Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and attraction. She was said to have been born from sea foam or to be the daughter of Zeus. Forced to marry Hephaestus, she had many lovers including Ares, Hermes, Poseidon, Dionysus, Anchises, and Adonis. She possessed a magical girdle that made her irresistible. Important events involving Aphrodite included her dispute with Persephone over Adonis and Paris choosing her as the most beautiful goddess, which led to the Trojan War.

1. Aphrodite

2. In the beginning
• Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty, love, affection, and the power of
attraction that binds people together.
• Alternate names are Venus, and Cytherea.

3. Background
• Aphrodite was said to have come from Sea Foam, or to be the
daughter of Zeus.
• Forced to marry Hephaestus, god of fire • Truly loved Ares, god of
war.
• Other lovers were Hermes, Poseidon, Dionysus, Anchises, and Adonis.
• It is claimed that without her, there would be no joy or loveliness
anywhere.
• She possessed a magical girdle that rendered her irresistible to both
gods and humans. She was the “beautiful goddess.”

4. The famous armless statue
of Aphrodite – “Venus de
Milo”.

5. Important Events
• Aphrodite and Persephone’s dispute over a young
man named Adonis; Zeus resolves by “dividing him
up.”
• Paris, the Trojan Prince, was forced to decide who
was the most beautiful; Hera, Athena, or Aphrodite.
They all tried to bribe him with gifts. However he
chose Aphrodite, who offered him the most beautiful
woman in the world, Helen. So Paris took Helen to
troy with him, and the Greeks attempt to get her
back resulted in the Trojan war.

6. Important Events (cont.)
• One time while Aphrodite’s husband, Hephaestus, was away, she had
Ares come over. Before he left, Hephaestus had put up an invisible
net above their bed, so that if she had Ares come over, he would
catch them, by getting them caught in this net. When he came home
he found Aphrodite and Ares trapped in the net, and he was very
angry.

7. CONCLUSION
• To quickly summarise , the goddess had many affairs, but she never
felt guilty, she liked being able to get whoever and whatever she
wanted, but she was always ready to help deities and mortals get the
love that they wanted. She was even said to be very generous and
always very friendly.
• Aphrodite is an excellent goddess through whom to contemplate
some of the implications of gods who are personifications of nature
forces.