Aphrodite THE GODDESS OF LOVE has an ancient history.
Ishtar/Astarte was the Semitic goddess of love. In Greece she was
called Aphrodite, worshipped especially on the islands of Cyprus
and Kythera. As goddess of love she was instrumental in the myths
about Atalanta, Hippolytus, Myrrha, and Pygmalion. Adonis and
Anchises were her human lovers. Venus, the Roman goddess, was
worshiped originally as a goddess of fertility, both human, and of
the garden. The Greek aspects were added on and for most practical
purposes, Venus is synonymous with Aphrodite. The Romans had a
special respect for Venus as the ancestor of the Roman people
through her liaison with Anchises.
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Short Excerpt from Jungian author, Edward Edinger's book - The
Eternal Drama: "Apollo's attributes are the sun, light, clarity,
truth. He represents the principle of rational consciousness which,
in so many of the positive and heroic figures of mythology, faces
great difficulties in being born. Hera in her jealousy (of Zeus'
affairs) pursued Apollo's mother, Leto, so that no place on earth
could be found for his birth. Finally he was born on the floating
island of Delos, which shows us in what tenuous ways the light of
"consciousness" first comes into the world Apollo killed the Python
of Delphi and took over that oracle, so he is vanquisher of
unconscious terrors. He is golden-haired like the sun; he is an
archer who shoots arrows of insight and/or death; he is a god of
music and the lyre. Healing belongs to his realm: he was the father
of Asclepius, the god of medicine. The Muses are part of his
retinue, so that music, history, dreams, poetry, dance, all belong
to him. The Muses are those we call on when we evoke creative
imagination to give us helpful images Apollo
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Ares was the Greek god of war, and according to mythology, war,
battles, and bloodshed were his major preoccupations. In certain
respects, there is not too much more to Ares than this connection
to war, as he is portrayed as being somewhat one-dimensional. Or at
least limited in his pleasures. However, there is one other area in
which Ares was interested, and that is indeed pleasure - with the
goddess Aphrodite, that is. He engaged in an ongoing tryst with
Aphrodite which is the stuff of legend (and myth), in defiance of
that fact that the lovely goddess was already married (to the god
Hephaistos). There is a wonderfully charming tale in the Odyssey of
Homer about how this couple's romantic rendezvous came to an
abrupt, and comic, end.AphroditeHephaistos Homer
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Artemis Artemis swore an oath of the gods, Swore by the beard
of her father: "I shall always be a virgin And live on summits of
the great Sierras, Hunting in the forests: O grant me this!" Her
father nodded in approval. Now gods And mortals call her by her
thrilling name, The deer-slaying-hunter, And she is pure of
marriage or erotic love.
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Athena Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, war, the arts,
industry, justice and skill. She was the favorite child of Zeus.
She had sprung fully grown out of her father's head. Her mother was
Metis, goddess of wisdom and Zeus' first wife.
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Demeter is the giver of grain. She is also known as Ceres
(Roman) and sometimes Deo. Her attributes in iconography can
include a torch, a crown, a sceptre, and stalks of grain. She is
often portrayed with her daughter, Persephone/Kore.
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Eris Eris played a significant part in Greek mythology. One of
the most important legends in which she is involved begins with a
wedding - the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, to be precise.
Apparently, someone forgot to invite the goddess of discord to the
festivities. That was the first mistake in a long chain of
disastrous events. For Eris simply showed up at the wedding anyway,
with mayhem on her mind. When she arrived, the goddess tossed a
golden apple into the crowd of famous faces. This tempting apple
was tagged with the phrase "to the fairest".
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Cupid Cupid (Eros in Greek), the mischievous and winged god of
love, was the son of Venus (Aphrodite in Greek). He was her
constant companion; and, armed with bow and arrows, he shot the
arrows of desire into the bosoms of both gods and men.
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Hades Hades also called Pluto. God of the underworld, the place
left after Zeus got the sky and Poseidon,the sea. His abduction of
Persephone (with Zeus' approval), paints him as evil. The world of
the dead, ruled by Pluto and Persephone. Guarded by Cerberus, it
was either underground or in the far west and was separated from
the land of the living by five rivers. One of these was the STYX,
across which the dead were ferried. Three judges decided the fate
of souls; heroes went to the ELYSIAN FIELDS, evildoers to TARTARUS.
