Aphrodite

Aphrodite- The Goddess of Love and Beauty In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty. She is often referred to as Kypris and Cytherea. Homer calls her a daughter of Zeus. After her birth, Zeus was afraid that the gods would fight over Aphrodite's hand in marriage so he married her off to Hephaestus, the steadiest of the gods. He could hardly believe his good luck and used all his skills to make jewels for her. He made her a girdle of gold and wove magic into the filigree work. That was not very wise of him, for when she wore her magic girdle no one could resist her, and she was all too irresistible already. She loved glamour and was not at all pleased at being the wife of Hephaestus. Aphrodite loved and was loved by many gods and mortals. Among her mortal lovers, the most famous was Adonis. Some of her sons are Eros, Anteros, Hymenaios, and Aeneas. Her festival is the Aphrodisiac which was celebrated in several centers of Greece and especially in Athens and Corinth. Aphrodite was originally an old-Asian goddess, similar to the Mesopotamian Ishtar and the Syro-Palestinian goddess Ashtart. Her attributes are the dolphin, the dove, the swan, the pomegranate and the lime tree. In Roman mythology Venus is the goddess of love and beauty and Cupid is love's messenger.

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 * = Aphrodite
 * = [|Venus de Milo] on display at the [|Louvre] ||
 * = **Goddess of Love and Beauty** ||
 * ~ Abode || [|Mount Olympus] ||
 * ~ Symbol || [|Rose], [|Scallop Shell], [|Myrtle], [|Dove], [|Sparrow], and [|Swan] ||
 * ~ Consort || [|Hephaestus] ||
 * ~ Parents || [|Uranus] via [|Cronus] ||
 * ~ Children || [|Eros], [|Cupid] ||
 * ~ Roman equivalent || [|Venus] ||