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The logo to the left is the principal symbol of this website. These are the Goddesses of creation and destruction. "Ares, the partner of Aphrodite's bed. Aphrodite later and of her own volition had an affair with Zeus, but his jealous wife Hera laid her hands upon the belly of the goddess and cursed their offspring with malformity. The most famous of these stories include the youth Hippolytus who rejected love and the curse of the impious Lemnian women. : Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. About Aphrodite (pronounced Af-roh-DY-tee): Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of passion and love, who is associated with the planet Venus. 6. For the heavyknee bridegroom always expected that Kythereia [Aphrodite] would bear him a hobbling son, having the image of his father in his feet. Then Volcanus' [Hephaistos'] heart fell, and from his deft blacksmith's hands fell too the work he held. Its name is Nerites: two stories are in circulation touching this creature, and both have reached me; moreover the telling of a short tale in the middle of a lengthy history is simply giving the hearer a rest and sweetening the narrative. Another myth (not included in the texts quoted here) says that Ares, jealous at Aphrodite's love for the youth Adonis, took the form of a boar and killed him when he was out hunting. . Aphrodite was able to affect emotions and fertility, and she had power over men and the ability to induce the harvest of crops. : The Anacreontea, Fragment 28 (trans. You will see the pair of lovers now as they lie embracing in my bed; the sight of them makes me sick at heart. Statius, Thebaid 2. Aphrodite’s name means “foam born,” as legend says taht she sprang from her father Uranus’s castrated genitals, which were cast into the ocean. "Athene went to Hephaistos because she wanted to make some weapons. Greek Lyric III) (Greek lyric C6th B.C.) Poseidon the Earth-Sustainer came, and Hermes the Mighty Runner, and Lord Apollon who shoots from afar; but the goddesses, every one of them, kept within doors for very shame. Although she was paired with half of the male Olympians only the story of her marriage to Hephaistos and adulterous affair with the god Ares was elaborated upon in any detail. "By the people of Lampsakos he [Priapos] is more revered than any other god, being called by them a son of Dionysos and Aphrodite. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) : Homer, Odyssey 8. He spoke in words of urgent utterance : ‘Let him go; I promise that he shall pay in full such rightful penalty as you ask for--pay in the presence of all the gods.’", Pindar, Olympian Ode 7 ep1 (trans. . Schofield) (Greek natural history C2nd to 3rd A.D.) : ", Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3. Paris judged the goddess of beauty to be the loveliest. 16 (trans. Such was the device that he made in his indignation against Ares, and having made it he went to the room where his bed lay; all round the bed-posts he dropped the chains, while others in plenty hung from the roof-beams, gossamer-light and invisible to the blessed gods themselves, so cunning had been the workmanship. Homer, Odyssey 8. : Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. If she is the daughter of the Titans, she is Zeus' cousin. She had 9 children named Anteros, Eros, Demius, Phobus, Harmonia, Eryx, Hermaphrodites, Priapus, and Aeneas. My personal favourite is the one that describes the Greek Goddess Aphrodite as rising as an adult from sea foam. Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) : Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : It is marked by a special rock known as â€œPetra tou Romiou.” I was very fortunate to be able to visit this area when I went to Cyprus in 2017. ", Nonnus, Dionysiaca 14. ", Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 166 (trans. Indeed, in the time of the Trojan War, Homer describes the goddess as the consort of Ares, and names Hephaistos' bride as Aglaia. When the snare round the bed was complete, he made as if to depart to Lemnos, the pleasant-sited town, which he loved more than any place on earth. Aphrodite helps women feel comfortable with their bodies and sexuality. : Today is the day to send gratitude to the Sun, for providing us with the light which produces life energy for our beautiful mother Gaia and her inhabitants. Aphrodite harmonizes the Gods and fills them with harmony, unifying them with Her charm, and is Herself their synthesis; just as Justice is a synthesis of the virtues. "Sol [Helios the Sun] is thought to have been the first to see Venus' [Aphrodite's] adultery with Mars [Ares]: Sol is the first to see all things. 27 (trans. They laughed and laughed; the joyful episode was long the choicest tale to go the rounds of heaven. If this continues for too long you are likely to suffer from stress and physical ill health. "The Lemnian [Hephaistos], so they of old believed, long time distressed at Mars' [Ares'] deceit and seeing that no punishment gave hindrance to the disclosed armour, and the avenging chains removed not the offence [of his affair with Hephaistos' then wife Aphrodite], wrought this [a cursed necklace] for Harmonia [the daughter born of the love affair] on her bridal day to be the glory of her dower. If Ares should go his way, free of his chains and his debt alike, what then? Atlantius, son of Mercurius [Hermes] and Venus [Aphrodite], who is called Hermaphroditus. But the great lame craftsman answered him : ‘Poseidon, Sustainer of the Earth, do not ask this of me. Represents passion and selfless devotion to another person. "Apollonius makes Eros child of Aphrodite . Weary she lies upon her cushions, where once the Lemnian chains [of Hephaistos] crept over the bed and held it fast, learning its guilty secret. Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty, love, and sexuality. ", Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 2. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess Venus. But Helios (the sun-god) had seen them in their dalliance and hastened away to tell Hephaistos; to him the news was bitter as gall, and he made his way towards his smithy, brooding revenge. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) : Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3. Greek Lyric II) (C5th B.C.) Aphrodite was the Olympian goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation. At once he forged a net, a mesh of thinnest links of bronze, too fine for eye to see, a triumph not surpassed by finest threads of silk or by the web the spider hands below the rafters' beam. Aphrodite controlled men with her beauty and her ability to seduce them. