Aphrodite: Cytherea, Isle of Aphrodite. According to Hesiod, when Aphrodite (Venus) was born from the foam of the sea, she first landed on the island of Cythera; thus her epithet “Cytherea.” Because of this association with the goddess of love, Cythera became identified as a place of pilgrimage for lovers and was a popular setting for fêtes galantes of the eighteenth century. The most famous treatment of this subject is Antoine Watteau’s 1717 painting, which inspired numerous later treatments in literature and music as well as the fine arts. Classical Source. Hesiod, Theogony 191—98. See also Aphrodite, Birth.