They bequeathed to our poets and painters this alluring image of Cyprus, island of Venus. Tradition says that the goddess was born from the foam of the sea and was carried by the sea Petra tou Romiou, the legendary birthplace of Aphrodite. It is true that Cyprus was throughout antiquity one of the most important, if not the most famous place, where Aphrodite was venerated. Archaeological findings have confirmed the legend. However, if one goes back to the sources, the legend is far from being so simple as the poets describe it, and the archaeological findings have revealed other aspects of the goddess which differ from the ones attributed by Greek mythology.
Myths are uncertain.
They provide clues, which are however difficult to be interpreted. It is Hesiod in the 8th century B.C. who refers us in his Theogony to the mythical birth of Aphrodite in the midst of a cosmogony which explains the creating of the world. In the beginning there was Chaos. Gaea herself wished to free herself from Uranus who was suffocating her. In this foam grew a maiden who first drew near Cythera , and from there she was carried to sea girt Cyprus, and it is there where the beautiful and respectable goddess came forth and green grass grew about her beneath her light feet.