Gods of ancient Greece Aphrodite. Gods of ancient Greece. The story of the birth of the goddess of love and beauty

- (ancient Greek Ἀφροδίτη, in ancient times it was interpreted as a derivative of ἀφρός - “foam”). She was one of the twelve great Olympian gods.

Born from sea foam

Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and carnal passion, as well as female beauty, born from sea foam. Kind to those who revere her, but merciless to people who do not treat her with due respect. The priestesses of Aphrodite were never virgins and performed sexual rites, but men were not allowed into the temple. Totem animals - heron, parrot, swan and dove. The goddesses are addressed during rituals of the following direction: love, beauty, physical love, sensuality, passion, generosity, cooperation, friendship, mutual understanding, creativity. Plus, all kinds of flower magic.

Goddess Aphrodite

Goddess Aphrodite

Goddess Aphrodite

Goddess of love Aphrodite

Beautiful Aphrodite is considered the goddess of love, beauty and personifies sensuality and charm. She is the patroness of sea voyages and travel. Her name is translated as ‘foam born’. Aphrodite is considered the goddess of the sea, the fertility of the earth. According to ancient Greek mythology, she carries only love, awakens it in the souls of people, as well as gods. Only Athena, Hestia, Artemis did not succumb to her powerful influence. It is considered a symbol of relationships and marriage, love and beauty. Aphrodite showed cruelty to those who did not accept love. According to legend, Aphrodite, the daughter of Uranus, was reborn in sea waters near about. Kiefer. Getting into the water, the blood of Uranus formed a foam, from which it originated. A strong wind carried her to the island of Cyprus, where Aphrodite, who emerged from the water, was met by Oras. In addition, she was considered the daughter of Zeus and Dione, she was the wife of Hephaestus, the mother of Eros, Anterot, Deimos, Phobos, Harmony, Hermaphrodite. In ancient Greece, the inhabitants worshiped the goddess Aphrodite, and her sacred temple was located in Paphos.

The beauty queen

The beautiful Aphrodite was a seductive and sensual person mainly because of her many love relationships with the gods, these were Adonis, Ares, they occupied a special place in the legend. She was still known to everyone as Urania and was a truly kindred spirit with spirituality and grace. According to legend, Eros is the god of loving romantic relationships, one of her many children, sends his love arrows to those who are on his list. The beauty of the charming goddess was conveyed by many poets and musicians, singers, the golden color of her hair, beautiful eyes, lovely skin and beautiful breasts were sung by them. She was also associated with doves, birds of love, with beautiful swans, known for being paired all their lives, with roses, with the aromas of fruits, berries.

Greek goddess of beauty

There are several mythological versions about the birth of the goddess herself. Hesiod and Homer tell two opposite versions in the legends. In many myths, the goddess appeared only when her help was needed by praying men, she came to those who needed her. At the request of Hypomenes, she came to the rescue before his speed competition with Atlanta. The Goddess represents the urge and union of lovers. Thanks to her, there is an attraction and reunion of all lovers. Having met the ideal girl on Olympus, the gods often fell in love with her. According to myths, she walked along with her nymphs, ores and harites. In many legends, she is the goddess of beauty, marriage and birth. Due to the fact that she was of Eastern origin, she was identified with the goddess Astarte, Isis. The ancient Greeks believed that the goddess patronizes all heroes, they asked for her blessing to clarify their feelings and relationships. She was one of the goddesses who argued about the beauty of Paris. A distinctive attribute of the goddess was her belt and, according to mythology, there was some kind of power of love in her. She gave this belt to Hera in order to distract Zeus himself. Numerous temples of the goddess were located in the regions of Greece-Corinth, Messinia, Cyprus, Sicily. In Rome, she was identified with the goddess Venus, who was their progenitor at the expense of her son Aeneas, the ancestor of the Julius family, according to legend, Julius Caesar belonged to him.

The Greek pantheon is rich in divine beings, to whom ancient people attributed unusual abilities. Worshiping the gods, they believed that they patronize them in undertakings, important matters, household and personal life. The Olympians were asked for blessings in waging wars and making the right decisions. One of the favorite goddesses of Greek mythology was christened Aphrodite. Eternal spring accompanies the daughter in the images and descriptions. Why is she so special?

