Aphrodite is a very classic example of a love and beauty goddess. Her worship evolved from the worship of the Goddess Ishtar, whose cult evolved from that of Inanna. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, she isn’t always just a goddess of lust, pleasure, love, and beauty — in some areas, she was seen as a warrior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aphrodite’s origins are disputed. In Homer’s Iliad, she’s the daughter of the Titaness Dione and Zeus. On the other hand, in Hesiod’s Theogony, Aphrodite is born when Cronus cuts off Uranus’s genitals and hurls them into the sea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plato reconciled this by attributing these different origins to different aspects of her: One was Aphrodite Urania, who was born from Uranus and the sea and represented a kind of transcendent love of the body and soul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other was Aphrodite Pandemos, who represented lust and sensuality. Urania was considered the elder aspect, while Pandemos was the younger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In some legends, Aphrodite is married to Hephaestus (the god of smithcraft and metalworking) and a lover to Ares. In the Iliad, Aphrodite is Ares’ consort while Hephaestus is married to someone else entirely. In Theogony, Aphrodite is also unmarried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Odyssey, Aphrodite is Hephaestus’ wife. Knowing that Hephaestus would be very angry if he caught them, Ares sets a young soldier named Alectryon to guard the door and warn them when Helios, the sun God, draws near. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, Alectryon falls asleep. Helios catches Aphrodite and Ares making love in Hephaestus’ bed and warns him. Hephaestus, enraged, fashions a net of finely woven gold and ensnares the two illicit lovers before calling all of the other pantheon in to shame them. An angry Ares turns Alectryon into a rooster, who must always crow at dawn to warn of the sun’s arrival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eros, who represents lust and desire, is sometimes called Aphrodite’s son, but this is a relatively modern idea. In the past, Eros was viewed as a primeval force older than Aphrodite herself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Priapus, a fertility god, is also considered one of Aphrodite’s children (though his paternity is disputed).<\/p>\n\n\n\n