APHRODITE Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love , beauty , pleasure , and procreation . She is identified with the planet Venus ; her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus . Myrtle , roses, doves , sparrows and swans were sacred to her. In Hesiod 's Theogony , Aphrodite was created from the sea foam ( aphros ) produced by Uranus 's genitals, which had been severed by Cronus . In Homer 's Iliad , however, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione . In Plato ( Symposium , 180e), these two origins are said to be of hitherto separate entities: Aphrodite Ourania (a transcendent, "Heavenly" Aphrodite) and Aphrodite Pandemos (Aphrodite common to "all the people"). She had many other names, each emphasising a different aspect of the same goddess, or used by a different local cult. Thus she was also known as Cytherea ( Lady of Cythera ) and Cypris ( Lady of Cyprus ), both of which claimed to be her place of birth. In Greek myth, the other gods fear...
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ATHENA Athena or Athene often given the epithet Pallas is the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war in ancient Greek religion and mythology . In later times, Athena was syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva . Athena was portrayed as having a calm temperament, and moving slowly to anger. She was believed to only fight for just causes and never fight without a purpose. [4] In ancient Greek literature , Athena is portrayed as the astute companion of heroes and as the patron goddess of heroic endeavour. She is also the patroness of Athens . The Athenians constructed the Parthenon atop their Acropolis as a temple to Athena; it takes its name from her epithet Parthenos, which means " Virgin ".
ARES Ares is the Greek god of war . He is one of the Twelve Olympians , and the son of Zeus and Hera . In Greek literature , he often represents the physical or violent and untamed aspect of war, in contrast to his sister the armored Athena , whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and generalship . The Greeks were ambivalent toward Ares: although he embodied the physical valor necessary for success in war, he was a dangerous force, "overwhelming, insatiable in battle, destructive, and man-slaughtering." His sons Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Terror) and his lover, or sister, Enyo (Discord) accompanied him on his war chariot . In the Iliad , his father Zeus tells him that he is the god most hateful to him. An association with Ares endows places and objects with a savage, dangerous, or militarized quality. His value as a war god is placed in doubt: during the Trojan War , Ares was on the losing side, while Athena, often depicted in Gr...

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