Deity Name | Aphrodite Other Names | Venus, Kypris, Cytherea, Aphros (risen from the foam), Anadyomene (born to the sea), Philia (love), Epistrophia (she who turns men to love), Acraea, Despoena (mistress), Paphia (sexual love), Androphonos (man-slayer), Astarte Role/Function | Goddess of Love, Beauty, Desire, & Procreation and also a protector of sailors. Powers | Turn men into animals (figuratively and literally, heh), has a general charm that's hard to resist, ability to arouse love & passion in others as well as remove it, make herself and others invisible from mortals sight, can transform weapons into objects of peace (which pisses Ares off), and is irresistible to even the strongest willed of men - and most women too except for Artemis, Hestia, and Athena - when wearing her Cestus. Objects and Familiars: The Sea, Myrtle, Doves, Swans, Roses, Scallop Shells, Pearls, and Dolphins. Parents | Born of the murder of Oranos. Siblings | Half siblings; the Hecatonchires, the Titans, the Erinyes, the Cyclopes, the Meliae, the Gigantes. Spouse | Hephaestus. Children | With Ares - Eros, Anteros, Harmonia, Phobos, Himeros, Deimos. With Hermes - Hermaphrodite, Tyche, Peitho, Eunomia. With Dionysus - Priapus. With mortals - Adonis, Butes, Anchises.
Name | Astrid Rhoda Lennon Date of Birth | February 1, 1974 Nationality | American Social Class | Upper Class, born extreme Lower Parents | Rosemary Ann Costello & Peter Lennon Siblings | None Past Relationships | So many it'd take hours to list the ones she remembers. Significant Other/Spouse | Divorced! Ha! Children | None Overall Health | Quite fine - doesn't eat meat or dairy and does daily pilates & yoga. Education | Career | Well known and popular couples/sex therapist.
Height | 5'11" Weight/Build | 125lbs, slender/atheletic Hair | Blonde Eyes | Brown Skin/Other | Flawless & fair skinned. Description | Dite stands at five foot eleven inches with a flawless complexion and luscious platinum blonde hair - she'd fit right in with a group of models. She's got brown eyes that sparkle when she smiles. Her body is slim and yet fit. Every part of her is perfectly proportioned, not too big and not too small. Aphrodite always stands confident and has a certain grace about her movements. Her fashion is wide spread and unique. She dares to be different, tinting her robes pink, a faint hint of colour just enough to draw the attention to her at every Olympus gathering - her girdle is even light pink.
Personality | Her work is her pleasure. And most of the time the only thing she thinks about is love. All of her gossip, and help. comes exclusively from her beloved Charites - whom she watches over and protects as much as possible.
To the other deities, Aphrodite most of the time comes off as pleasant. And maybe just a little stuck up and vain. She's very flirtateous, as if you'd expect anything less. And while she's not an attention whore - she does love to have the spotlight. Dite is very devoted to her job. She absolutely cannot stand for anyone who interferes with her work and can be very childlike regarding complications. In other words, she'll pout all the way to Zeus' throne.
She loves having others wrapped around her pinky, She also enjoys having others look up to her for guidance. When others try to belittle her, Dite holds her own and maybe even gets vengeful. Her temper, for the most part, is rather short when dealing with stubborn deities and mortals alike. (Though she's really got no patience for Hera at all.) Aphrodite isn't perfect, mentally atleast. She's got a strong jealous streak for any mortal woman who even nears her beauty, but also over any female Ares touches or even looks at. Course being easily offended doesn't help her at all - this is were her cruel side shines through. She enjoys toying with mortal men and putting mortal women through Trials to earn their love. On the other end of that spectrum, her favorite pass time other than spending time bothering Ares, is playing match maker - and making sure those who try to do her job themselves, fail. Extravert/Introvert | Extravert Sensing/Intuition | Intuition Thinking/Feeling | Feeling Judging/Perceiving | Perceiving Hobbies and Interests | Strengths | Never straying from her job, loving, forgiving (mostly), the art of seduction, very affectionate, selectively respectful, encouraging and an enabler. Weaknesses | Pretty men, jealously, strong/fit men, nice jewelry, pouty looks from her children, very impulsive and uncontrollable.
Friends | The Charites, Ares, Apollo, Hermes, Dionysus Enemies | Hera, Eris, Poseidon (she can't express how much she isn't his property) Romantic Status | Married; but extremely unfaithful Significant Other | Hephaestus Sexual Preference | Heterosexual Present Interests | Lots! Past Relationships | Most frequent and most enjoyed; Ares. She loved accompanying him to battle, even if it was just to watch. She also liked to purposely "annoy" him and get him all grumpy - he's more fun that way.
Dionysus was pretty much a drunk affair, but fun nonetheless!
Dite found Hermes to be adorable but never really persued him. In fact he fell for her, and she was flattered but promised him nothing. Zeus felt sorry for him or something and sent an eagle to take her sandal when she was bathin in the river. The bird gave her sandal to Hermes and so she had to go get it back. Naturally, one thing led to another and she soon found out he was rather fun.
