Appearance: Gorgeous, perfect, eternally young woman with a beautiful body. Aprhodite's Symbol or Attribute: Her Girdle, which has magical powers to compel love. Strengths: Potent sexual attractiveness, dazzling beauty. Weaknesses: A bit stuck on herself, but with a perfect face and body, who can blame her? Aphrodite's Parents:One genealogy gives her parents as Zeus, King of the Gods, and Dione, an early earth/mother goddess. More commonly, she was believed to be born of the foam in the sea which bubbled around the severed member of Ouranos when Kronos slew him. Aphrodite's Birthplace: Rising from the foam off of the islands of Cyprus or Kythira. Milos, where the famed Venus de Milo was found, is also associated with her in modern times. Aprhodite's Husband: Hephaestus, the lame smith-god. Also associated with Ares, god of War. Children: Eros, a Cupid-like figure. Some Major Temple Sites of Aphrodite: Kythira, an island she visited; Cyprus. Basic Story: Aphrodite rises from the foam of the waves of the sea, enchanting anyone who sees her and inciting feelings of love and lust wherever she goes. She is a contender in the story of the Golden Apples, when Paris chooses her as the fairest of the three goddesses (the others were Hera and Athena) and Aphrodite decides to "reward" him for giving her the Golden Apple (the prototype of most modern awards) by giving him the love of Helen of Troy, something of a mixed blessing that led to the Trojan War. Interesting Fact: The island of Cyprus has many places believed to have been enjoyed by Aphrodite when she was on earth. Recently, the Cypriots have revived a tourist-friendly version of some of Aphrodite's festivals at the town of Paphos.
