APHRODITE’S BIRTH
Aphrodite is said to be the daughter of the
Titan Uranus. Gaia and Uranus had many
children, including the Cyclopes and the
Hundred-Handed Giants. Aghast at their
monstrous appearance, Uranus decided
to imprison all of them in Tartarus. Gaia
did not want any more children and
pleaded with her ofspring to protect her
from Uranus’s advances. Finally, Cronus
borrowed a sickle from his mother and cut
of his father’s genitals, which he threw into
the sea. Their seed fertilized the water,
and Aphrodite rose fully
grown from the
foaming waves.
APHRODITE’S LOVERS
Aphrodite’s power to make others fall in love with her came from
her great physical beauty. She also had an aphrodisiac girdle, ironically
gifted to her by Hephaestus, which she wore next to her breasts. This
girdle was the envy of other goddesses who wanted Aphrodite’s allure.
Homer’s Iliad, for example, tells how the goddess Hera borrowed it to
distract Zeus with her charms during the Trojan War so that the Greeks
could win. Although Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus and was in
love with Ares, she also used her charms to attract many other lovers.HEPHAESTUS
The god of fire and metalworking, Hephaestus was also the deity
who controlled volcanoes, which were said to be his workshops.
He was lame, as the result of an injury that came about when he
had an argument with Zeus, who then threw him of Mount
Olympus. This infirmity gave Hephaestus a comic quality for the
Greeks, who revered physical perfection. In spite of this, he was
admired for his ingenuity and skill in making things, from the
net that captured Aphrodite and Ares, to a magical throne on
which he could imprison his enemies.
PYGMALION
Pygmalion was a remarkable sculptor who
poured all his energy into his work.
He was so skilled that once he
carved a statue of a beautiful
woman that was incredibly
lifelike. He fell in love with it and
prayed to Aphrodite to let him make
love to his creation. Aphrodite took
pity on him and transformed the statue
into a real woman named Galatea,
whom Pygmalion later married.
Pygmalion and GalateaAphrodite
The birth of Aphrodite is
often depicted in paintings
where the goddess is shown
rising from the waves on a shell.
Hephaestus’s net
The gods looked down from
Mount Olympus and laughed at
the sight of the adulterous couple
ensnared in Hephaestus’s net.
Hermes
The messenger of
the gods was attracted to
Aphrodite when he saw her
under the net with Ares. His
affair with her produced the
child Hermaphroditus.Ares and Aphrodite
The sun god Helios, from whom
nothing was hidden, spied Ares
and Aphrodite together and
informed Hephaestus, who
then planned his revenge.Adonis
The mortal Adonis was a passionate hunter. He
disregarded Aphrodite’s warning about hunting
an animal that knows no fear, and paid the price
when he was killed by a wild boar sent by Ares.THE LOVES OF APHRODITE29