Her close association with Eros, the Graces (Charites), and the Horae (Seasons) emphasized her role as a promoter of fertility. On the Greek mainland, Corinth was the chief centre of her worship. The cult of Adonis had underworld features, and Aphrodite was also connected with the dead at Delphi.Īphrodite’s main centres of worship were at Paphos and Amathus on Cyprus and on the island of Cythera, a Minoan colony, where in prehistoric times her cult probably originated. Of Aphrodite’s mortal lovers, the most important were the Trojan shepherd Anchises, by whom she became the mother of Aeneas, and the handsome youth Adonis (in origin a Semitic nature deity and the consort of Ishtar-Astarte), who was killed by a boar while hunting and was lamented by women at the festival of Adonia. Although prostitutes considered Aphrodite their patron, her public cult was generally solemn and even austere.ĭid the Greeks and the Romans worship a goddess of love? Was Naples, Italy, founded by Greeks? Sort fact from fiction in this quiz of battles, philosophers, and all things ancient Greece.
However, she was known primarily as a goddess of love and fertility and even occasionally presided over marriage. Aphrodite was, in fact, widely worshipped as a goddess of the sea and of seafaring she was also honoured as a goddess of war, especially at Sparta, Thebes, Cyprus, and other places. The Greek word aphros means “foam,” and Hesiod relates in his Theogony that Aphrodite was born from the white foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus (Heaven), after his son Cronus threw them into the sea. From her relationship with the mortal Anchises, she became the mother of Aeneas, a mythical hero of Troy and Rome.Īphrodite, ancient Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty, identified with Venus by the Romans. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!Īphrodite’s notable divine offspring include those from her affair with Ares, the god of war: Harmonia, the warrior twins Phobos and Deimos, and Eros, the god of love.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.
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