Powers: Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty and love.
Family of Origin: Aphrodite is said to have arisen from the foam that gathered around the genitals of Uranus floating in the sea after his son Cronus cut them off. Aphrodite is also called the daughter of Zeus and Dione or the Titans Oceanus and Tethys.
Roman Equivalent: Aphrodite was called Venus by the Romans.
Attributes: mirror, apple, dove.
Associations: Aphrodite is associated with a magic girdle (belt), the golden apple she was awarded by the Judgement of Paris, the dove, a mirror, the dolphin, and more. In the famous Botticelli, Aphrodite is seen rising from a clam shell.
Trojan War and Aeneid's Aphrodite / Venus: The story of the Trojan War rests on the story of Paris awarding the apple of discord to Aphrodite. For awarding her the prize, Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman of the world -- who happened to be Menelaus' wife, Helen.
In the Aeneid, Venus is the mother of Aeneas who pops in periodically throughout the course of the Aeneid, which tells the story of Trojan prince Aeneas' adventures taking the household gods from the burning city of Troy to Italy, where he founded the race of the Romans.