Origin story

Aphrodite is one of the twelve supreme gods of Olympus. She is immortal, like most of her relatives. In addition, love is not peculiar to the end, so even the myths of the Romans do not cover the death of Aphrodite, allowing the legend of eternal love to exist. In Rome, the goddess was called Venus, in Syria - Astarte, the Sumerians believed in the goddess Ishtar.

"Birth of Venus"

For the first time the name of Aphrodite was mentioned by the poet Hesiod in the 8th-7th century BC. The girl became the heroine of the work "Theogony", where her description was very laconic. According to Hesiod, Aphrodite is the daughter of Gaia and Uranus. Uranus, who tormented his wife, was attacked by children. Mother came to the aid of Kronos, wounding his father. The blood of the deity fell into the sea. This is how Aphrodite appeared, whose name in Greek means "foam". The myth testifies that the goddess came to land on the shores of Cyprus. In the city of Paphos, a large temple was laid in honor of the patroness of love.

Aphrodite patronizes fertility, beauty and is considered the goddess of marriages. Everything beautiful that surrounds a person is her creation. Lovers asking for blessings turned to Aphrodite for him. Lonely begged her for the acquisition of the second half. Artists sang the benevolent beauty. In the confrontation between war and peace, she is always on the side of the continuation of life, so those who longed for prosperity and tranquility asked for her attention. Aphrodite was able to influence people, animals and the Olympian gods. Only, and remained beyond her influence, as they took a vow of chastity.

Aphrodite in Greek mythology

In the epic work The Iliad, the poet claims that Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus. The girl was the ruler of romantic feelings. Flowers bloomed at her every step, and the patrons of attraction and passion - Eros and Gimerot - accompanied the goddess on her way. Aphrodite, a symbol of harmony, brought life into the world.

In addition to writers whose works are today considered to be carriers of the traditions and culture of Ancient Greece, there were many storytellers who composed legends and myths about the deities living on Olympus. Many legends are dedicated to Aphrodite. In accordance with them, after her birth, the girl conquered and fascinated everyone she met on her way. The goddess is always young and fresh. She often brought generous gifts to the chosen ones and those who needed help. One day, the girl gave Hera an exquisite belt containing love and desire. The attributes in her possession endowed with enchanting power. Among them is a golden cup, the wine from which gave eternal youth.

The Greeks represented Aphrodite as a very beautiful girl. Her hair had a golden hue, her head was crowned with flowers, and her body was covered with a snow-white toga. The heroine was served by Ora and Harita - the patroness of beauty and grace. According to legend, the goddess started romances with equals in origin and mere mortals.

Few could resist her image. The husband of Aphrodite, who was not famous for the attractiveness of the god, endured the adventures of his wife. There were no heirs in the union, but five children were born from an extramarital affair with Aphrodite. Her other admirer became the father of Priapus, and the boyfriend received the heir of Hermaphrodite. Aphrodite was connected by love ties with King Anchises, to whom she gave birth to a son, Aeneas, who became famous in the Trojan War.

In The Odyssey, Homer describes Aphrodite's romance with Ares. The author tells how Hephaestus forged the thinnest golden net, which helped to catch lovers hiding under it in the absence of a spouse.

The myth that tells about the love of Aphrodite and Adonis, the son of the king of Cyprus, tells that young people went hunting together. Adonis promised not to indulge in chasing wild animals and prefer chamois. Once he met a boar. The dogs overtook the animal, and it managed to wound the prince to death. The inconsolable Aphrodite searched for his body, wandering barefoot through the thorny thickets. Where drops of blood fell from her feet, roses grew. According to legend, he made a deal with Zeus and released Adonis from the underworld to Aphrodite for six months. At this time, spring and summer reigned on the earth.

Aphrodite in culture

The goddess of fertility, love and beauty is not dedicated to individual films. But it is often present in the frame of fantastic films, the plot of which is associated with the Olympians and ancient Greek mythology.

