In Greek mythology Aphrodite is known as the goddess of lust, sex, love and attraction, her cult was widely practiced in the Mediterranean nations, she was one of the most revered goddesses, since at that time sex did not It was a taboo for society, which gave it a wide range of influence over people, its influence was such that it ended up absorbing the other deities that were under it and who had the same sphere of influence, causing a kind of religious fusion that gave way to the creation of a large number of cults all different but all towards Aphrodite.
Birth of Aphrodite
Table of Contents
According to legend, Aphrodite was born from the foam of the sea in Paphos, present-day Cyprus, this happened after the titan Cronos ripped the testicles of the sky god Uranus, and then threw them into the ocean, which caused a formation to form. white foam from which the goddess of love arose, with an adult form therefore her childhood is not known since she did not have it, she had an incomparable beauty, to the point that the god of lightning Zeus decided to marry her with Hephaestus of the fire) in order to prevent the titans will fight for it and trigger a war, a decision that pleased Hephaestus but not so to Aphrodite, since despite the luxuries and gifts of Hephaestus, several stories are known in which the goddess seeks the company of other men, among which Ares (god of war) stands out.
The importance that this had in the society of ancient Greece and the cultures of the Mediterranean was such that it had its own festivities, which were called Aphrodisias, the most important being those that took place in the cities of Corinth and Athens. In the city of Corinth on one of its peaks you could see the temple in honor of the goddess, where sexual acts were carried out as a way of worshiping the goddess. Prostitution in these places was another of the most recurrent ways of worshiping Aphrodite.
Zeus and Aphrodite
A part of the story tells that Zeus fearing the immense beauty of Aphrodite and that this gave rise to confrontations and violence between the gods, decided to marry her with Hephaestus, a moody God of fire and the forge.
Hephaestus was proud to be married to Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, and he procured for her beautiful jewels, including the cestus, a belt that made her even more beautiful and irresistible to men. Being unhappy in her marriage made her look to other men for love, including Ares, Poseidon, Hermes, and Dionysus. Not only was she lovingly linked to the Gods as well, the story goes, she was linked to many human mortals. From his romance with the Trojan Anchises, Aeneas was born and is said to have passionately loved Adonis.
When Hephaestus learned of Aphrodite's adultery with Ares, he decided to take revenge, trapping them in bed, with a net that I think very ingeniously, it was very fine and caught them at the slightest contact. He exposed them to all the Olympian Gods to be mocked. They were not released until Poseidon promised him that Ares would pay for the offenses, but it was not true both escaped as soon as they were released and did not fulfill the promise.
Aphrodite mythology, its great popularity is manifested in the large number of myths in which the goddess is the protagonist. In others he plays secondary roles, such as the love story between Eros and Psyche. The goddess is jealous of the beauty of the young mortal Psyche, so she ordered her son Eros to flower her in a way that would fall in love with the most repulsive man on earth, but Eros, wanting to fulfill the mandate of his mother.
But Eros was shocked by the beauty of this mortal and fell in love with her. He began a very passionate relationship with the young woman, Eros ordered her that all their encounters should be in absolute darkness to hide her identity, which Psyche disobeyed and in this way lost the love of the god of love and sex.
The young mortal desperate when losing Eros begged Aphrodite to help her find him, this with the intention of separating her forever, she put her suffix to the test and gave her three extremely difficult missions, as they ordered a mountain of grains in a limited time, get the golden wool from the dangerous golden sheep that passed through the river and the last one had to descend into hell and ask Persephone for part of its beauty.
Psyche fulfilled each of Aphrodite's demands, almost losing her life and no matter how dangerous it was. She always had the help of Eros without her knowing it, before such Test of love Aphrodite changed her mind and allowed the relationship between the beautiful young Psyche and her son.
The children of Aphrodite
During her numerous adventures Aphrodite had several children:
Immortals:
- Aeneas: whose father was the Trojan prince Anchises
- Beroe: father Adonis
- Anteros: father Ares
- Deimos: son of Hymenaeus
- Phobos: son of Hymenaeus
- Eros: son of Ares
- Himero: Ares
- Harmony: daughter of Ares god of War
- Priapus: son of Dionysus
- Hymenaeus: Son of Dionysus
- Hermaphroditus: son of Hermes
- Ticket goddess of fortune: daughter of Hermes
Mortals:
- Drew Tanaka: Mr. Tanaka
- Lacy: Unknown father
- Mitchell: Unknown father
- Silena Beauregard; parents Mr. Beauregard
- Piper McLean: Tristan McLean
The Venus of Knidos is the most famous Aphrodite sculpture by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles, it was one of the first works made in Athens around 360 BC. This sculpture represents the Greek goddess of love, particularly in her sense of erotic love. This sculpture was intended to be located in a temple in the Hellenic city of Knidos in Caria, Anatolia.
To sculpt this work it is said that Hetera Friné served as a model, she was exposed totally naked, with a very intimate attitude and elements of eroticism. It was the first representation of the complete female nude in Greek sculpture.
- Aphrodite temples: different cities raised altars and temples in honor of the goddess of love
- Temple of Aphrodite of Corinth, this city has at least three temples
- Paphos temple
- Knidos Temple
- Temple of Aphrodite or Venus at Villa Adriana
- Santorini or Thera Temple
- Amatunte Temple
- Rhodes Temple
- Aphrodisias Temple
- Aphrodite Pandemos Temple
- Aphrodite Urania Temple
- Temple Aphrodite Kippis, Acropolis of Athens
