Daughter of a priest of Aphrodite, Myrrha fell passionately in love
with her own father. According to various versions of this story,
Aphrodite had caused this forbidden passion either because Myrrha’s
mother had boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than
Aphrodite herself, or because Myrrha had neglected Aphrodite’s
worship. At any rate, she approached him in disguise and in dark-
ness and became his secret lover. After several clandestine meetings,
he discovered that this seductive woman was his own daughter.
Filled with horror and disgust, driven by a need to punish her for
what they had enjoyed together, he tried to kill her. She fled. Just as
he was about to overtake her, she prayed to the gods to save her.
Instantly, her prayer was answered: she was transformed into the
fragrant myrrh tree.
Phaedra was another victim of Aphrodite’s power. She was the
ill-fated stepmother of Hippolytus, a handsome youth who had
dedicated himself to Artemis and to a life of celibacy. Aphrodite
used Phaedra as an instrument of her displeasure with Hippolytus,
who refused to honor the Goddess of Love or her rites—Aphrodite
caused Phaedra to fall hopelessly in love with her stepson.
In the myth, Phaedra tried to resist her passion, struggled against
her illicit desire, and became sick. Finally, a handmaiden found out
the cause of her misery, and approached the youth on her behalf.
He was so outraged and horrified at the suggestion that he have a
love affair with his stepmother, that—within earshot of Phaedra—he
burst into a tirade against her.
Humiliated, she hanged herself, leaving a suicide note falsely ac-
cusing Hippolytus of raping her. When his father Theseus returned
to find his dead wife and the note, he called on Poseidon, God of
the Sea, to kill his son. As Hippolytus drove his chariot along the
coast road, Poseidon sent huge waves and a sea monster to frighten
his horses. The chariot overturned and Hippolytus was dragged to
his death. Thus Aphrodite had her revenge—at Phaedra’s expense.
Psyche and Atalanta were two mortal women who were trans-
formed by Aphrodite’s influence. In the myth of Eros and Psyche,
Psyche had the misfortune to be so beautiful that men called her “a
second Aphrodite.” Thus they gave her the
Aphrodite: Goddess of Love and Beauty, Creative Woman and Lover