At first Zeus chased after Aphrodite, but she was too fast and got away. Later on Dite went to him on her own, and okay maybe to make Hera just a little bit jealous.
When Dite and Ares were caught in Hephaestus' chains, Poseidon was the one who got them released, promising Ares would pay for the affair. As a thank you, Aphrodite went to Poseidon. Likes | swimming in the sea, art, sex, match-making, romantic men, rough men, war, natural beauty, being pampered, compliments. Dislikes | weaving, those who don't give love a chance, when she doesn't get her way, being ignored.
Myth | Aphrodite was born from the murder of Oranos by his son Cronos. When Oranos' body entered the see and the sun whitened his blood, Dite rose from the foam - beautiful, adult, and naked. Poseidon's horses accompanied her to the island of Cythera. Every step she took in the sand, grass and flowers bloomed - dunes flourished and the air was full of birds. The same happened on Cyprus before Zeus took her to Olympus.
She stood in the throne room, still dripping wet and clothed in nothing but the long clinging locks of her golden hair. When the other Gods and Goddesses gathered to meet her, she let out a joyous laugh. Hera immediately demanded she be married off - and naturally Zeus listened and had the Gods assemble. Aphrodite was allowed to pick her own suitor, thankfully. Almost instantly the Gods started to shout promises and pleads for her hand in marriage. Poseidon even went as far as demanding he belong to her, claiming since she was born of the sea, she was rightfully his. He offered her everything, and a throned seat beside him - but she only smiled and said nothing. Aphrodite was offered gifts, and even cities. Apollo offered her a crown made from sun-gold accompanied by a throne and a golden chariot drawn by white swans. Hermes offered her a place by his side, at the crossways, where she'd hear everything and know every deed - the ultimate gossip scoop and surely a position of little boredom. Still, she only smiled to the two and listened on to the offers. Hera then forced Hephaestus, the sarcastic lame smith-God, forward and urged him to repeat what she'd told him. Dite watched as the God, embarassed, limped forward and avoided eye contact. "I'd make a good husband for a girl like you. I work late," was all he mumbled. Dite smiled - but leant down and lifted his chin with her finger, pressing a kiss to his lips.
They were married that night; and at the reception Aphrodite finally spoke -- telling each of the suitors when they could come with their gifts. Hephaestus himself forged her jewelry and many beautiful pieces, but her most treasured gift from him was the cestus. A girdle that makes her even more irresistable. It's the power of the cestus that any man who even speaks her name, falls under her spell, and loses his wits.
Ultimately, she was unhappy with her marriage from the very start. It caused her to have numerous affairs with others; mainly Ares and Adonis. One afternoon, Aphrodite had returned to Olympus just as Hephaestus was leaving their living quarters. She was sitting in the throne room when Ares approahced her, taking her hand and whispering to her. They went to bed - where they were caught by Hephaestus who had set a trap with finely wrought chains. They were stuck in their embrace, unable to move. He didn't stop there of course, he brought all the other Gods to their bedroom to mock the two in their vulnerable states. This only fueled Aphrodite's dislike for Heph.
At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Eris threw an apple inscribed with "To the fairest one" into the crowd of Goddesses. Aphrodit, Athena, and Hera all fought over the apple, all thinking it belonged to them. They left the decision up to Zeus who didn't want to upset any of them, so he put the heat on Prince Paris. Dite whispered a promise of beauty and love to the young Prince, if he were to choose her. Naturally, he chose Aphrodite and in return, he was given Helen of Sparta. The other Goddesses were, well, pissed off - and so they arranged Helen's kidnapping and brought on the Trojan War.
When the mother of Myrrha, from Cyprus, claimed her daughter was more beautiful than Aphrodite; the goddess punished the girl with an unyielding lust for her own father. Myrrha became pregnant and was chased down by her disgusted father. Praying to the Gods for help, she was turned into a Myrrh tree, safe from her enraged father whom later took his own life. When Myrrha gave birth to a baby boy, Aphrodite feels sorry for the child and takes him to the Underworld. She gave the boy the Hades and Persephone to raise. He grows up to be a rather dashing young man, and when Aphrodite comes back for him many years later, Persephone refuses to let him go. This causes the Goddesses to fight so much that Zeus steps in and settles on giving each goddess custody. Each goddess kept the boy for a third of the year, while the last third was Adonis' choice. Every time he chose Aphrodite to spend his time on Earth hunting. Despite being a girly girl, Dite attempts the sport of hunting for the sake of being with Adonis. Unfortunately, spending so much time with him, she'd been ignoring her job and thus had to leave him for a short while. She gave him a warning of not to hunt any animal that was not afraid, to which he agrees. Adonis forgets her warning when he encountered a large boar, who is actually Ares in disguise fueled by jealously. Adonis advances on the boar but the animal turns on the boy - castrating the mortal and causing him to perish from blood loss. Aphrodite is too late to save him and mourns his death, growing anemones where his blood is soaked into the soil. She realizes he's back in the Underworld and rushes to get him once more, though Persephone is there to quarrel with once more. And once more, Zeus gets involved and this time rules a six month custody for each goddess.
