Aphrodite+-+1

**Quick Facts:** Home- Cyprus Husband-Hephaestus Sons- Eros, Aeneas, Anteros,and Hymenaios In Homer, [|Aphrodite] was believed to be the daughter of Zeus and Dione. The worship of [|Zeus] had arosed poems about him and information that made him out to be the father of Aphrodite. The competition between her father Zeus and his wife, Hera (mother of earth) is what is believe to have caused Aphrodite to specialize as a love goddess.
 * Aphrodite ** //The Goddess of Love, Beauty and Fertility//
 * B** **irth**

The more popular belief of Aphrodite's birth is said that when [|Uranus] was castrated by [|Cronus]and threw his severed part into the ocean. The ocean's water then foamed ('aprhos'- sea foam) and from the foam, it believed that she arose on shells and was created. From this story, it is believed she had recieved the name Aphrodite which means ‘she who came from the foam’.

**Adulthood** Aphrodite had no childhood. She was born as a female woman and all references to her show that she was always an adult. There are no found refrences or illistrations that show the fact that Aphrodite had ever had a childhood. Ever since she was born, or evolved from ther sea foam in a shell, she had always been a woman. Although she was the goddess of love, beauty and fertility, older myths refer to her as an ill-tempered and vain. She was one of the few Greek goddess to actually marry, but when she did, she frequently was unfaithful to him. Aphrodite married Hephaestus who was considered the only 'ugly' greek god. Her father married her off to Hephaestus so that the other greek gods would not fight over her. Despite being married to Hephaestus, Aphrodite served as a surrogate mother to [|Adonis] who was also her lover. Adonis and Aphrodite spend their first year on earth together. Adonis enjoyed hunting and even though Aphrodite did not enjoy it, she hunted just so that she could spend time with him.

**Adonis** When [|Myrrah], the daughter of the King of Cyprus, is punished with a never ending lust for her father, she decides to disguise herself as a prostitute and sleeps with her father. Eventually she becomes pregnant and Cinyras discovers it and chases her out of the house with a knife. Myrrah escapes and gives birth by a tree where Aphrodite watches and takes pity. Myrrah decides to name him Adonis and Aphrodite takes Adonis and places him in a box back to Hades so that [|Persephone] could care for him. Once Adonis grew up into a young man, Persephone decides that one third of the year Adonis will spend with his mother, the next third of the year he will spend wiht Aphrodite and for the last third part of the year he can decide who he wants to spend it with (he chooses Aphrodite). From this moment, Adonis and Aphrodite continue to spend time together and this is how Aphrodite's relationshoip with Adonis came to be.

**Judgment of Paris** At the wedding of [|Peleus]  and [|Thetis] all the gods and goddesses were gather for this wondrous occasion. All the goddesses were invited except Eris the goddess of discord, who arrived during the wedding feast with a golden apple. She threw the apple between the three most powerful goddesses Aphrodite, [|Hera], and [|Athena]. Zeus, looking at the apple, found that it was inscribed with the words “the fairest one”. Zeus, not wanting to show favor to any of the three goddesses, decided that Paris of Troy would be the one who would award the apple to one of the three goddesses. Before he could make his decision the three goddesses would all try to bribe him so that he would give the apple to them. Hera offered him the rule over the greatest kingdoms on earth. Athena tells him that if he gives her the apple that he will never lose a battle and that he will be famous. Aphrodite then tells him that if she is the one to be awarded the apple that Paris could have the love of the most beautiful women on earth. Without hesitation he hands her the apple of discord. She then tells him that if he wants the love of the of Helen of Greece, who is the most beautiful women on earth he would need to kidnap her from Greece. After the abduction of Helen of Greece then retaliates by declaring war on Troy, thus starting the Trojan wars in which Paris ultimately dies **  Pygmalion **   Pygmalion was a sculptor who refused to get married. The women in the village where he lived grew angry that he never married they decided to ask Aphrodite to force him to get married. Aphrodite accepted and appeared before Pygmalion. She told him that he had to choose wife and if he refused to do so that a wife would be chosen for him. Not wanting to be married he asked Aphrodite for more time so he could sculpt a statue of her. Flattered by the proposal she accepted. Not wanting to be married he spent a very long time working on the sculpture but eventually wanted to finish it for he had fallen in love with his work. After stepping away from the finished statue, Aphrodite appeared and told him to pick a wife. He told her he wanted to be married to his sculpture. Aphrodite told him it could not marry a statue. Pygmalion then asked to be turned into a statue so he could be with her. Aphrodite taking pity on him brought his beautiful sculpture to life. 

Overall, Aphrodite was known for being the goddess of love, beauty and fertility. There are different perspectives as to how Aphrodite was born but it is believed that she specialized as a goddess of love, beauty and fertility due to the relationship between Zeus and Hera. media type="youtube" key="ekYAIvVbCdo" height="344" width="425"

**Works Cited** __Anwsers.com.__2009.Aphrodite.4/25/09<[]> [] "Aphrodite"__birth.__4/25/09.<[]> __Wikipedia.__2009.Aphrodite.4/25/09.<[]> "greek myphs"__the judgmenof paris.__4/25/09.<__t__[]> [] "Quick Aphrodite facts"__Aprodite's birth.4/25/09__ <[]>