"APHRODITE was the great Olympian goddess of pleasure, joy, beauty, love and procreation.....
Aphrodite's attributes in classical art include Eros (the winged godling of love), a mirror, apple, and myrtle wreath or sprigs, and in the story of her birth the cockle shell.
Her most important sacred plants and animals were the rose, myrtle, and apple, dove, sparrow and fish."
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"Aphrodite (known as Venus in Roman mythology) is the main goddess associated with love, beauty, and sex. Born from the castrated genitals of Uranus after they were tossed into the sea- although some accounts describe her as the daughter of Zeus- Aphrodite is one of the more prominent gods.
She is seen as a symbol of fertility and sexuality; Aphrodite is often regarded as the most beautiful goddess in all of Mount Olympus. Fearing that her good looks would cause inner conflict amongst the gods, Zeus married her off to the lame Hephaestus.
While her beauty was legendary, even a goddess like Aphrodite couldn't avoid the downfalls that came with being attractive; depicted as vain, badly tempered, and quick to offend. She was also far from excited about being married to the ugly smithing god and so, cheated on him often.
Her life of adultery led to a number of consorts, with a list comprised of both immortal and mortal lovers: Adonis, Anchises, Hermes, and Ares just to name a few. Needless to say, her extensive amount of intercourse also led to Aphrodite bearing many children...."
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