Aphrodite's Symbol or Attribute: Her Girdle, which has magical powers to compel love.
Strengths: Potent sexual attractiveness, dazzling beauty.
Weaknesses: A bit stuck on herself, but with a perfect face and body, who can blame her?
Aphrodite's Parents: One genealogy gives her parents as Zeus, King of the Gods, and Dione, an early earth/mother goddess. More commonly, she was believed to be born of the foam in the sea which bubbled around the severed member of Ouranos when Kronos slew him.
Aphrodite's Birthplace: Rising from the foam off of the islands of Cyprus or Kythira. Milos, where the famed Venus de Milo was found, is also associated with her in modern times.
Aprhodite's Husband: Hephaestus, the lame smith-god. Also associated with Ares, god of War.
Children: Eros, a Cupid-like figure.
Some Major Temple Sites of Aphrodite: Kythira, an island she visited; Cyprus.
Basic Story: Aphrodite rises from the foam of the waves of the sea, enchanting anyone who sees her and inciting feelings of love and lust wherever she goes. She is a contender in the story of the Golden Apples, when Paris chooses her as the fairest of the three goddesses (the others were Hera and Athena) and Aphrodite decides to "reward" him for giving her the Golden Apple (the prototype of most modern awards) by giving him the love of Helen of Troy, something of a mixed blessing that led to the Trojan War.
Interesting Fact: The island of Cyprus has many places believed to have been enjoyed by Aphrodite when she was on earth. Recently, the Cypriots have revived a tourist-friendly version of some of Aphrodite's festivals at the town of Paphos.
In 2010, the still-potent image of Aphrodite hit the news, as the island nation of Cyprus released a new passport with a nearly-naked image of Aphrodite on it; some in the government were scandalized that this image was now so official and worried that it would cause problems for travelers to conservative Muslim nations.
Aphrodite is also in the news lately as supporters strive to save an ancient site of a temple of Aphrodite in Thessaloniki from being paved over by developers.
More Fast Facts on Greek Gods and Goddesses:
The 12 Olympians - Gods and Goddesses - Greek Gods and Goddesses - Temple Sites - The Titans - Aphrodite - Apollo - Ares - Artemis - Atalanta - Athena - Centaurs - Cyclopes - Demeter- Dionysos - Eros - Gaia - Hades - Helios - Hephaestus - Hera - Hercules - Hermes - Kronos - Medusa - Nike - Pan- Pandora - Pegasus - Persephone - Rhea - Selene - Zeus.
Find books on Greek Mythology: Top Picks on Books on Greek Mythology
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