Aphrodite is the Goddess of love and beauty and is believed to be born from the foam and waves of the ocean. She is depicted as a beautiful woman who is elegantly dressed and loves to wear jewellery. Aphrodite’s mode of transportation is a flying chariot pulled by sparrows. Her symbols include the swan, the dove, a scallop shell, an apple, a mirror and roses.

Aphrodite was forced by her father Zeus to marry Hephaestus who had created the lightning bolt for Zeus. Hephaestus had also designed weapons for Artemis but he was not able to woo the beautiful Aphrodite who wanted to marry Ares, the war God, who was not good looking. That is why he had to seek Zeus’ help for the marriage.

Aphrodite’s children are Eros (commonly known as Cupid), Aeneas, Phobos, Priapus, Deimos, Eunomia, Harmonia, Eryx, Pothos, and many more. Aphrodite loves playing the matchmaker role and loves making people fall in love. She is capable of making a couple fall in love again even if they are fighting. She has a girdle that is capable of making others fall in love with whoever wears it. 

There is a famous myth where Aphrodite and her son Eros (Cupid) teamed up to make her father- Zeus fall in love with a beautiful mortal named Europa. Aphrodite told Eros to shoot Zeus’ heart with his magical love arrow that made him fall in love with Europa. Zeus changed himself into a bull and carried her away to the Island of Crete.

There is one more myth where Aphrodite was envious of a mortal’s beauty. That mortal’s name was Psyche and everyone said that she was much more beautiful than Aphrodite. Aphrodite ordered her son Eros (Cupid) too shoot his love arrow and made Psyche fall in love with an ugly beast. But when Eros saw the beautiful Psyche, he couldn’t stop himself from falling in love with her and rebelled against his mother and took Psyche to his house. This rebellious attitude enraged Aphrodite and she punished him.