Aphrodite
Roman: Venus
Goddess of love, beauty and desire, born from the foam of the sea.
In Hesiod's telling, Aphrodite grew from the sea foam around the severed genitals of Uranus, drifted past Cythera and stepped ashore on Cyprus; in Homer she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. In the Iliad she snatches her favorite, Paris, out of battle, and is wounded by Diomedes. In later epic tradition Paris judged her the fairest of three goddesses after she promised him Helen, a choice that set the Trojan War in motion; the golden apple was added later still.
In the sky: the planet Venus, and how it got its name →
Symbols
Scallop shell Dove Rose Myrtle Mirror
In the ancient sources
Homer: the Iliad and the Odyssey
- philommeidēs
- “laughter-loving” Iliad 3.424
- chryseē
- “golden” Iliad 5.427
- Kypris
- “the Cyprian” Iliad 5.330
- Kythereia
- “of Cythera” Odyssey 8.288
- Iliad 3.373–447 She snatches Paris away from his duel with Menelaus, then, disguised as an old woman, forces a reluctant Helen to go to him.
- Iliad 5.311–430 Rescuing her son Aeneas, she is wounded in the hand by Diomedes; her mother Dione comforts her, and Zeus tells her war is not her business.
- Iliad 14.187–223 Hera borrows her embroidered band, which holds love and desire, to beguile Zeus.
- Odyssey 8.266–366 In the bard Demodocus' song, Hephaestus traps her with Ares in an invisible net, and the gods laugh.
Homer only alludes to the Judgment of Paris once (Iliad 24.25–30); the full story comes from the lost epic Cypria, and the golden apple from later writers.
Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns
- aphrogenēs
- “foam-born” Theogony 196
- Kyprogenēs
- “Cyprus-born” Theogony 199
- Theogony 188–200 A girl grows in the white foam around Uranus's severed genitals, drifts past Cythera and steps ashore on Cyprus.
- Theogony 201–206 Eros and Desire attend her from birth; her share is maidens' whispers, smiles, deceits, sweet delight, love and gentleness.
- Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 7–33 Only three goddesses resist her power: Athena, Artemis and Hestia.
- Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (6) The west wind carries her through the foam to Cyprus, where the gold-filleted Hours welcome and adorn her.
Hesiod's foam birth contradicts Homer, where she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. In the longer Hymn she bears Aeneas to the Trojan Anchises.
Cross-checked against these texts and records, in public-domain or freely available versions where they exist. Line, section and chapter numbers follow the standard editions, so a particular translation may differ slightly.
Correspondences Explore all
- Planet
- Venus
- Day
- Friday
- Element
- Water
- Stones & metals
- Rose quartz
- Tarot
- The Empress
These mix ancient attributes with modern associations from contemporary pagan and magical practice; the modern ones weren't part of her original worship.