Greek goddess of erotic desire and beauty. Two competing parentages: Hesiod has her foam-born from the severed genitals of Ouranos (the older tradition, Aphrodite Urania); Homer has her as daughter of Zeus and Dione (Aphrodite Pandemos). Primary cult sites at Paphos (Cyprus, the aniconic stone) and Cythera. Lover of Ares; wife of Hephaestus; mother of Eros, Anteros, Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia.