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Aphrodite is the Greek Goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation. Her Roman equivalent is the Goddess Venus. According to Hesiod's Theology, she was born when Cronus [God of Zeus] cut off Uranus' genitals and threw them into the sea, and from the sea foam [aphros] arose Aphrodite. Thus Aphrodite is of an older generation than the God Zeus. In fact Aphrodite is of Zeus Father's Generation.
Because
of her beauty, other gods feared that jealousy would interrupt the
peace among them and lead to war and so Zeus married her to
Hephaestus, who was not viewed as a threat to the Gods. But Aphrodite
had many lovers, both gods like Ares, and men like Anchorites.
Through these many lovers, Aphrodite also became instrumental in the
Eros and Psyche legend and later was both Adonis' lover and his
surrogate mother. Many lesser beings were said to be children of
Aphrodite.
Aphrodite is also known as Cytherea[Lady of Cythera]Cypris [Lady of Cyprus] after the two cult-sites, Cythera and Cyprus, which claimed her birth-place. Myrtles, doves, sparrows, horses and swans are sacred to Aphrodite. The Greeks further identified the Ancient Egyptian Goddess Hathor with Aphrodite.
Worship-
The epithet Aphrodite Acidalia was occasionally added to her name, after
Birth her birth 'Foam-arisen' and Aphrodisiac was born from the sea foam near Paphos, Cyprus after Cronus cut off 'Uranus' Genitals and the elder
Later
on in life as she got to be a young woman, Aphrodite's chief center
of worship remained at Paphos, on the south-western coast of Cyprus,
where the goddess of desire had long been worshipped as Ishtar and
Ashtaroth. Some say that Plato considered that Aphrodite had to
manifestations of herself. The Aphrodisia, (“heavenly”Aphrodite),
and the Aphrodite Pandemos (“Common”Aphrodite). respectively thus
being born of the Sea and Zeus.
Adulthood-
Aphrodite,
in many of the myths involving her, is characterized as vain,
ill-tempered and easily offended. Though she is one of the few female
Gods of the Greek Pantheon to actually married, she is frequently
unfaithful to her husband/Hephaestus which is in her nature of
course. And her husband is one of the most even-tempered of the
Hellenic deities; Aphrodite seems to prefer Ares, the volatile God of
War.
Besides being very unfaithfull in her marriage, she is the original cause
of the Trojan War itself: not only did she start the whole affair by
offering Helen of Troy to Paris, but the abduction was accomplished
when Paris, seeing Helen for the first time, was inflamed with desire
to have her- which is Aphrodite's realm. Her domain may involve
love,but it does not involve romance; rather it tends more towards
lust, the human irrational longing.
Marriage with Hephaestus-
Marriage with Hephaestus-
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| Erps and Psyche Aphrodite jealous of the beauty mortal woman name Psyche. She Asked Eros to use his Golden arrows to cause Psyche to fall in love with the ugliest man on the earth. Eros agreed but then fell in love with Psyche on his own, or by accidentally pricking himself with a golden arrow. Meanwhile, Psyche's parents were anxious that their daughter remained unmarried. They consulted an oracle who told them she was destined for mortal lover, but a monster who lived on top of a particular mountain. Psyche was resigned to her fate and climbed to the top of the mountain. |
There, Zephyrus, the west wind, gently floated her downwards. She entered a cave on the appointed mountain, surprised to find it full of jewelry and finery. Eros visited her every night in the cave and they mad love. He demanded only that she never light any lamps because he didn't want her to know who he was( having wings made him distinctive) Her two sister, Jealous of Psyche convinced her to do so one night and she lit a lamp, recognizing him instantly. A drop of hot lamp oil fell on Eros's chest and he awake, then fled.
When Psyche told her two jealous elder sisters what had happened; they rejoice secretly and each separately walked to the top of the mountain and did as Psyche described her entry to the cave, hoping Eros would pick them instead. Zephyrus didn't pick anyone of the Jealous elder sisters,,, and they all fell to their deaths at the base of the mountain. Psyche searched for her lover across all of Greece, then finally stumbling into a temple to Demeter, where the floor was covered with piles of mixed grains. She started sorting the grains into all sorts of organized piles and when she finished , the Demeter spoke to her, telling her that the best way to find Eros was to find his mother, Aphrodite, and earn her blessing.[of course poor Psyche had no idea of Aphrodite jealousy toward Psyche the mortal]
Psyche found the Temple of Aphrodite and entered it. Aphrodite assigned her a similar task to the Demeter, but gave her an impossible deadline to finish it on time. This again show Aphrodite's Jealous toward Psyche still after all these years. And still has them. Eros intervened, for he still loved her and caused some ants to organize the grains for her. Aphrodite was outraged at her success and told her to go to a field where golden sheep grazed and get some golden wool. Eros intervened, for he still loved her, and caused some ants to organize the grains for her. Aphrodite was outraged at her success ant told her to go to a field where golden sheep grazed and get some golden wool. So Psyche went to the field of where Aphrodite said to get some golden wool, and saw the sheep, but was stopped by a river-god, whose river she had to cross to enter the golden field. He told her the sheep were mean and vicious and would kill her if she enter the golden field, but if she waited until noontime, the sheep would go to the shade on the other side of the field and sleep: So the River-God helped Psyche get the golden wool, and she could pick the wool that would stick to the branches and bark of the trees. Then was off safely before the vicious sheep could kill her. Psyche did another task unharmed and this made Aphrodite even more outraged at her survival and success.
