Greek Mythology · deity

Aphrodite

Ἀφροδίτη
also: Venus (Roman)
deitylovebeautydesirefertilitysex

Goddess of love, beauty, and desire; born (in the Theogony) from the sea-foam around a severed divine member.

Aphrodite with Eros, the goddess of love with the winged god of love — Limestone Statue of Aphrodite Holding Winged Eros
Limestone Statue of Aphrodite Holding Winged Eros · Unknown (Hellenistic) · late 4th century BCE · The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public domain (Met Open Access)
The account

Who they are

Aphrodite (Venus) is the goddess of love, beauty, desire, and sexual love [S1]S1 · Hesiod, Theogonyc. 700 BCEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Homeric Hymnsc. 700–300 BCEtext[S5]S5 · Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library (Bibliotheca)c. 1st–2nd c. CE (transmits earlier)text. Her birth is one of the great variants in Greek myth: in Hesiod's Theogony she is born from the sea-foam that gathered around the severed member of Ouranos (cast into the sea by Cronus), rising fully formed at Cythera [S1]S1 · Hesiod, Theogonyc. 700 BCEtextOpen source ↗; in the Iliad she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione [S2]S2 · Homer, Iliadc. 750 BCEtextOpen source ↗. Both accounts are preserved and the difference is genuine [S1]S1 · Hesiod, Theogonyc. 700 BCEtextOpen source ↗[S2]S2 · Homer, Iliadc. 750 BCEtextOpen source ↗. She is married to Hephaestus (the smith-god) but famously lovers with Ares; her children include Eros (Love) and, with Ares, Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Dread) [S4]S4 · Homeric Hymnsc. 700–300 BCEtext[S5]S5 · Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library (Bibliotheca)c. 1st–2nd c. CE (transmits earlier)text. The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite opens with her power over gods and mortals alike [S4]S4 · Homeric Hymnsc. 700–300 BCEtext.
Worth knowing
  • Two birth-accounts: sea-foam from Ouranos (Theogony) vs. daughter of Zeus & Dione (Iliad) — a genuine variant [S1]S1 · Hesiod, Theogonyc. 700 BCEtextOpen source ↗[S2]S2 · Homer, Iliadc. 750 BCEtextOpen source ↗.
  • Married to Hephaestus, lovers with Ares [S4]S4 · Homeric Hymnsc. 700–300 BCEtext[S5]S5 · Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library (Bibliotheca)c. 1st–2nd c. CE (transmits earlier)text.
  • Mother of Eros (Love) [S4]S4 · Homeric Hymnsc. 700–300 BCEtext[S5]S5 · Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library (Bibliotheca)c. 1st–2nd c. CE (transmits earlier)text.
Uncertainties & variants
  • The two birth-accounts are incompatible and both are canonical; we present them side by side, not as one [S1]S1 · Hesiod, Theogonyc. 700 BCEtextOpen source ↗[S2]S2 · Homer, Iliadc. 750 BCEtextOpen source ↗.
Relationships (7)

Connections

Family & kinship

PARENT_OFEros — Aphrodite is the mother of Eros (Love).[S4] [S5]
PARENT_OFEros — In later myth, Aphrodite is the mother of Eros.[S4] [S5]

Partners

PARTNER_OFAres — Aphrodite's lover was Ares.[S2] [S5]
PARTNER_OFHephaestus — Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus.[S2] [S4] [S5]
PARTNER_OFAres — Ares and Aphrodite were lovers.[S2] [S5]
PARTNER_OFHephaestus — Hephaestus was married to Aphrodite.[S2] [S4] [S5]

Creation

CREATEDUranus — In the Theogony, Aphrodite is born from the sea-foam around Ouranos's severed member.[S1] [S2]
Local graph

Their corner of the divine world

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hierarchical — generations top → bottom, partners side by side
Overlays
FocusAphroditeGreek
GREEK · 41variantvariant♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥AegisHelmet of HadesCaduceus of Her…Trident of Pose…Thunderbolt of …Alcmenamortalthe mortal mother of Heracles1 relationsAndromedamortalthe rescued princess2 relationsAphroditedeitylove7 relationsAtlasdeitythe sky (bore)1 relationsChaosprimordialorigin2 relationsDanaemortalthe mortal mother of Perseus1 relationsDemeterdeityharvest6 relationsEchidnamonsterthe monster-mother2 relationsGaiadeityearth6 relationsHadesdeitythe dead7 relationsHeradeitymarriage8 relationsHestiadeityhearth1 relationsLetodeitymotherhood (as mother of Apollo/Artemis)2 relationsMedusamonsterthe Gorgon3 relationsMetisdeitycounsel2 relationsOceanusdeitythe great world-river1 relationsOdysseusherocunning2 relationsPenelopemortalthe faithful wife of Odysseus2 relationsPoseidondeitythe sea6 relationsRheadeitymotherhood2 relationsSemelemortalthe mortal mother of Dionysus1 relationsTethysdeitythe primordial sea1 relationsTyphonmonsterthe great monster7 relationsCerberusmonsterthe guardian of the underworld3 relationsErosdeitylove2 relationsHebedeityyouth2 relationsHephaestusdeityfire6 relationsMaiadeitythe nymph2 relationsUranusprimordialsky6 relationsPersephonedeitythe underworld2 relationsTelemachusmortalthe son of Odysseus2 relationsCronusdeitytime (later association)9 relationsZeusdeitysky29 relationsApollodeitysun (later)4 relationsAresdeitywar (violence, bloodshed)3 relationsArtemisdeitythe hunt3 relationsAthenadeitywisdom4 relationsDionysusdeitywine3 relationsHeraclesherostrength7 relationsHermesdeitymessengers5 relationsPerseusheroheroism8 relations
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Myths featuring Aphrodite

1 story

The Birth of Aphrodite (Two Accounts)

In the Theogony, Aphrodite is born from the sea-foam around Ouranos's severed member at Cythera. In the Iliad, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. Both accounts are canonical and incompatible [S1]S1 · Hesiod, Theogonyc. 700 BCEtextOpen source ↗[S2]S2 · Homer, Iliadc. 750 BCEtextOpen source ↗.

READ THE STORY →

Artworks

Depictions

Aphrodite with Eros, the goddess of love with the winged god of love — Limestone Statue of Aphrodite Holding Winged Eros
Limestone Statue of Aphrodite Holding Winged Eros · Unknown (Hellenistic) · late 4th century BCE · The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public domain (Met Open Access)
Limestone Statue of Aphrodite Holding Winged Eros · late 4th century BCE
Aphrodite, the goddess of love — Marble Statue of Aphrodite
Marble Statue of Aphrodite · Unknown (Roman) · 1st or 2nd century CE · The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public domain (Met Open Access)
Marble Statue of Aphrodite · 1st or 2nd century CE
Aphrodite, the Medici-type — Basalt Statuette of Aphrodite (Medici type)
Basalt Statuette of Aphrodite (Medici type) · Unknown (Roman) · late 1st – early 2nd century CE · The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public domain (Met Open Access)
Basalt Statuette of Aphrodite (Medici type) · late 1st – early 2nd century CE
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