But Aphrodite remains a popular character for artists. She inspired sculptors, painters and writers. In visual images, the girl was depicted surrounded by fragrant flowers and birds, and dolphins accompanied her in the sea.

Mentioned about Aphrodite in the play "Hippolytus", and Apuleius - in romantic stories collected in the collection "Metamorphoses". Lucretius in the creation "On the Nature of Things" talked about Venus and her ability to inhale the soul into all living things, to give fertility to the earth and the female race.

In philosophy, he spoke out about a girl from Olympus. He described the duality of the image, which combined the base with the sublime: erotica with love. Zeno of Ketia described the goddess as bringing together, and Plotinus, on the contrary, saw in her the personification of the triad of mind, spirit and soul.

According to Homer, the goddess Aphrodite was born near the coast of the city of Paphos in Cyprus and was the daughter of Zeus and Diony (Διώνης). Then the west wind Zephyr pushed her into the sea and after that she emerged naked and beautiful from the sea.

According to Hesiod, Aphrodite was born from foam, which was formed from the seed of Uranus, which fell into the sea off the coast of the island of Kitira, and also with the help of the Zephyr wind, she ended up off the coast of Cyprus, where she came ashore in all her glory.

The beautiful goddess got her name from the word foam (ἀφρός) - Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη).

Aphrodite in ancient Greek mythology and religion was the goddess of love, sexuality, beauty, pleasure and childbirth.

The attributes of Aphrodite are the belt, myrtle, roses, poppy, doves, sparrows, dolphin, swans, golden bowl.

Aphrodite goddess of love

Beauty and love have always been of great importance in the lives of gods and people.
The beauty of Aphrodite, her grace, passion and love inspired every living being. Everyone wanted her presence. Accompanied by Eros, Aphrodite appeared on Olympus. The gods, seeing the beautiful Aphrodite, could not take their eyes off her, the birds glorified the goddess with their singing. Everyone who saw Aphrodite had hearts filled with love, those who did not obey her were punished by the goddess.

No one could resist Aphrodite, with the exception of three virgin goddesses: Athena, Artemis and Hestia.

Hera, the patroness of marriages, married the beautiful Aphrodite to Hephaestus, perhaps the ugliest of the gods. Hephaestus was the legitimate son of Zeus and Hera, he grew up away from his parents and became a great blacksmith. Hephaestus was a god of fire, unlike the attractive male gods, he was lame, he had very dark skin and a dark beard. Ugliness, however, did not become an obstacle in order to conquer the most beautiful women.

Aphrodite and Ares

Aphrodite was unfaithful to Hephaestus, soon after the wedding, she began dating Ares, the god of war. But there is nothing secret for Helios - the god of the sun, who told Hephaestus that his wife had a lover. In a rage, Hephaestus wanted to kill Ares, but after thinking, he asked Helios not to tell anyone yet, and he himself began to come up with a plan on how to take revenge on the offenders.

First, he forged a thin, almost invisible net and attached it over the bed, then he told his wife that he needed to leave and as soon as her husband left home, Aphrodite sent a messenger to Ares to inform him of Hephaestus's departure.

During a date between Aphrodite and Ares, a net made by Hephaestus falls on the lovers and they are trapped. Here Hephaestus appears with Zeus and other gods and begins to laugh loudly at the helpless lovers. When they were nevertheless released, they dispersed in different directions, Aphrodite went to her homeland, Cyprus, Ares - to Thrace, to the war.

Aphrodite and Adonis

Aphrodite, in order to punish the wife of the king of Cyprus, Smyrna, because she considered her daughter Mirra the most beautiful, inspired Mirra with love for her father. On a dark night, she came to her father in bed, who came from a feast and was drunk.

In the morning, Mirra realized the full horror of mortal sin, ran into the forest and hid there. Aphrodite found her and turned her into a tree, later Adonis was born from the bark of the tree. Aphrodite was amazed at the extraordinary beauty of the boy and, in order to protect him, gave him up to Persephone in the dark kingdom.

