Aphrodite is one of the most famous figures of Greek mythology. BecauseAphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexual rapture,1 she was desired bynearly all of the Greek gods. Aphrodite was one of the twelve main gods on Mt.Olympus,2 and she was the most powerful goddess when it came to members of theopposite sex.THE BIRTH OF APHRODITEThere are many origins to Aphrodite's birth. Some of them are:1) She arose full-grown out of the foam of the sea,2) She is the daughter of Zeus and Dionne,3) She is the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, which would make her a Titaness, or4) She is the daughter of Titans Oceanus and Tethys, making her an Oceanid.3The most common origin of her birth is her being foam-born, which is what hername means. This origin says that Aphrodite arose nude and full-grown out of the foamof the sea and riding into the shore of Cythera on a scallop shell. She found Cythera to betoo small of an island, so she went to live in Paphos, in Cyprus, which is still the principalseat of her worship.4THE MYTH OF APHRODITE AND HEPHAESTUS AND ARESAlthough Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, she had a magic girdlethat she wore that made everyone fall in love with her. She could hardly ever bepersuaded to lend it to anyone. Since Aphrodite had the magic girdle and was sobeautiful, all of the gods fell in love with her.All of the goddesses were jealous of Aphrodite because all of the gods loved herinstead of the other goddesses. Because of this, Zeus arranged a marriage for her withHephaestus, the lame smith-god.5 Aphrodite didn't really mind this marriage arrangement,though, because she thought Hephaestus would never notice her having marital affairs.6 Hephaestus knew nothing of deception until, one night, he caught his wife andAres, the god of war, making love at Ares' home. Hephaestus went back to his home veryangry.7Hephaestus was so angry that he decided to get revenge on Aphrodite by literally catching...
