THE EVERYTHING C L A S S I C A L MYTHOLOGY
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couple. The other deities ridiculed the couple, but they also ridiculed Hephaestus, which he was not expecting. Poseidon looked down at the beautiful, naked Aphrodite and pitied her. He begged Hephaestus to reconcile with his wife and set the couple free. Whether it was due to Poseidon's intervention or because Hephaestus was made a fool, he let the couple go. Of course, this wasn't the only instance in which Aphrodite cheated on her husband. But Hephaestus was so in love with the beautiful goddess, he never wanted to be separated from her. Certainly not an ideal marriage, Aphrodite was still able to maintain her promiscuous ways, and Hephaestus was able to maintain possession of the goddess of love.
A Woman in Love Just to give you an idea of how well Aphrodite carried out her duties as goddess of love, the following are a few (yes, just a few) of the accounts of her many affairs. Keep in mind, these are her personal love affairs. We haven't even begun to see what else she can do with her powers as a goddess.
Anchises This love affair was all Zeus's doing. Because Aphrodite made fun of the other deities for succumbing to her love spells, Zeus decided to teach the goddess a lesson. He made her fall in love with the mortal Anchises, king of Dardania. Aphrodite came across Anchises as he was herding sheep on Mount Ida. Because of Zeus, Aphrodite immediately fell head over heels for the young man. Considering her options, she figured the best approach would be to come before him as a beautiful mortal girl. Anchises had no qualms about giving in to the girl's advances. Their union produced a son, Aeneas. Aphrodite decided to reveal her true identity to her lover, thinking Anchises would be pleased to know he was a consort of the goddess of love. However, Anchises had a different reaction. He was frightened of