The Probert Encyclopaedia of Greek & Roman Mythology

APHRODITE

In Greek mythology, Aphrodite was the goddess of love (equivalent to the Roman Venus, Phoenician Astarte and the Babylonian Ishtar). She is said to be either a daughter of Zeus or to have sprung from the foam of the sea. She was the unfaithful wife of Hephaestus, the god of fire, and the mother of Eros. Aphrodite surpassed all the other goddesses in beauty, and hence received the prize of beauty from Paris. She likewise had the power of granting beauty and invincible charm to others. In the vegetable kingdom the myrtle, rose, apple, and poppy, among others, were sacred to Aphrodite, as, in the animal world, were the sparrow, dove, swan, and swallow.
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