Aphrodite.
     The Greek goddess of erotic love, beauty, and fertility, Aphrodite arose, according to Hesiod, from the foam (Greek, aphros) of the sea; Homer calls her the daughter of Zeus (Jupiter) and Dione. Her attributes suggest an Asiatic origin and roots in common with the Phoenician deity Astarte. Other evidence of her Eastern lineage includes her point of origin at Paphos, on the west coast of Cyprus, or at Cythera, an island south of the Peloponnesus. Her epithets “Cytherea” and Paphian or Cyprian Aphrodite evoke her connection to these locations.
     Aphrodite’s beloved Adonis, who was also introduced to Greece from Cyprus, may have derived from Near Eastern mythology as well. Parallels for this pair of deities include the Assyrio-Babylonian Ishtar and Tammuz and the Phrygian Cybele and Attis. Aphrodite was later identified by the Romans with Venus.The Greek goddess of erotic love, beauty, and fertility, Aphrodite arose, according to Hesiod, from the foam (Greek, aphros) of the sea; Homer calls her the daughter of Zeus (Jupiter) and Dione. Her attributes suggest an Asiatic origin and roots in common with the Phoenician deity Astarte. Other evidence of her Eastern lineage includes her point of origin at Paphos, on the west coast of Cyprus, or at Cythera, an island south of the Peloponnesus. Her epithets “Cytherea” and Paphian or Cyprian Aphrodite evoke her connection to these locations. Aphrodite’s beloved Adonis, who was also introduced to Greece from Cyprus, may have derived from Near Eastern mythology as well. Parallels for this pair of deities include the Assyrio-Babylonian Ishtar and Tammuz and the Phrygian Cybele and Attis. Aphrodite was later identified by the Romans with Venus.
     According to Homer, Aphrodite was married to the crippled god Hephaestus (Vulcan), but this did not restrict her amorous activities. She mated with Ares (Mars) and by him gave birth to Harmonia (Concord), Deimos (Fear), and Phobos (Panic). According to some legends, she also bore him Eros (Cupid, Amor), who in other myths was only her closest attendant. By Hermes (Mercury) she bore Hermaphroditus; by Dionysus (Bacchus), the fertility god Priapus and the god of marriage Hymen; and by the mortal Anchises, the Trojan hero Aeneas. She bested Athena (Minerva) and Hera (Juno) in the Judgment of Paris, and was an ardent supporter of Troy during the Trojan War.
     Indeed, in places such as Sparta, Aphrodite was considered a goddess of war, but when, as recounted in the Iliad, she was wounded by Diomedes, she was reminded by Zeus that love rather than war was her primary domain. She was also identified as a goddess of marriage (although this role belonged largely to Hera) and as a deity of the sea and seafaring. Her identification as a goddess of vegetation derived from her association with Adonis. Two common epithets for her were “Urania” (“heavenly”) and “Pandemos” (“popular”), a duality that Plato described, perhaps inaccurately, as symbolizing both intellectual and sensual love. The term Urania was often used to identify Asian deities, while Pandemos described the political stature attained by the goddess at Athens and other city states.
     The Roman goddess Venus was originally an Italian deity whose name meant “charm” or “beauty.” She may have presided over the fertility of herb or vegetable gardens. By the Roman period, however, she was linked to the cult of Aphrodite as the mother of Aeneas, Rome’s greatest hero. There was a temple to Venus Erycina (Aphrodite of Eryx) on the Capitoline hill in 217 bce, and by the Imperial period Venus had taken on all the attributes of the Greek goddess.
     Aphrodite is the subject of some of the most famous sculptures of the Classical period. The best-known include the relief on the Ludovisi throne that depicts Aphrodite rising from the foam; the relief of her with Eros in the Parthenon frieze; Praxiteles’ Aphrodite of Cnidos, showing a modest goddess about to enter the bath, a pose repeated in the famous “Capitoline” and “Medici” Venuses; the Aphrodite of Cyrene; the crouching Aphrodite by the Bithynian Doidalsas; and the Aphrodite of Melos, called Venus de Milo, probably the most celebrated statue in the history of the nude.
     All of these themes and poses became popular subjects for postclassical artists as well. In the fine arts the goddess is often accompanied by Eros, the three Graces, and doves, her sacred birds. She is also frequendy shown with Hephaestus at his forge, sometimes asking for arms for Aeneas. The post-classical theme of sacred and profane love—derived from Plato’s interpretation of Aphrodite’s duality and prominent in work inspired by fifteenth-century Florentine humanists—presents the goddess in celestial (nude) and earthly (richly attired) form. Portrayals of the sleeping goddess, sometimes watched by satyrs, are also popular. Aphrodite is often seen at her toilet, admiring her own beauty in a mirror held by Eros, while in the many reclining represen-tadons she is like a self-admiring odalisque.
     
     
      Listings are arranged under the following headings:
      Birth of Aphrodite, Cythera, Isle of Aphrodite, Aphrodite and Anchises, Girdle of Aphrodite, Worship of Venus, Venus Frigida, Venus and Satyrs, Statue of Venus, Tannhäuser and the Venusberg.

See also ; Ares and Aphrodite; Astarte; Atalanta; Diomedes; Eros; Gods and Goddesses; Hephaestus; Heracles, Choice; Myrrah; Paris; Phaedra and Hippolytus; Psyche; Pygmalion; Trojan War.