Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon’s week-long tribute to the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite. For day four of Aphrodisia Week, I have chosen to focus on Aphrodite as the ultimate Goddess of Beauty.
Aphrodite is the iconic Goddess of Beauty, as well as of love. This is something that is a common theme in many of her tales. She often is depicted as taking revenge on others for having the audacity to compare their beauty to hers! Which, let’s be honest, is an understandable thing, you should NOT compare yourself to a Goddess, or worse state that you are of superior beauty!
This plays a role in the story of Eros and Psyche, which I discussed yesterday in my post about Aphrodite as Mother. It is also a primary role in the story of Myrrah, the mother of Adonis. Myrrah’s family (either her mother or father) stated that she was more beautiful than even Aphrodite Herself to many people. Of course, Aphrodite found out and had her retribution. Aphrodite made Myrrah lust insatiably after her own father to obsession, until the girl tricked her father into bedding her numerous times! When she was revealed to be the woman he had bedded, he attempted to kill his daughter. It was at this point that Myrrah prayed to the Gods to save her, depending on the version either Zeus or Aphrodite herself (feeling empathy for the girl) turned her into a myrrh tree to protect her. Nine months later, Adonis was born from this tree and spirited away by Aphrodite to be cared for in the Underworld by Persephone until he grew up. This is why myrrh is sacred to Aphrodite!
Finally, I will mention that Aphrodite’s role in The Illiad is majorly impacted by her role as a Beauty Goddess. When Eris threw the Apple of Discord, the Goddess of Beauty believed that an apple labeled “to the fairest” was hers! That in conjunction with her offering up the love of Helen proved to secure her as the winner of the Divine Beauty Contest judged by Paris of Troy!
I hope that you have enjoyed this short post about Aphrodite’s aspect as a Beauty Goddess. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is Aphrodite, obviously. I found the image on https://owlcation.com/humanities/Aphrodite-Greek-Goddess-of-Love-and-Beauty.
Further Reading
- Pagan Portals-Aphrodite: Encountering the Goddess of Love & Beauty & Initiation by Irisanya Moon
White Rose of Avalon 