An ancient and powerful goddess with a pedigree linking her to Ishtar, Aphrodite is known as a goddess of love, sex, and beauty. *

Myth

There are several versions of Aphrodite's birth; in the more interesting one, when Kronos overthrew his father Ouranos by castrating him, his testicles fell into the sea, and Aphrodite was created from the foam, drifting until she landed on Cyprus. Thus Aphrodite is an older god even then Zeus and his siblings.

Another particularly famous story has her married to Hephaestos (something I have never found convincing); in this story, when Hephaestos went off to work, her lover Ares came to her. When Hephaestos learned of this, he invented a cunning net to trap the lovers, making them immobile. Once they were trapped, he called all the gods to see them and make fun of them. Hermes, however, said that he would gladly be restrained as Ares was if only he could lie beside the beautiful Aphrodite! This story appears in the Odyssey; in the Iliad, Hephaestos has an entirely different spouse.

Aphrodite's affair with Anchises is also well know. In this story, she appears to Anchises, disguised as a mortal woman, offering to become his wife. Anchises, however, wants to consummate the marriage immediately, and Aphrodite is agreeable. Afterward she reveals herself to him as a goddess, and he is terrified; she tells him that he must never tell who the true mother is of their child Aeneas.

Aphrodite is also known for aiding mortals in their love affairs, as in the story of Pygmalion and Galatea, in which the sculptor Pygmalion creates and falls in love with a beautiful statue; Aphrodite, taking pity on the smitten man, brings the statue to life and they presumably live happily ever after.

Worship

Aphrodite was honored throughout Greece, but her home was on the isle of Cyprus. She did not have the number of festivals** that some other deities had, but was honored during the following:

• Aphrodisia, a festival of Aphrodite Pandemos (of all people)
• Arrephoria, a small fertility ritual to Athena but also involving Aphrodite in the Gardens and Eros

She is also honored on the fourth day of each month.

References

• Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1985.
• Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth, Volumes 1 and 2. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1993.
• Kerenyi, Karl. The Gods of the Greeks. Thames and Hudson, London, 1951.
• Parke, H.W. Festivals of the Athenians. Thames and Hudson, London, 1977.
• Simon, Erika. Festivals of Attica: An Archaeological Commentary. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin, 1983.