When Adonis grew up, he became a handsome man with a beautiful body and a divine face. Persephone fell madly in love with him and refused to give him back to Aphrodite. The goddesses began to argue, Zeus had to intervene and resolve their dispute. Zeus said that Adonis would spend a third of his time next to Aphrodite, another third next to Persephone, and the rest of the time at his discretion. As a result, it turned out that Adonis lived in the realm of the dead for four months and eight with Aphrodite, who successfully applied her magic belt.

Every time the time came for Adonis to leave the realm of the dead, nature came to life: the fields were green, flowers and trees blossomed, and a wonderful aroma filled the atmosphere. Aphrodite rarely appeared on Olympus and lived with her young lover in the mountains and forests. Adonis became a hunter and they, along with Aphrodite, rejoiced at their closeness.

Soon Ares found out about Aphrodite's love for Adonis. He was able to forget his love for her, blinded by passion and jealousy, he turned into a boar and killed Adonis.

There was no limit to Aphrodite's grief, the tears of the goddess dripped to the ground and white anemones and red poppies immediately sprouted...

Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, born from sea foam

Aphrodite, Greek, Latin Venus is the goddess of love and beauty, the most beautiful of the goddesses of ancient myths.

Its origin is not entirely clear. According to Homer, Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus and the rain goddess Dione; according to Hesiod, Aphrodite was born from sea foam, fertilized by the sky god Uranus, and emerged from the sea on the island of Cyprus (hence one of her nicknames: Cyprida).

One way or another, but in any case, thanks to her beauty and all sorts of charms, Aphrodite became one of the most powerful goddesses, before which neither gods nor people could resist.

In addition, she had a whole detachment of assistants and assistants: the goddesses of female charm and beauty - haritas, the goddesses of the seasons - mountains, the goddess of persuasion (and flattery) Peyto, the god of passionate attraction Himer, the god of love attraction Pot, the god of marriage Hymen and the young god love Eros, from whose arrows there is no escape.

Since love plays a huge role in the lives of gods and people, Aphrodite has always been in high esteem. Those who showed respect for her and did not skimp on sacrifices could count on her goodwill. True, she was a rather fickle deity, and the happiness she bestowed was often fleeting. Sometimes she worked genuine miracles, which only love is capable of. For example, to the Cypriot sculptor Pygmalion, Aphrodite brought to life a marble statue of a woman with whom he fell in love. Aphrodite protected her favorites wherever she could, but she also knew how to hate, because hatred is the sister of love. So, the timid young man Narcissus, to whom the jealous nymphs reported that he neglects their charms, Aphrodite made him fall in love with himself and take his own life.

Oddly enough, Aphrodite herself was not very lucky in love, since she did not manage to keep any of her lovers; She was not happy in marriage either. Zeus gave her the most unprepossessing of all gods, the lame, always sweaty blacksmith god Hephaestus, as her husband. To console herself, Aphrodite became close to the god of war Ares and bore him five children: Eros, Anteroth, Deimos, Phobos and Harmony, then with the god of wine Dionysus (she gave birth to his son Priapus), and also, among others, with the god of trade Hermes. She even consoled herself with a mere mortal, the Dardanian king Anchises, from whom Aeneas was born to her.

In the world of myths, life has always been rich in events, and Aphrodite often took the most active part in them; but her benevolence towards the Trojan prince Paris had the most far-reaching consequences. In gratitude for the fact that Paris called Aphrodite more beautiful than Hera and Athena, she promised him the most beautiful of mortal women as his wife. She turned out to be Helen - the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus, and Aphrodite helped Paris kidnap her and take her to Troy. Thus began the Trojan War, which you can read about in the articles Menelaus, Agamemnon and many others. Naturally, in this story, Aphrodite helped the Trojans, but the war was not her part. For example, as soon as she was scratched by the spear of the Achaean leader Diomedes, she ran away crying from the battlefield. As a result of a ten-year war, in which all the heroes of that time and almost all the gods participated, Paris died, and Troy was wiped off the face of the earth.

