Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. Her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus. According to Hesiod's Theogony, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranus's genitals and threw them into the sea, and she arose from the sea foam. Because of her beauty, other gods feared that their rivalry over her would interrupt the peace among them and lead to war, so Zeus married her to Hephaestus, who, because of his ugliness and deformity, was not seen as a threat. Aphrodite had many lovers—both gods, such as Ares, and men, such as Anchises. She played a role in the Eros and Psyche legend, and later was both Adonis's lover and his surrogate mother. Many lesser beings were said to be children of Aphrodite.

The text for this audio is from the book Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology edited by William Smith and published in 1849 and is in the public domain. This audio was recorded by LearnOutLoud.com and is narrated by Antonia Bath. Copyright © 2008 LearnOutLoud, Inc. Any reproduction or illegal distribution of the content in any form will result in immediate action against the person concerned.

A description of Aphrodite by William Smith. This is part of our audio book Greek Gods. Download this audio book on MP3 for free on LearnOutLoud.com: https://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Aud...