The Underworld was a place for both saints and sinners, and Hades
basically was the innkeeper.
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Hephaestus Hephaestus, the god of fire, especially the
blacksmith's fire, was the patron of all craftsmen, principally
those working with metals. He was worshiped predominantly in
Athens, but also in other manufacturing centres. He was the god of
volcanos. Later, the fire within them represented the smith's
furnace. Hephaestus was associated with Mount Etna, which is on the
island of Sicily. Known as the lame god, Hephaestus was born weak
and crippled. Displeased by the sight of her son, Hera threw
Hephaestus from Mount Olympus, and he fell for a whole day before
landing in the sea.Hera
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Hera is an immortal goddess. This means that though she was
born, she will never die. A goddess cannot be killed, though she
can be confined. Zeus confines deities in Tartarus who should no
longer be active. All goddesses have a number of attributes which
Hera shares. They can move through the air and are often symbolized
with wings because of this. They can change their shape so they can
appear to mortals as a bird, a beast, or another mortal. They know
what has happened and will happen. They can fortell the future and
they live outside of time and are not bound by time. They are,
however, bound by fate, and necessity. Every goddess is assigned a
realm at conception. Some realms are small, such as a spring, or a
tree. Others are much larger and can be a natural process. Hera was
assigned the realm of marriage. This means that she is the
personification of marriage. This means that she is not different
from the marriage institution and her personality can be directly
derived from it. It is her realm because her thoughts determine the
natural laws of that marriage. She also listens to prayers on that
subject and issues modifications where desirable. It is here that
her main power lies. A goddess has no real enemies, but Zeus
encourages them to strive against one another. In order to bring
about action in another realm a goddess will have to make a deal
with the deity that controls that realm.
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Hercales Heracles, or Herakles (both: h r kl z) (KEY), most
popular of all Greek heroes, famous for extraordinary strength and
courage. Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon, made love to both Zeus and
her husband on the same night and bore two sons, Hercules (son of
Zeus) and Iphicles (son of Amphitryon). Hercules incurred the
everlasting wrath of Hera because he was the child of her
unfaithful husband. A few months after his birth Hera set two
serpents in his cradle, but the prodigious infant promptly
strangled them.KEY
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Hermes Hermes is the son of Zeus and Maia, goddess of clouds
and one of the Pleiades, the seven daughters of Atlas. He was born
in Arcadia, near the mountain Cyllene. He was washed by nymphs at
the mountain Tricrena, also in Arcadia. While some babies enjoy
rubber duckies, Hermes' holy-bird was Gallus, the cock or rooster
(also known these days as a messenger of sorts). The ram (as in
Aries) is also considered one of Hermes' favored pets.
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Hestia The presence of Hestia was found in the center of a fire
- and Hestia's fire served to make sacred whatever place it
dwelled. Hestia's deep abiding presence was felt and seen only in
the center of her warming fire. Thus... she could be found in every
temple and in every home. As such, her energies centered around her
sense of spirituality and with her home.
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Poseidon Poseidon is the god of the sea. He is also known as
Neptune (Roman) and the Earth- shaker. His attributes in
iconography include the trident and the fish.
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Selene(Luna) Selene, the moon goddess, is known for her
countless love affairs. The most famous of her loves is the shepard
Endymion. Other affairs of Selene's include involvement with Zeus
with whom she had three daughters, and Pan who gave her a herd of
white oxen. Some sources report that the Nemean lion, which fell to
the earth from the moon was the result of an affair of Zeus and
Selene. She was involved in many love affairs, however, not as many
as her sister, Eos, the dawn. EndymionZeusPanEos
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Zuez As evidenced from Greek and Roman mythology, Zeus or
Jupiter had affairs numbering in the hundreds with both goddesses
and mortal women. Among the goddesses there was Metis, Themis,
Mnemosyne, and Demeter. His wife Hera often attempted to punish
both Zeus and his lovers for their wrongdoing. There were many
mortal women that Zeus pursued as well. Alcmene was pursued by Zeus
and gave him Heracles, whom Hera tortured throughout his lifetime.
The affairs which this web page focuses on are some of his most
well known, those of Semele, Io, Europa, Danae, Leda, Leto, and
Ganymede.