Aphrodite was clearly a goddess of Asia Minor origin and, apparently, goes back to the Phoenician-Syrian goddess Astarte, and she, in turn, to the Assyrian-Babylonian goddess of love Ishtar. The Greeks adopted this cult already in ancient times, most likely through the islands of Cyprus and Cythera, where Aphrodite was worshiped with particular zeal. Hence such nicknames of the goddess as Cyprida, Paphia, the Paphos goddess - from the city of Paphos in Cyprus, where there was one of the most magnificent temples of Aphrodite (see also the article "Pygmalion"), from Cythera (Cythera) - Kythera. Myrtle, rose, apple, poppy, doves, dolphin, swallow and linden were dedicated to her, as well as many magnificent temples - not only in Paphos, but also in Knida, Corinth, Alabanda, on the island of Kos and in other places. From the Greek colonies in southern Italy, her cult spread to Rome, where she was identified with the ancient Italic goddess of spring, Venus. The largest of the Roman temples of Aphrodite-Venus were those at the Forum of Caesar (temple of Venus the Ancestor) and at the Via Sacre (Sacred Road) to the Roman Forum (temple of Venus and Roma). The cult of Aphrodite fell into decline only after the victory of Christianity. However, thanks to poets, sculptors, artists and astronomers, her name has survived to this day.

Beauty and love attract artists of all times, therefore Aphrodite was depicted, perhaps, more often than all other characters of ancient myths, including in vase paintings, frescoes of Pompeii; unfortunately, about the fresco "Aphrodite emerging from the waves", created in the end. 4th c. BC e. Apelles for the temple of Asclepius on Kos, we know only from the words of ancient authors who call it "unsurpassed". The most famous of the reliefs is the so-called Aphrodite of Ludovisi, a Greek work of the 460s. BC e. (Rome, National Museum at Thermes).

The statues of Aphrodite are among the masterpieces of ancient plastic art. This is primarily "Aphrodite of Cnidus", created, probably by Praxiteles for the Cnidus temple in the 350s. BC e. (copies of it are in the Vatican Museums, in the Louvre in Paris, in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and in other collections), "Aphrodite of Cyrene" - a Roman copy of a Hellenistic statue of the 2-1 centuries. BC e. (Rome, National Museum at Thermae), "Capitolian Aphrodite" - a Roman copy of a Hellenistic statue of ser. 3 in. BC e. (Rome, Capitoline Museums), "Venus Mediciy" - a Roman copy of the statue of Cleomenes, 2nd century. BC e. (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) and others. The finds of several Greek statues, which ancient authors do not mention at all, testify to the highest level of skill of the Greek sculptors who sculpted Aphrodite, for example, Aphrodite from Sol (2nd century BC, Cyprus Museum in Nicosia) or the famous "Aphrodite of Melos" (late 2nd century BC, found in 1820, Paris, Louvre).

Artists of the new time were fond of Aphrodite no less than ancient ones: their paintings and sculptures are almost impossible to count. Among the most famous paintings are: "The Birth of Venus" and "Venus and Mars" by Botticelli (1483-1484 and 1483, Florence, Uffizi Gallery, and London, National Gallery), "Sleeping Venus" by Giorgione, completed after 1510 by Titian ( Dresden Gallery), Venus and Cupid by Cranach the Elder (c. 1526, Rome, Villa Borghese), Venus and Cupid by Palms the Elder (1517, Bucharest, National Gallery), Sleeping Venus and Venus and the Lute Player (Dresden gallery), The Birth of Venus, Triumph of Venus and Venus and Mars by Rubens (London, National Gallery, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Genoa, Palazzo Bianco), Sleeping Venus by Reni (after 1605) and Poussin (1630, both paintings in the Dresden Gallery), Venus with a Mirror by Velázquez (c. 1657, London, National Gallery), Boucher's Toilet of Venus and Venus Comforting Cupid (1746, Stockholm, National Museum, and 1751 , Washington, National Gallery). Of contemporary works, we can name at least “Aphrodite” by R. Dufy (c. 1930, Prague, National Gallery), “Venus with a Lantern” by Pavlovich-Barilli (1938, Belgrade, Museum of Modern Art), “Sleeping Venus” by Delvaux (1944, London , National Gallery) and the engraving "The Birth of Venus" by M. Shvabinsky (1930).

