1. Goddess of love

2.  Due to her immense beauty, Zeus was frightened that she would be the cause of violence between the other gods.  He married her off to Hephaestus, the dour, humourless smith God.  Hephaestus was overjoyed at being married to the goddess of beauty and forged her beautiful jewellery, including a girdle that made her even more irresistible to men.  Her unhappiness with her marriage caused Aphrodite to seek out companionship from others, most frequently Ares, but also Adonis.

3.  The most famous of Aphrodite’s lovers was Ares, the god of war.  Hephaestus did not like his wife's behaviour so decided to teach her a lesson.  He forged a net of bronze links and hung it over her bed.  When the lovers were next together he dropped the net and caught them like fish.  He called the other gods to see how ridiculous they looked.

4.  Aphrodite and Persephone both fell in love with a handsome human, Adonis.  He preferred Aphrodite and Persephone was jealous.  She told Ares that Aphrodite loved a mortal more than him.

5.  He was furious, and turning into a boar, chased Adonis and gored him to death.  Where his blood fell the first anemones grew.  Adonis was sent to the underworld where Persephone was queen.

6.  Despite being goddess of love Aphrodite could become angry, just like any other goddess.  A man called Glaucus insulted her so she decided to punish him.

7.  The night before he was due to be in a chariot race she gave his horses water from her sacred well and fed them magic herbs.  When the race started they went mad, crashing the chariot, killing Glaucus.  They then ate their former master.

8.  Aphrodite also rewarded her followers.  Pygmalion was a sculptor who worshipped Aphrodite, but could not find a suitable wife.  He created a statue of his ideal woman.  It was such a success that he fell in love with it, although he knew his love was hopeless.

9.  Aphrodite felt sorry for him and brought the statue to life.  Overjoyed, Pygmalion named her Galatea and they were happily married.

10.  Aphrodite had several children.  One of her Son’s Eros made people fall in love by piercing them with golden arrows.  He was very mischievous and sometimes made unsuitable matches.  Aphrodite had another son, Aeneas, who was famous for his exploits in the Trojan war.