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : Ovid, Metamorphoses 4. Mozley) (Roman poetry C1st A.D.) : Campbell, Vol. ", Virgil, Aeneid 8. Enjoy being feminine. The story of the Marriage of Hephaistos and Aphrodite can be reconstructed from text fragments and ancient Greek vase paintings, such as the Francois Vase: Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Aphrodite, also known as Venus in Latin, is the Goddess of wedlock and binding. Wright. ", Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. He took her hand and spoke thus to her : ‘Come, my darling; let us go to bed and take our delight together. Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. Day-Lewis) (Roman epic C1st B.C.) . 28 (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) : As such, She emanates from Zeus-Helios as the principle of unity in the form of a creative light. The rest were, for the most part, simply genealogical pairings. : Ibycus, Fragment 575 (from Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes) (trans. Helios, then, maintained the laws of his father, and denounced his wife when he discovered she had been debauched. They work in perfect synergy, providing everything needed for every living being on this planet. . Aphrodite represents a feminine archetype that is loving, caring, sexual and comfortable in her own skin. Deimos (trans. One of the Greek legends is that Hephaistos, when he was born, was thrown down by Hera. But they do not state that one son was born after all that number of daughters, though he is celebrated in mariners' tales. Of their children, Harmonia was the product of their adulterous union, during Aphrodite's marriage to Hephaistos. ", Pausanias, Description of Greece 9. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) : Nonnus, Dionysiaca 3. : He lies in wait for his father and uses the sickle to castrate him. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) : Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 1. . Aphrodite is  the Greek Goddess of Love , a perfect example of the Lover archetype. The two lay there, snarled in their shame. 21 (trans. Rackham) (Roman rhetorician C1st B.C.) Ares.’", Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 662 ff (trans. ", Virgil, Georgics 4. It also extends to the things that make our hearts sing, like music art or nature. Cronus then throws the severed genitals far away. Greek Lyric II) (C5th B.C.) 372 ff (trans. He laid the great anvil on its base and set himself to forge chains that could not be broken or torn asunder, being fashioned to bind lovers fast. "Priapos : was conceived from Zeus and Aphrodite; but Hera in a jealous rage laid hands by a certain trickery on the belly of Aphrodite and readied a shapeless and ugly and over-meaty babe to be born. In the Iliad, Aglaia is Hephaistos' wife, and Aphrodite consorts freely with Ares. And then he was permitted to grow wings : this, I imagine, was a gift from Aphrodite. Then he obtained freedom of choice from Jove [Zeus], to gain whatever he sought from them. Meanwhile the lame craftsman god approached [and called the gods to see the entrapped lovers] . 187 (trans. ( Log Out /  Aphrodite was, in fact, widely worshipped as a goddess of the sea and of seafaring; she was also honoured as a goddess of war, especially at Sparta, Thebes, Cyprus, and other places. It is called the CESS logo, i.e. . 51 (trans. Moixagria (trans. Areas of Influence: The Greek Goddess Aphrodite was the Goddess of love and beauty. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Paris took the prize that had been awarded him by Aphrodite, despite her prior commitments, and so started the most famous war in history, that between the Greeks and Trojans. to 2nd A.D.) : Pausanias, Description of Greece 9. : Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 271 (trans. This Goddess did not originate from Greece she was worshipped in the Eastern Mediterranean as an early mother Goddess figure. ", Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3. 400 ff (trans. This page describes the goddess' sexual liaisons with various gods. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) : Aphrodite's symbol are the golden apple, laurel, dove, rose, artichoke, seashell, pomegranate, and mirror. Moixagria (trans. . 372 ff (trans. Their child was the ugly god Priapos. ", Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 14. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) : Orphic Hymn 57 to Chthonian Hermes (trans. 265 ff (trans. Gaia (Earth) received Kronion's fruitful dew, and shot up a strange-looking horned generation [the Kentauroi or Centaurs of the island of Kypros]. Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) : Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. In the Aeneid, the Roman version of Aphrodite, Venus, is Aeneas' mother. Enter your email address to follow Hellenic Faith and receive notifications of new posts by email. The story of the Trojan War begins with the story of the apple of discord, which naturally was made of gold: thought she deserved the golden apple, by virtue of being kallista 'the most beautiful'. . She is the wife of the ugliest of the gods, Hephaestus. As legend tells it, she was born from the ocean, parented by Zeus and Dione and married Hephaestus. Day-Lewis) (Roman epic C1st B.C.) So they went to the bed and there lay down, but the cunning chains of crafty (polyphron) Hephaistos enveloped them, and they could neither raise their limbs nor shift them at all; so they saw the truth when there was no escaping. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) ", Nonnus, Dionysiaca 5. Unlike the powerful virginal goddesses, Athena and Artemis, or the faithful goddess of marriage, Hera, she has love affairs with gods and mortals. ", Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 7. Archangel Oracle is not intended to be for profit, but does carry an expense with WordPress, domain cost, etc. ], Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) to C1st A.D.) : 909 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) : ", Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 5 (trans. . "Demodokos [the Phaiakian bard] struck his lyre and began a beguiling song about the loves of Ares and Aphrodite, how first the lay together secretly in the dwelling of Hephaistos.

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