From the field of plastics it is necessary to mention, at a minimum, "Venus" by G. R. Donner, created during his stay in Bratislava in 1739-1740, "Venus and Mars" by Canova (1816) and, perhaps, also his portrait sculpture " Paolina Borghese as Venus" (1807, Rome, Villa Borghese), "Aphrodite" by B. Thorvaldsen (c. 1835, Copenhagen, Thorvaldsen Museum), "Venus the Victorious" by O. Renoir (1914), "Venus with a Pearl Necklace" A. Maillol (1918, in the London Tate Gallery), "Venus" by M. Marini (1940, USA, private collection). In the collection of the Prague National Gallery - "Venus" by Horeyts (1914) and "Venus of Fertile Fields" by Obrovsky (1930); the sculpture "Venus emerging from the waves" was created in 1930 by V. Makovsky. In this regard, it is interesting to note that the famous statue of J. V. Myslbek "Music" (1892-1912) is a creative processing of an antique sample. As it turned out from his creative heritage, he created it on the basis of a thorough study of the Venus of the Esquiline (1st century BC). Of course, composers also sang Aphrodite. At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Vranitsky wrote the program symphony "Aphrodite", at the beginning of the 20th century. the orchestral "Hymn to Venus" was created by Manyar, Orff wrote in 1950-1951. stage concert "Triumph of Aphrodite".

Of the many poetic works dedicated to Aphrodite, the oldest, apparently, are the three "Hymns to Aphrodite", which tradition ascribes to Homer. In poetry, Aphrodite is often referred to as Cythera (Kythera), the Queen of Paphos, Paphia:

"Run, hide from the eyes,
Cythera is a weak queen! .. "
- A. S. Pushkin, "Liberty" (1817);

"At the Paphos queen
Let's ask for a fresh wreath ... "
- A. S. Pushkin, "Krivtsov" (1817);

“As a faithful son of the pathos faith…”
- A. S. Pushkin, "To Shcherbinin" (1819). Here the pathos faith is love.

In most of the polytheistic religions known from historical sources and surviving artifacts, also called pagan, goddesses of love and beauty occupy an important place in the pantheons. Often, not goddesses, but gods act as the highest mythological creatures who are the patrons of love, for example, Eros and Cupid - in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, or the god Kama - in the Hindu pantheon. But this story is not about them, but about the beautiful goddesses who were objects of worship in the past and a source of artistic creativity at all times.
I tried to arrange the goddesses of love and beauty in accordance with the chronology, although this is not always possible, since sometimes direct borrowing of the deities of some ethnic groups by others is obvious, and also because of the synchrostadial nature of the pagan civilizations of the past.

The first known goddess of love was ISHTAR - the highest female deity among the peoples of Ancient Mesopotamia - the Sumerians (who called her INANNA), Akkadians, and later - in Babylonia. Even later, she was borrowed by the Greeks under the name ASTARTA, and in Jewish and Christian mythology she became a succubus. ISHTAR - the goddess of fertility and carnal love, her cult was associated with manifestations of sexual freedom, sacrificing virginity by priestesses, as well as help during childbirth.

INANNA - ISHTAR - ASTARTA

In ancient Egypt, as the goddess of love, fun and music, the goddess of the sky, Hathor, was revered, which in the ancient period of Egyptian history was considered a heavenly cow that gave birth to the sun. Therefore, later she was portrayed as a woman with horns, and sometimes with the ears of a cow.
In the late period, Hathor was identified with Isis, and the ancient Greeks identified her with Aphrodite.

HATOR

The ancient Iranians - Zoroastrians revered the mother goddess, the goddess of fertility and love ARDVISUR ANAHIT, who was the daughter of Ahuramazda himself, who gave him Zarathushtra. In the "Avesta" Advisura Anahita is described as "a beautiful, strong, slender girl, high belted, straight, of a noble family, noble." Her cult under the name of ANAHIT was widespread in Armenia until the official adoption of Christianity. In the Hellenistic period, Advisura Anahita was also identified with Aphrodite.