Finally, Aphrodite claimed that the stress of caring for her son, depressed and ill as a result of Psyche's unfaithfulness, had caused her to lose some of her beauteous.
Psyche was to go to Hades and ask Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld, for a bit of her beauty in a black box that Aphrodite gave to Psyche. Psyche walked to a tower, deciding that the quickest way to the underworld would be is to die.
A voice stopped Psyche at the last moment before she step over the cliff, and told her a route that would allow her to enter and return still living, as well as telling her how to pass the Cerberus, Charon and the other dangers of the route. So Psyche pacified Cerberus-thethree-headed dog, with a sweet honey-cake and paid Charon an obolus to take her into Hades. Once there. Persephone Queen of of the Underworld, offered her a feast, but Psyche refused knowing it would keep her in the underworld forever.
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| Aphrodite and Adonis |
Aphrodite & Adonis These two were lovers and had apart in his birth. She urged Myrrha or Smyrna to commit incest with her father, Theias, the King of Assyria.
There is another version to this this Greece goddess story too- says Myrrha's father; It was Cinyras of Cyprus, Myrrha's nurse that helped with the scheme,when Theias discovered this, he flew into a rage, chasing his daughter with a knife. The Gods turned her into a Myrrh Tree and Adonis eventually sprang from this tree. Alternatively,Aphrodisia turned her into a tree and Adonis was born when Theias shot the tree with and arrow or when a boar used its tusks to tear the tree's bark off.
Once Adonis was born,Aphrodite took him under her wing, seducing him with the help of Helene, her friend and was entranced by his unearthly beauty. She gave him to Persephone to watch over, but Persephone was also amazed at his beauty and refused to give him back. The argument betweenwith Adonis spending four months with Aphrodite, four months with Persephone and four months of the year with whomever he chose. He always chose Aphrodite because Persephone was the coldest, and unfeeling of all the Goddesses probably because she was the Queen of the Underworld.
Adonis was eventually killed by a jealous Ares. Aphrodite was warned of his Jealously and was told that Adonis would be killed by a bull that Ares transformed into. She tried to persuade Adonis to stay with her at all times, but his love of hunting was his downfall. While Adonis was hunting, Ares found him and gored him to death. Aphrodite arrived just in time to hear his last breath.
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| Aphrodite giving an apple |
The Judgement of Paris-
The Judgment of Paris is a story of Greek mythological, which was one of the events that led up to the Trojan War and to the foundation of Rome. As with many Mythological tales,in the Greek Mythology. The Gods and Goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis and the eventual parents of Achilles. Only the Goddess Eris was not invited, but she arrived with a golden apple inscribed with the words 'to the fairest,” which she threw among the Goddesses. Aphrodite,Hera and Athena all claimed the apple and the matter was put before Paris, the most handsome mortal. Hera tried to bribe Paris with and earthly kingdom, while Athena offered great military skills, but Aphrodite was judged most beautiful when she offered Paris most beautiful mortal woman as a wife. This woman was Helen, and her abduction by Paris led to the Trojan War. In the famous Judgement of Paris, Paris gave the Apple to Aphrodite..
Pygmalion and Galatea-
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| Pygmalion and Galatea |
Pygmalion was a sculpture who had never found a woman worthy of his love. Aphrodite took pity on him and decided to show hm the wonders of love. One day, Pygmalion was inspired by a dream of Aphrodite to make a woman out of ivory resembling her image,And he called her the Galatea. He fell in love with the statue and decided he could not live without her. He prayed to Aphrodite, who carried out the final phase of her plan and brought the exquisite sculpture to life. Pygmalion loved Galatea and they were soon married. There are many other stories and myths of this story but, I liked this one the best. I found this Goddess to be fascinating. I didn't know that much about the Goddess of love. I hope that you all find this interesting too.
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