In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. According to Hesiod, she was born when Uranus (the father of the gods) was castrated by his son Cronus. Cronus threw the severed genitals into the ocean which began to churn and foam about them. From the aphros ("sea foam") arose Aphrodite, and the sea carried her to either Cyprus or Cythera.  Homer calls her a daughter of Zeus and Dione.

    After her birth, Zeus was afraid that the gods would fight over Aphrodite's hand in marriage so he married her off to the smith god Hephaestus, the steadiest of the gods. Hephaestus could hardly believe his good luck and used all his skills to make the most lavish jewels for her. He made her a girdle of finely wrought gold and wove magic into the filigree work. That was not very wise of him, for when she wore her magic girdle no one could resist her, and she was all too irresistible already. She loved gaiety and glamour and was not at all pleased at being the wife of sooty, hard-working Hephaestus.

    Aphrodite loved and was loved by many gods and mortals. Among her mortal lovers, the most famous was perhaps Adonis.

    Her festival is the Aphrodisiac which was celebrated in various centers of Greece and especially in Athens and Corinth. Her priestesses were women who represented the goddess and sexual intercourse with them was considered just one of the methods of worship.

     Aphrodite is known to incite 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.