Aphrodite

As the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite was the descendant of Zeus and Dione, which made her the second-generation Olympian goddess. According to Hesiod’s Theogony, she was born as an adult. It is said that if Apollo represents the ideal of the perfect male body to the Greeks, his most appropriate female counterpart is Aphrodite（原来阿波罗、阿弗洛狄忒神设是至美颜值！）. As the most beautiful of all goddesses in terms of appearance, Aphrodite represents love, beauty and procreation. Beautiful and enhancing, she is frequently depicted nude as a symmetrically perfect maiden, desirable but unattainable（渴望而不可求，可远观而不可亵玩焉）. Her major symbols are the scallop and the shell, the dove or the sparrow, roses and myrtles. Besides her astounding beauty, she had the power to stir up love and desires among gods, mortals and even birds and beasts.

Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Ares

Worried that her captivating charm would cause unnecessary troubles among gods, Zeus married Aphrodite to Hephaestus （美女配野兽的桥段源头在这！）, the ugly, lame and deformed god of fire when he demanded her in order to release Hera from a magical trap. Zeus also saw this marriage as a solution to prevent others from their rivalry to possess the goddess of beauty. But that did not stop her from having affairs and wreaking havoc on Olympus and in the human world at her will. Most notably and most desirable was the one with Ares with whom Aphrodite was having a passionate, but secret love affair. The fruits of this affair were Phobos (god of fear) and Deimos (god of terror).

The Trojan War

Aphrodite is probably best known for her role in the Judgment of Paris and the Trojan war. It all started with the golden apple thrown at a wedding banquet table which was said to belong to the fairest one. The problem emerged when Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all started arguing for their entitlement to the golden apple（金苹果，金苹果告诉我，谁是世界上最美丽的女人！）. They went to Zeus for a judgement. Not wishing to favor any of them in the argument, Zeus gave the decision to Paris, the prince of Troy and the most handsome man alive. Paris accepted this task. To get the golden apple, the three goddesses resorted to bribes （后门走得如此正大光明）. Hera promised Paris power, Athena wisdom, fame and glory, while Aphrodite promised him eternal love with the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris couldn’t resist Aphrodite’s promise and gave her the golden apple in exchange（在美女和婚外情面前，男人果断放弃权力，智慧和荣誉！！）. In return, Aphrodite gave him Helen, the fairest woman on the earth as his wife. As Helen then was the wife of Menelaus, Aphrodite helped her travel to Troy with Paris and become Helen of Troy. So, a feud among the three goddesses resulted in the Trojan war. In the war, Aphrodite supported Paris and convinced her lover Ares to side with her and the Trojans. The other two goddesses were enraged and sided with the Greeks. Due to the interest conflicts among the gods and Goddesses, the Trojan War lasted for ten years （这告诉我们女人之间的比美问题起源之早！横亘之久！后果之重！！）.

Aphrodite, Adonis, Persephone

Aphrodite’s most famous mortal lover was Adonis, an incredibly handsome man who was born as the result of an incestuous relationship between Myrrha and her father, King Theias of Assyria （不伦）. Adonis was born from the tree’s trunk. When Aphrodite came across the baby, she was taken with the child’s beauty （颜值即正义）. Since there was no one to look after him, Aphrodite took him under her wing. So obsessed was she with him that she began neglecting her duties as a goddess. As a remedial measure, she sent the child to be looked after by Persephone, the Queen of the Dead in the Underworld. It was also a move to keep him away from interfering eyes.

However, Persephone, too, fell dearly in love with Adonis and refused to give him up when Aphrodite came for him （防火，防盗，防闺蜜啊！）. There was a bitter argument and Zeus had to intervene to prevent a disastrous argument between the two. He decided that every year Adonis would spend four months first with Persephone, the next four months with Aphrodite and the last four months he would be left alone, so that he may learn to look after himself （宙斯，神话版本里的老娘舅啊！）.

Adonis grew up to be a very handsome young man and one look at him could make every woman’s heart excited with desire （一秒暴露女人们的颜狗属性）. That excited was also the heart of goddess Aphrodite, who was extremely charmed at this young man. Adonis loved the great outdoors and was a master of the hunt （美男子就是放荡不羁爱自由）. Once, when Aphrodite was to go away for a few days, she warned Adonis not to stray too far into the forest while hunting. At the same time, she told him to stay away from any beast that did not run away from him.

However, the heart of young Adonis was audacious and neglecting Aphrodite’s warning, he plunged deep into the forest. There he came upon a wild boar and, no matter how much he tried, he could not scare it away. The boar, angered, attacked Adonis and with one massive heave of its head pierced the young man with its tusk. It is said that the boar which killed Adonis was no ordinary beast but the god Ares, who was one of Aphrodite’s many lovers. Jealous of her passion for Adonis, Ares, disguised himself in the form of a boar and attacked the young man （两个小三之间的明争暗斗！）.

Hearing the screams of his beloved Adonis, Aphrodite immediately headed for the forest, where she found him breathing his last. Kneeling by his side, she sprinkled nectar over the wound and to ease his pain she sang gently to him. A smile caressed Adonis’ countenance, as he silently passed away into the Realm of the Dead. The nectar that Aphrodite sprinkled on Adonis’ wound had turned the droplets of his blood into beautiful red anemones, while the rest of his blood flowed, becoming the river Adonis, which is today known as the river Nahr Ibrahim in coastal Lebanon （红玫瑰象征爱情的由来）.

Persephone greeted Adonis with arms wide open as he entered the underworld and her delight knew no bounds. At the same time, Aphrodite, knowing that her Adonis must be in the clutches of Persephone, rushed to the underworld to bring him back. Once again, Zeus had to intervene and stop the women from quarrelling over who would have rightful possession of Adonis （耐心的老娘舅宙斯再度上线）. With great patience he told them that henceforth, Adonis would spend half the year with Aphrodite and the other half with Persephone （哈哈哈，阿多尼斯生是这两个女人的人，死后完完全全成了她俩的鬼！）. 

—adapted from 中国大学慕课MOOC A Window into Western Culture