of Zeus and Dionne, She is the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, which would make her a Titaness, or She is the daughter of Titans Oceanus and Tethys, making her an Oceanid. (Dittus 34-35) “The most common origin of her birth is her being foam-born, which is what her name means” (Parin 45). This origin says that Aphrodite arose nude and full-grown out of the foam of the sea and riding into the shore of Cythera on a scallop shell. She found Cythera to be too small of an island, so she went to live in Paphos, in Cyprus, which is still the principal seat of her worship.

Although Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, she had a magic girdle that she wore that made everyone fall in love with her. She could hardly ever be persuaded to lend it to anyone. Since Aphrodite had the magic girdle and was so beautiful, all of the gods fell in love with her. All of the goddesses were jealous of Aphrodite because all of the gods loved her instead of the other goddesses. Because of this, Zeus arranged a marriage for her with Hephaestus, the lame smith-god.

Aphrodite, already regretting the trouble she had caused, took Adonis, and put him in a chest. She gave the chest to Persephone, asking her to hide it in a dark place. Persephone couldn't stand not knowing what was inside the chest, so she opened the chest and found Adonis. Persephone found Adonis to be a very cute baby, so she took hi into her own palace to raise him. Aphrodite did not find out about this until Adonis was a grown man. When she did find out about this though, she immediately went to Persephone's palace to claim Adonis. Persephone would not give him back to Aphrodite though, because she had made him her lover. Persephone appealed to Zeus, but Zeus knew that Aphrodite wanted to have him as her own lover. He refused to settle this case and transferred it to a lower court. The court's verdict was that Persephone and Aphrodite should get equal claims to ...

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...aybe not so great, things during their lifetimes that are still remembered today. They were both main gods on Mt. Olympus. They may have not had many great times with each other according to myth, but they were still significant gods who had great lives. Many people use both of these gods to relate to things today, and she will be remembered for years and years to come. Her characters in Greek mythology are very significant and they will not be forgotten anytime soon.

Works Cited

Hamilton, Earth. Mythology Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York: Penguin Group, 1969.

Ingri and Edgar Parin D’alaure’s. Book of Greek Myths. New York: Bantam Dowbleday Dell Publishing Group, 1962.

“Pygmalion and Galatea.” Hellenistic Network. http://www.hellenism.net/eng/mythology.html (6 April 2005)

Bowman, Laurel. “Classical Myths: Aphrodite: Texts.” The Ancient Sources. http://web.uvic.ca/grs/bowman/myth/index.html (6 April 2005)

Hamilton, Earth. Mythology Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York: Penguin Group, 1969.

Ingri and Edgar Parin D’alaure’s. Book of Greek Myths. New York: Bantam Dowbleday Dell Publishing Group, 1962.