Aphrodite
Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love and beauty.
So charming was she that both gods and men found her irresistable
She is often shown riding in a chariot drawn by swans
while being surrounded by the doves and sparrows that were sacred to her.
There are conflicting stories surrounding the mysterious birth
of this goddess,
according to Homer she was the daughter of Zeus and Dione,
but Hesipd gives ua a totally different version.
His tale takes us back to the castration of Uranus by his son Cronus.
It is said that upon removing the genitals Cronus threw them into the sea,
and from the foam that flosted around them sprang forth Aphrodite.
It was this beginning that gave the goddess her erotic nature.
A third story tells us that Aphrodite sprang naked from the froth of the sea.
She rode a scallop shell to the Island of Cythera,
but finding the isle to be very small
she left and proceeded to Cyprus where she took up residence in Paphos.
There she was met by the four Seasons,
who draped her in beautiful robes
and adorned her hair with flowers.
Aphrodite also had many different sides to her personality.
She was the sweet laughter loving goddess
whom the lonely sought out for help.
To all that saw her she was beauty personified.
There would be no joy or loveliness without her,
for her every movement filled the air with song.
But some saw her as treacherous and malicious,
having a bewitching power over men
that more times than not brought about their own destruction.
Ironically, she was wed to Hephaestus,
who was lame and considered to be the most unattractive of all the Olympians
. This marriage was not of her own choice,
but arranged by Zeus in order to keep Aphrodite out of trouble.
The goddess of love did not take her wedding vows seriously
and was accustomed to having many affairs with both gods and men.
A constant companion of Aphrodite was Ares, the god of war.
It was common knowledge on Olympus that Aphrodite was anything but faithful
to her husband,
and one night while visiting Ares in his Thracian palace
made the mistake of staying too long in his bed.
As the god Helios was rising across the sky
he caught a glimpse of the two lovers
and reported what he saw to Hephaestus.
Feeling very hurt and angry,
the god of fire stood before his forge
and hammered out a bronze hunting net
which he secretly fastened to the posts of his marriage bed.
Aphrodite returned from her liaison with Ares,
telling Hephaestus that she had been away in Corinth conducting business.
Pretending to believe her,
he excused himself explaining that he was leaving to tend to his own affairs
on his favorite island of Lemnos.
As soon as Hephaestus was out of sight,
Aphrodite sent word to her lover Ares
to come and join her for an evening of romance.
The two went happily to bed,
but at dawn they found themselves hopelessly trapped in the net of bronze.
Hephaestus, returning from his trip
found the scandalous pair naked and unable to escape.
To add to their humiliation,
the bitter husband summoned the other gods
to come and be a witness his dishonor.
All except for the goddesses attended
for they found the whole thing to be in poor taste.
As the Olympians stood and stared at the tangled couple,
Apollo with a nudge said to Hermes
"You would not mind being in Ares' position would you, net and all?"
Hermes agreed with a smile and replied
that he would not mind even if there were three times as many nets
and all the goddesses watching with disapproval".
Both gods laughed at the prospect,
but Zeus saw no humor in the situation.
Hephaestus insisted that he would not release Aphrodite
from the trap unless Zeus restored to him the marriage gifts
that he paid for his unfaithful wife,
but Zeus refused to get involved in the quarrel of a husband wife.
Instead, he scolded Hephaestus for being foolish
enough to turn a private disagreement
into a public scandal.
Poseidon was totally captivated by Aphrodite's beauty
and wanted very much to have her for himself.
He pretended to take pity on Hephaestus
and offered to intervene on his behalf.
The sea god loudly proclaimed that Ares should be the one
to repay the wedding gifts back to Hephaestus,
since it was he not Zeus who was caught frolicking with Aphrodite.
Hephaestus agreed, but under the condition
that should Ares default
Poseidon should have to take his place under the net.
Not wanting to appear too eager,
Poseidon proclaimed nobly that he trusted Ares to keep his word.
If in the slim chance that he did not,
the sea god swore he then would marry Aphrodite himself.
This brought about more laughter from Hermes and Apollo
who were having no problems seeing through Poseidon's scheme.
