Aphrodite

Aphrodite goddess in Greek mythology

Aphrodite/Venus  is the goddess of love and beauty in Greek mythology.
According to the Homeric myth she was born in Aphrodite's Rock, a coast of Paphos in Cyprus. Pushed by Zephyrus into the sea, the goddess was groomed by the handmaidens of Hours and moved to Mount Olympus, where was  presented to Zeus and the other gods. According to the version of Hesiod, Aphrodite was born in the open of Kythera from the foam that created by the genitals of Uranus falling into the sea,after his amputation by Saturn. Again with the help of Zephyr traveled to Paphos. Passed from Kythera and then went to Cyprus. Kythera are considered the island of celestial Aphrodite  there was the first sanctuary in Greece. She was known as Aphrodite "Paphia" while Homer's Iliad mentions it as "Kythereia goddess of love wet nurse".

She was the wife of Hephaestus, but described as mistress of Ares, which alleged to have been acquired Eros, Deimos and Phobos. With Neptune gave birth to Eryka, who gave his name to the homonymous mountain of Sicily and Rhodes, while with Dionysus, thanks to the magical mediation of Hera gave birth to Priapus. Her son is also Hermaphroditus, whom brought to life the goddess, with Hermes.

Aphrodite is a female mythological archetype. Throughout the ancient world Coping with the archetype of the mother goddess. Being connected with a seemingly endless series of phenomena-love, birth, death, fertility, war, weaving, magic, kinship, marriage, virginity, mourning, etc. - the goddess addressed the biggest piece of the ritual action featuring an important piece of human civilization. The titles, which give areas of influence are legion: Queen of heaven, Warrior, Daughter, Whore, Mother Earth, Queen of the Underworld, etc. Although the cult does not cross the world now, as in ancient times, is still very much alive, denatured gradually assimilated the archetypes of modern religious experience. It is known, for example, that various aspects of the worship of the goddess-mother absorbed by the cult of the Virgin Marias. Robert Graves (Robert Graves) was certainly right when he wrote to the mother goddess to be "deeply attached to his racial memory of Europeans and it is impossible to banish her
Among ancient civilizations Greeks are the ones who more than other peoples maintained their diverse characteristics of the mother goddess in their worship. A mere mention of the names of Aphrodite, Medea, Scylla, Hecate, Ariadne Athena is enough to excite considerable archetypal images. Each of these forms represents a face of the mother goddess. At a first glance possibly different forms appear to have little in common. Indeed, it is the extraordinary diversity in worship of mother goddess, which militates against the prospect to find a common denominator in the diverse manifestations of the goddess.
In our view, the identification of the goddess with the planet Aphrodite confirmed in numerous cultures of the Near East, and the aborigines of the New World-is one that offers the necessary common denominator for understanding the properties of the mythical goddess. Let us see, then, symbolic images and mythological motifs associated with mother-goddess including various forms of the Goddess, as personified by the Greek thought.

Even today, the name Aphrodite causes images alluring beauty, sensuality and passion. The goddess is best known, perhaps, as a divine matchmaker or as a stimulating agent of sensual desire. In the Iliad, for example, the belt of Aphrodite s presented as sufficient to arouse immediate desire in the eyes of its holder. As the Barkert, verbs formed from the name of the goddess show the act of love, a trend already visible in Homer.

Aphroditeis famous for its relations with the various heroes and gods. The Courtship of Aphrodite with Ares was a source of amusement for the gods of Olympus and was probably a matter of an ancient cult. Her love for Adonis ended tragically. According to one version of the myth, the goddess is said to have jumped off the cliff of Lefkada, sad for the beautiful new. Her romance with Anchises, ultimately, is one of the oldest traditions surrounding the goddess. The Gantz summarizes the role of Aphrodite in myth as follows: "Except Homer and those (relatively few) sexual conflict, the role of Aphrodite in myth limited to helping lovers or to punish those who reject his love."

Undoubtedly it is difficult to distinguish the effect of a planet behind such narratives. As suggested by Jane Harrison, though, there is a noticeable trend in Greek myth analyze initially diverse goddesses in specialized forms with the passage of time. Such specialization in function occurs in the case of Aphrodite:

"Another point that suggests the late arrival in Greece is the fact that in Homer appears as specialized goddess, associated with a human passion. The oldest forms of these deities combine several functions. When the mixing of races and the influence of literature brings together various local deities, necessarily, to maintain consistency, we must share the functions and properties. "

Regarding the antiquity of the cult of Aphrodite in ancient Greece, there is an issue. While the goddess already certainly confirmed in early epic literature, the name is absent from the Mycenaean religion, at least as we are known from Linear B '. Probably the worship of the goddess came to Greece in the period 1200 - 800 BCE The Barkert believes the origin of Aphrodite remains obscure, like the name. "

Since I arrived but Aphrodite in Greek coast? For Homer, Hesiod and other early writers, the goddess closely associated with Cyprus. The Odyssey mentions Paphos as the home of the goddess, while the Iliad mentions the Kypris as the most common surname. Hesiod mentions Kyprogeni and Kythireia.

Our search for the origin of Aphrodite  does not stop in Cyprus, known fusion point of Asian religious beliefs. Almost all the top scholars agree that the cult of Aphrodite first arrived in Greece from the Near East: "Behind the form of Aphrodite standing purely Semitic goddess of love, Ishtar-Astarte, divine consort of the king, queen of heaven and courtesan simultaneously. " This view is supported by the Greeks themselves. Pausanias, for example, had the following view: "The Assyrians were the first of the human race who worshiped the heavenly [Aphrodite Ourania], then the people of Paphos in Cyprus and the Phoenicians in Palestine and the people of Cythera, who learned the worship of the Phoenicians. "This Barkert indicates that Aphrodite  has many features in common with Ishtar. Both are depicted as goddesses of love and rituals associated with prostitution, for example. Aphrodite as Ishtar, depicted armed and invoked as a guarantor of victory.