Aphrodite felt sorry for the lonely sculptor; Pygmalion. Course he made himself lonely by never really letting anyone get close to him - and Dite felt the need to show him what he'd been missing. She came to him in a dream, inspiring him to create an ivory statue that resembled her; naming it Galatea. he became obsessed with the statue and prayed to Aphrodite to make his work of art real. And so she gave in to his wish, turning the statue to life so the two could be married.
While she wasn't so much as jealous of Helen of Sparta (because she picked her for Paris and not for someone she wanted to herself) - Aphrodite was jealous of the mortal woman named Psyche. She asked her favorite son, Eros, to make the mortal fall in love with the most grotesque man on Earth. Of course he agreed, however, he accidentally fell in love with her after he pricked his finger with his own golden arrow. Psyche broke his heart, which enraged Aphrodite. The mortal was told by Demeter the best way to find Eros was to go through Dite and recieve her blessing which Dite had no intention of giving. Aphrodite gave Psyche an impossible task but Eros helpd the mortal which only made Dite more angry. Wanting to get rid of the girl, she told Psyche to go to a field where golden sheep and retrieve some wool. When the mortal succeeded once more due to help from a river god, Dite was at her wits end. She then lied, saying stress from Psyche's two trials had caused her to lose some of her flawless beauty. The last trial was for Psyche to go to the Underworld and get some of Persephone's beauty, in a box, and bring it back to Aphrodite. Her plan was to have Psyche kill herself and be off limits to her son. But of course, that didn't happen at all, she was given help once more and shown an alternate way that would allow her to return. When Psyche looked in the box, Eros flew to her aid and begged both Zeus and Aphrodite for their consent in marriage. Deciding it wasn't worth the stress or annoyance, Dite gave her consent and despite her disproval, danced at the wedding and congratulated her son.
Dite had many affairs during her marriage. One with Ares that resulted in her first son, Eros. Her many suitors included; Hermes who fell in love with Aphrodite and came to her one day while she was bathing in the river. With him she gave birth to Hermaphroditos. Poseidon was another; their affair sparked from Aphrodite's gratitude for releasing both her and Ares from Hephaestus' chains. They had a daughter, Rhode. Aphrodite even bed the mighty Zeus, but the jealous Hera found out and cursed their unborn child while placing her hands on Dite's pregnant stomache. Their child, Priapos, was born "ugly" and so he was cast off Olympus to be raised by a shepherd. All in all, she was most commonly thought of and labeled as Ares' consort.
War | Uprisings were attempted often, but never amounted to anything - however when Cronus took over Aphrodite knew it'd be big. If Ares' hadn't been so involved, neither would she. It wasn't her job to accompany him in to battle, or stand by his side during pivotal times of war. However she did anyways, especially during Cronus' uprising. Her hatred for Hera and longing to see Ares on the throne of Zeus as ruler of the Gods, and maybe herself beside him.. set her allegiance with Cronus and Ares. She stood victorious along with the rest, and, her fate was the same as theirs at the hand of Rhea.
Mortal | Astrid was born the only child to two hippies, Rosemary Ann Costello and Peter Lennon, both whom supported free love and expression. At a young age she learned to surf and took quite a liking to the water, pronounced a natural by her father who had surfed most of his life. Her mother taught her more useful things, about the animals and wildlife, how to take care of yourself, and most importantly, how to never let a man get the best of you. Thus, Astrid grew up very loved and very spoiled by both parents. She was home schooled until it was time for her to enter junior high. Being the "new girl" who had shown up out of the blue, there were many rumors started - and Astrid found she had a distinct rivalry right away with a small group of popular girls. Over the years, Astrid took the constant teasing in stride, she rarely let it truly bother her, because she had revenge planned. In their senior year of high school, Astrid went after each and every one of the their boyfriends, much to her surprise she then realized every little trick her mother had taught her about the opposite sex? Worked. She went to State U for two years with a general studies major, dabbling in psychology - she didn't know what she wanted to do. Astrid got bored easily and the only thing that really interested her was getting under the skin of the opposite sex and guiding her friends through their relationship troubles. Beginning of junior year, she attended a party at the request of a fellow student. One thing led to another and they were in one of the back rooms fooling around; little did she know that one of her former high school rivals were gathering a crowd. The door burst open and the two were caught by surprise in a very intimate moment. Her reputation after that was damaged, and so she used other methods in getting her education and becoming a well sought after therapist. After college, she got her named passed around and soon became best known for dealing with celebrities. That got her big money, and sort of kind of, big fame. Not once did she think about settling down, she enjoyed having no commitments other than her job. Until she met an older man with whom she shared similar views and outlooks on life with - and ultimately decided it'd be a sound decision to marry. They were married for five years before she was caught cheating, with a much younger man mind you, and as her husband stood in the doorway enraged and crushed - she announced she wanted a divorce. The papers were signed as soon as possible, and Astrid left everything to go to Greece, starting anew and hopefully getting back to her simpler roots of surfing and lounging around all day doing close to nothing.