Aphrodite: Goddess of Love and Beauty

The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli, 1480 C.E.

Aphrodite is one of the oldest goddesses. She is the goddess of love, beauty, and eternal youth and was considered the ideal female form. This famous artwork is one of a number that follow the theme of Venus Anadyomene, which means “Venus rising from the sea.” Venus is Aphrodite’s Roman name. 

There are multiple versions of this theme throughout art history, and there are multiple versions of Aphrodite’s birth. Most say she rose from the foam of the sea, or from Ouranus’ (Saturn’s) genitals after they were thrown into the sea. Others say simply that her mother was Dione. “Aphros” means “foam” in Greek.

Aphrodite was, as we know, gorgeous, and this was seen as one of her great strengths: beauty. However, gods and goddesses in the Greek pantheon were not perfect beings. Aphrodite was very prideful, self-obsessed, and conceited. 

In one famous example of this, in a beauty contest between Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera known as the Judgment of Paris, Paris chose Aphrodite when she offered him Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. This event ultimately caused the Trojan war. Having essentially caused the war, Aphrodite then swooped in to save Paris’ life during battle while he was fighting Menelaus, Helen’s husband. 

The archetype of women's value being intrinsically linked to their beauty, and the concept of an “ideal” female form, and even references to Venus Anadyomene, are still prevalent in our culture to this day. 

Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, but historically, many have interpreted that as her being loved because she was so beautiful. Even today we still make this mistake - of relating women’s worthiness of fame and love with their beauty. In this way, Aphrodite really is more a goddess of beauty than of love, and physical beauty at that. Perhaps, a more ideal female form might be a goddess like Artemis. Check back to learn more about her!

For more information about Aphrodite, watch the first video of our Women in the Classics course.