In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love and Passion. In the later versions of her myth, which tend to be more patriarchal in tone, Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and Dione (a Titan and the original oracular Goddess of Dodona). In these myths she’s often portrayed as the wanton, vain, ill tempered and easily offended Goddess of Love. She is the adulteress who has a long-term affair with the alternately courageous and cowardly God of War, Ares. With Ares she has three children: a girl, Harmony, and two boys, Fear and Terror.
In the earlier myths of Aphrodite, however, she is envisioned as the very act of love, which the animals and the nature of humanity experience as divine – when life sparkles with beauty and joy.
Homer sings of Aphrodite as being surrounded by the Graces – Joyous, Brilliance and Flowering – who weave her robes, and plait her a crown of violets. When she walks, flowers spring up beneath her feet; she is the essence of fertility! Desire and love follow her because her presence inspires longing and the yearning to connect intimately with joyful and sensual coupling, bringing fertility to the world.
The early Greeks referred to Aphrodite as the Golden One, the Lover of Laughter, as well as the Goddess of Love. As the Goddess of Love she was able to transform the customs of the world in order to make humans more civilized and more loving. She was said to send the Loves into the Courts of Wisdom so that, through love, more good could manifest in the world.
In later patriarchal Greek mythology, it was said that because of Aphrodite’s great beauty the gods feared that desire for her would inspire jealousy among them and create discord, possibly war. Therefore, Zeus married her to Hephaestus, the ugly deformed fire smith of the Gods, who was not viewed as a threat. Aphrodite, who was a free spirit and the essence of love and beauty, simply resisted the chains that were meant to subdue her. This had a negative effect on her reputation. Thus she was labeled as wanton and vain.
History, through patriarchal mythology, remembers her as Aphrodite Pandemos, or Aphrodite of the people. In her more earthy aspect she inspired sexual love and ruled over the festival of Aphrodisia, which celebrated the fertility of the Goddess, the people, the festivities and the sacred offerings of sexual favors.
Aphrodite, however, is also Aphrodite Ourania, or Heavenly Aphrodite, Queen of Heaven. She was identified as the comprehensive personification of all aspects of love. Love for humankind, for ideas, for the animals and plants, for the earth mother, for all the things for which we are passionate, for love of beauty, and the artistic representation of beauty and the human spirit.
We would benefit from a more expansive view of Aphrodite. By welcoming her into our hearts, we could expand our understanding of the true nature of love. For when we love with an open heart, when we embrace beauty, when we live our passions and express them with love in our hearts, there is no room for the rape of the planet, or of women, or of countries, or of each other. There is no desire to exploit, to dominate, to destroy. If we are truly living expressions of love and beauty, as is Aphrodite, then life sparkles with beauty and joy, and we humans again experience love as divine.
I encourage you to reflect on the deeper truth of Aphrodite. Ask her to bring more love and beauty into your life. When you are filled with love and beauty you will overflow, thus allowing them to stream out into the world, making the world a better place. What the world needs now is LOVE!
If you have trouble experiencing the love and beauty that surrounds you, then please take advantage of my 30-minute complimentary consultation and find out how you can create a more loving and joyful life for yourself. Contact me TODAY! 415-819-8769 or email joy@joyreichard.com