innate passion, and thus may turn out to be the most outstanding
drama student in the school.
WORK
Work that does not involve an Aphrodite woman emotionally
holds no interest for her. She likes variety and intensity; repetitious
tasks such as housework, clerical, or laboratory work bore her. Only
when she can be totally engrossed creatively does she do well. Thus,
she is likely to be found in art, music, writing, dance, or drama, or
with people who are special to her; for example, as a teacher, ther-
apist, editor. As a consequence, she either hates her work and is
probably doing a mediocre job, or loves it and thinks nothing of
putting in extra time and effort. She almost always prefers a job that
she finds interesting to a better-paying one with less appeal. She
may achieve success as a result of doing what fascinates her but,
unlike Athena or Artemis, she does not set out to achieve.
RELATIONSHIPS WITH MEN
Aphrodite women gravitate toward men who are not necessarily
good for them or to them. Unless other goddesses have an influence,
their choice of men is often similar to Aphrodite’s own
choices—creative, complex, moody or emotional men like Hephaes-
tus, Ares, and Hermes. Such men do not aim for occupational pin-
nacles or positions of authority, and they don’t want to head
households or be husbands and fathers.
The introverted, intense Hephaestus type may have repressed
anger that he sublimates into creative work. Like the God of the
Forge, he may be both an artist and (in emotional terms) a cripple.
His relationship with his parents may have been as bad as that of
Hephaestus. He, too, may have been rejected by his mother when
he didn’t live up to her expectations, and may have been cut off from
having a relationship with his father. Consequently, he may have a
love/hate relationship with women, whom he resents for being both
terribly important to him and untrustworthy. And he may feel very
little closeness with men, whom he often feels estranged from and
inferior to.
Aphrodite: Goddess of Love and Beauty, Creative Woman and Lover