Aphrodite

Goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, fertility and desire. Her name gave us the word "aphrodisiac". Irresistible Aphrodite seduced god and mortal alike, with her hypnotic beauty. Some claim that she was born of Zeus, others, that she rose from the foam of the sea fully formed and devastatingly attractive. So breathtaking was her loveliness, she was envied by all the other goddesses on Mount Olympus.

It was said that Paris judged her to be the most beautiful of all the goddesses, and awarded her with the golden apple. To reward Paris, Aphrodite granted Helen, the most beautiful woman on Earth. But his deed invoked the wrath of Menelaus, king of Sparta, thus setting the wheels of the Trojan War in motion. Aphrodite sided with the Trojans, and after their defeat, used her powers to protect her mortal son Aeneas, the Trojan warrior.

It was said that with her enchanting laughter and unrivaled beauty, she could seduce any god or man she so desired. The only beings on known in Greek myth that were immune to her power were the three virgin goddesses: Artemis, Athena, and Hestia.

In a love triangle, Aphrodite married Hephaestus, Mount Olympus' homeliest of gods, while carrying on an affair with Ares, the most brutal. Aphrodite, sensual. Mysterious, this original farm fatale has served as a familiar archetype throughout the ages. Her symbols include the dove, bird, apple, bee, swan, myrtle, and rose. Her Roman counterpart is Venus, her latin name gave us the word "venereal".