ADVISUR ANAHITA

In Hindu mythology, the goddess of happiness and beauty is Lakshmi. According to the most common beliefs, Lakshmi is the wife of Vishnu and the mother of the god of love Kama. Lakshmi arose at the very beginning of the creation of the world, emerging from the primordial waters on a lotus flower (which is why she is often called Kamala - "lotus"). Her other names include Indira ("beautiful") and Lola ("fickle").

LAKSMI

Of course, everyone knows about the ancient Greek goddess of love and beauty, so it’s not worth writing a lot about her, especially since her name has already been mentioned more than once. I will only mention that, being the goddess of love, Aphrodite was not distinguished by fidelity to her husband - the most skilled master and the most ugly among the Olympic gods - Hephaestus. Among her many lovers were Zeus, Poseidon, Arces and Hermes. From the love of Aphrodite and the god of war Ares, Ares' constant companions were born - Phobos and Deimos ("fear" and "horror"), as well as Eros - his mother's constant companion, a winged boy armed with a bow and arrows that inspire love. The son of Aphrodite from Hermes is Hermaphrodite, also a well-known character in ancient Greek myths.

APHRODITE

The Roman goddess of love VENUS is the same Greek Aphrodite. The mythology of Ancient Rome is secondary in relation to ancient Greek mythology, the plots of myths are similar, only the names of the main characters are changed: as Aphrodite became Venus, Zeus became Jupiter, Poseidon became Neptune, Ares became Mars, and Eros became Cupid.

VENUS

Another thing is Scandinavian and German mythology. The Scandinavian goddess of fertility, love and beauty FREYA ("lady" - from Old Norse), she is also FRIA ("beloved") in the mythology of the ancient Germans - the wife of the supreme god Odin (Wodan). Together with her husband, this goddess - the dream of all the Vikings - selects the soldiers who fell on the battlefields, that is, performs the functions of the Valkyries (or controls their choice). By the way, Freya, like other goddesses of love, is also not distinguished by chastity.

FREYA - FRIA

In Slavic mythology, LADA is considered the goddess of love. Despite the fact that most modern historians reasonably believe that Lada is a product of the "pantheon of Slavic gods" artificially constructed by B. A. Rybakov, which in fact did not exist (an attempt by Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich to create it ended in complete failure), I want to believe in the fact that the Slavs also had a goddess of love.
No Lada is mentioned in historical sources until the 15th century (later references to Lada refer to Polish texts, to which she is cursed as a demon). And yet, I am inclined to identify Lada with the goddess MAKOSHA, who actually existed in the mythology of the Eastern Slavs, about which there is information in the annals.

LADA - MAKOSH

Alas, I could not find the goddesses of love and beauty in the pantheons of Ancient China, Japan, as well as the civilizations of the American continent: the Maya and the Aztecs.
About monotheistic religions.
I didn’t even look for such deities in the civilizations of the Islamic world, since it is known that despite the richness of erotic overtones in Saadi’s poems or the rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Islam strictly prohibits not only the image of a woman, but also any animated being. For, "There is no god but Allah...". Not about the houris, who are not goddesses, write here.
In Christianity, in all its denominations, the concept of "love" referred primarily to God, and all worship of earthly love for a woman or her beauty was considered blasphemous, heretical and rejected in every possible way. The ideal of love and beauty was the Virgin Mary (in Catholicism) or the Mother of God (in Orthodoxy), but this is a completely different love and beauty than in polytheistic religions. The beautiful faces of Orthodox holy women on Russian icons, as well as the images of the Virgin Mary on the frescoes of Catholic cathedrals and paintings, for example, by Raphael, have nothing to do with the topic under consideration.
In Judaism, which is the basis of both Christianity and Islam, beautiful women are, first of all, servants of Samuel, that is, succubi. Many of them were previously goddesses, such as, for example, Ishtar - Astarte, but turned into demons, so they also cannot be included in our list of goddesses.
And yet, this list, I'm sure, is far from complete.
I'd be grateful if you could help me complete it!

Thank you for attention.

Sergei Vorobyov.