Ares was set free and returned to his home in Thrace,
while Aphrodite returned to Paphos where she performed a sea ritual
to restore her virginity.
Because of Hermes' flattering remarks,
Aphrodite consented to spend the night with him
which produced Hermaphroditus,
a child having both male and female reproductive organs.
She also favored Poseidon with a night of love
as a reward for all of his help.
She bore him two sons, Rhodus and Herophilus.
The marriage gifts were never repaid to Hephaestus,
for Ares decided if Zeus was not obligated to pay than
neither was he.
Hephaestus soon forgot the whole ordeal,
as he was madly in love with Aphrodite
and like so many others was blinded by her intriguing beauty.
It is Aphrodite who is usually carries the blame
for bringing about the start of the Trojan War.
It seems that all the Olympians were invited
to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis except Eris,
the goddess of discord and her brother Ares.
Taking this insult to heart,
Eris set out to bring turmoil to the couple's happy day.
During the wedding feast, she rolled into the banquet hall
a golden apple with the inscription "To The Fairest".
Naturally all the goddesses thought themselves worthy of the prize
and before long a giant squabble broke out among the guests.
Soon the choices were narrowed down to just three;
Hera, Athena and Aphrodite.
The goddesses paraded before Zeus,
requesting that he should be the judge of their contest
and award the apple to the one most deserving of the title.
Zeus, being too wise to involve himself in such a thing,
quickly suggested they journey to Troy where Paris, the son of King Priam
could be found tending sheep on Mount Ida.
Because of a prophecy warning the King that Paris would one day
bring about the ruin of Troy, he sent the boy away to live as a shepherd.
Paris took for his wife a nymph named Oenone
and together they enjoyed a happy life.
As Paris was busy tending to the flocks,
before his eyes appeared the three goddesses accompanied by Hermes,
the messenger of the gods.
Paris was told by Zeus' herald he was to award the apple
to the fairest of the Olympian trio.
To try and better her chances at winning
each goddess offered Paris a bribe.
Hera promised if he picked her she would make him Lord of Europe.
Athena promised if he picked her she would raise Troy up in victory against the Greeks,
leaving all Greece in ruins.
But Aphrodite, understanding the desires of young men,
promised that if Paris picked her
she would give to him the most beautiful woman in the world
to have as his wife.
Without hesitation Paris handed the apple to Aphrodite,
totally unaware that his decision had just condemned
Troy to death and ruin.
For the most beautiful woman in the world was Helen of Greece
and she was already bethrothed to Menelaus,
the King of Sparta.
Never giving Oenone another thought,
Aphrodite whisked Paris off to Sparta to claim his new bride.
At first the unsuspecting Menelaus welcomed Paris as his guest,
and soon the two swore a bond of allegiance to each other.
Trusting the situation, Menelaus left on a journey to Crete,
leaving Paris alone in the palace with his wife.
When the King returned, both Paris and Helen were gone.
The betrayal pierced the heart of Menelaus like a sword,
and he at once called upon his brother
King Agamemnon of Mycenae to come to his aid.
Word spread throughout Greece,
and soon an envoy of vessels were assembled
and ready to sail upon Troy.
The battle raged for ten years
and cost both sides many lives,
but strangly the end finally came in the shape of a wooden horse.
The Greeks fashioned out of wood a giant horse
that stood on a wheeled platform.
A group of Spartan soldiers climbed inside
and hid in the hollow stomach
while the horse was left outside the city gates
in hopes that the Trojans,
thinking it was a peace offering
would wheel it inside the fortress.
That is exactly what they did.
During the night when the city was asleep,
the Spartans climbed out of the belly
and opened the gates of Troy
allowing their comrades to enter.
The unsuspecting Trojans were taken by surprise,
and the once powerful city was burnt to the ground.
Her men were slaughtered and her women taken as slaves.
Only a pile of rubble remained
of what was once the great empire of Troy.
Paris was killed and Helen was returned to Menelaus,
who forgave her and brought her back to Sparta as his wife.
So ended the Greek's ten year siege on Troy,
which began with the vanity of a goddess
and ended with the pride of a King.
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