Download Tracey Hess Mrs. Hess English 9 October 13, 2013 Aphrodite, the

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Tracey Hess
Mrs. Hess
English 9
October 13, 2013
Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty
Many individuals believe in love at first sight. Most likely, it is the style of one’s hair, a pretty or
handsome face or eyes, or even one’s body composition that are factors in this initial attraction.
However, this “superficial beauty” may not sustain the test of time. One’s inner beauty, such as a
personality and ethics, including truth, honor, and integrity are usually necessary to maintain a true and
everlasting love. In Ancient Greek times, there was a goddess who was admired for her great “outer”
beauty and never ending desire to be admired, and because of it, many gods and mortals sought her
attention. Her name is Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty. This stunning immortal has
gained recognition because of her interesting background, the obstacles that she has had to overcome,
and her triumphs to maintain true to her belief in beauty.
There are many interesting background facts about Aphrodite, or Venus, as she is known by the
Romans. According to Donna J. Napoli, author of Treasury of Greek Mythology Classic Stories of
Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters, this Goddess of Love and Beauty derived from Uranus,
who was castrated by his son, Cronus (90­93). The Greek myth suggests that Aphrodite’s immortal
spirit evolved from the sea when Uranus’ blood mixed with the sea foam or “aphras” (Lindemans).
However, “Homer calls her a daughter of Zeus and Dione” (Lindemans). In addition, this beautiful
Olympian’s symbols are the scallop shell, myrtle, dove, sparrow, girdle, mirror, and swan, most of
which are symbols of the sea, which is where her love and beauty supposedly grew (Napoli 182). In
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fact, she was known as Eros’ “special project” because she could be very delightful or very mean and
vain (Napoli 90­93). Furthermore, sometimes Aphrodite is referred to Kypris or Cythera because that
is where the sea took her (Lindemans). Last but not least, Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, the
homely or ugly God, yet she carried on many affairs with other gods, most notably, Ares, as well as
mortals, like Jason, Adonis, and Anchises, with whom she had a son, Aeneas. Because of her
unfaithfulness which is recounted in The Odyssey, her husband got revenge (Skidmore, Aphrodite).
Although one may think being the Goddess of Love and Beauty would have no troubles, there
were some hardships Aphrodite had to endure. Her great beauty made her the envy of the other
goddesses, and many of the gods were going to fight over her. In order to avoid jealousy among them,
Zeus picked Hephaestus, “the lame god of metalworking” (Napoli 90­93). Angered at his first wife
Athena, Hephaestus was bound to make his relationship with Aphrodite work (Napoli 90­93). Quite
predictably, however, Aphrodite did not want to be the “wife of sooty, hardworking Hephaestus”
(Lindemans). Besides being married to this ugly god, there was another hardship she had to overcome.
Aphrodite angered the goddesses Athena and Hera whenever she was chosen as “the fairest” by Paris,
the Prince of Troy. He awarded Aphrodite the golden apple because she promised him the love of the
most beautiful woman in the world, Helen. Soon after, Helen did fall in love with Paris, and they ran
away to Troy. Her husband, Menelaus, gathered an army to retrieve Helen, thus beginning the Trojan
War (Skidmore, Aphrodite). Later, Aphrodite had to save her son Aeneas from the clenches of
Diomedes during this war. In an attempt to save her son, Aphrodite was wounded on the wrist. Even
though no blood flowed from the wound, she dropped her son who luckily was rescued by God of
War, Ares. Then he provided Aphrodite and her son a chariot to fly to Mt. Olympus. Instead of being
happy that Aphrodite and her son were safe, Dione, her mother, and Zeus, her father, chastised
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Aphrodite for getting involved in the war. They instructed her only to worry about the “business of
marriage” (Skidmore, Aphrodite). This only fueled Aphrodite’s fire, causing her to incite other gods to
seek “inappropriate romances” (Skidmore, Aphrodite).
Although Aphrodite’s hardships were numerous, she accomplished quite a lot as well. Being “a
master of flirting in words and smiles and glances” she taught other goddesses how to charm others, too
(Napoli 90­93). In fact, her husband, Hephaestus, was so enamored with Aphrodite that he made her
a gold belt or girdle that made her appear even more irresistible, and of course, Aphrodite liked that! In
fact, she decided that keeping the belt was more important than leaving her ugly husband (Napoli
90­93). Another accomplishment includes Aphrodite saving Paris in the Trojan War whenever
Menelaus, Helen’s husband, attempts to kill him. She “wraps him in a mist and spirits him away, setting
him down in his own bedroom in Troy” (Skidmore, Aphrodite). Finally, Aphrodite helped another
mortal hero. The heroine, Atalanta agreed to marry whoever could beat her in a foot race. Aphrodite
gave a peck of golden fruit to favor one of the contestants. When she did this, it distracted Atalanta,
and she lost the race, forcing her to choose the winner (Skidmore, Aphrodite). This proves Aphrodite
favored men over women, encouraging them to win at all costs.
In essence, Aphrodite is quite an interesting goddess. From the beginning, it is debated whether
she evolved from the sea foam or if she was the child of Dione and Zeus. Furthermore, this Goddess of
Love and Beauty has charms and good looks that caused many to either love or envy her as well.
Conversely, Aphrodite suffered many hardships, such as being forced to marry the ugly god,
Hephaestus, and essentially being the reason the Trojan War began. If it were not for her, would the
Trojan War even begun at all? Although these struggles existed, Aphrodite’s beauty impressed others,
gods and mortals alike. She was even given a golden belt or girdle that made her even more irresistible
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(Lindemans) (Napoli 90­93, 182) (Skidmore, Aphrodite) (Skidmore, Aphrodite). If Aphrodite were
living today, she probably would believe in love at first sight because of her obsession with “superficial
beauty.” Unfortunately, one’s inward beauty or personality did not seem to matter much to this
immortal goddess.
Works Cited
Lindemans, Micha F. Aphrodidte. 17 July 1999. Ecyclopedia Mythica Online. website. 12 October 2013.
<http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/aphrodite.html>.
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Napoli, Donna Jo. "Aphrodite." Treasury of Greek Mythology Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses,
Heroes, and Monsters. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2011. 90­93. Print.
Skidmore, Joel. Aphrodite. Ed. William Saturno. 2013. Fleet Gazelle. website. 12 October 2013.
<http://www.mythweb.com/gods/Aphrodite.html>.
Skidmore, Joel. Aphrodite. Ed. William Saturno. 2013. Fleet Gazelle. website. 13 October 2013.
<www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/aphrodite.html>.