As the February is deemed the month of love, it seems only appropriate to pay hommage to the most famous Muse associated with love, Aphrodite. She embodies all that love is, and is still considered the Goddess of Love.
Aphrodite was considered the most beautiful among the Olympian goddesses. She was born from the foam of the sea. When Cronos emasculated his father, Uranus, the blood drops that fell into the sea generated the goddess. The Zephyr gently blew and pushed her to the shore of the island of Cyprus, where she was received and dressed by the Graces, then taken to Mount Olympus.
As she was so beautiful, she refused all the gods, as she considered none of them good enough for her. Zeus punished her for her vanity and forced her to marry Hephaestos, the lame and ugly god - but she would always cheat on him.
Her most famous lover was Ares, God of War, she also loved Adonis, a young man of extreme beauty. She spent all the time going hunting with him. When he was killed by a boar, she looked for his body and mourned over him. Her delicate feet were hurt by thorns and the drops of blood turned into beautiful flowers, the anemones.
Aphrodite also loved a mortal, Anchises, and helped him and their son, Aeneas, to flee from Troy to Italy, so she might be considered the "foremother" of the Romans.
Aphrodite represented the power of love, from which no one can escape. She would bestow her blessings on those who worshipped her, but she would also be ruthless with those who despised love. Narcissus refused to worship the goddess, so she punished him, making him fall in love with his own image.
The most famous story of her manipulation was, 'Paris and the Golden Apple'. Paris had to choose the who was the most beautiful, between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, in order to decide who deserves the golden apple thrown by Eris, each of the goddesses promised him something. Aphrodite promised him the love of the most beautiful woman on Earth, Helen of Sparta. Paris and Helen's love affair is said to have sparked the Trojan war.
Aphrodite was also known for blessings she bestowed on people who truly loved, one example is of Pygmalion, a sculptor who made a beautiful statue, so beautiful that he fell in love with his creation. Aphrodite gave life to that statue, so they may live happily ever after.
So this month take time to reflect on love, and the powerful effect and reaction it can cause and the woman who used it to its full advantage... Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love ♥
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