Aphrodite (Percy Jackson)

**Aphrodite** is the Greek goddess of beauty, love, lust, desire, sexuality, and pleasure. Her Roman counterpart is Venus.

## History

### Birth and Marriage

After Kronos dismembered Ouranos, he hurled his father's remains into the sea. His genitals created some foam, from which Aphrodite was born. The sea in which she was born is said to be near Paphos, a city on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean sea. There she met the three Horai (season goddesses), who clothed her in a beautiful white dress, a delicate golden crown, golden earrings, and a golden necklace, and subsequently escorted her to Mount Olympus.

Due to her incredible beauty, Aphrodite caused a lot of problems on Olympus when she first arrived. While Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, Apollo, and Hermes all instantly wanted her for themselves, Hephaestus didn't participate in the commotion, and instead sat in the shadows, quiet and dejected, knowing that his ugliness stripped him of any chance of competing for the gorgeous Aphrodite. Hera, feeling that her godly family was about to unravel, was determined to prevent that, and hastily ordered the other Olympians to silence themselves. As the goddess of marriage, she felt an obligation to pick the perfect husband for the new goddess and proclaimed that such a perfect match was her son Hephaestus, much to Ares' and Aphrodite's dismay. Hephaestus himself was so surprised that he fell off of his throne. Athena was quick to agree with Hera as well, pointing out that if Aphrodite were to marry anyone else, all of the other male gods would never stop fighting about it, while it would be nearly impossible for them to be jealous of Hephaestus. Hence, Zeus married both of them right then and there, with Hephaestus promising to be a loving husband.

She would later have her husband forge her a magical golden girdle, which made her completely irresistible to anyone she fancied. Hera would borrow it from her on at least one occasion, to make amends with Zeus after a particularly unpleasant argument or if she ever wanted something from him.

### Humiliation by Hephaestus

While Hephaestus did keep his word, Aphrodite would stay away from her husband as much as possible, with them never having any kids. She soon began an affair with Ares, the handsome and passionate god of war, which became the worst kept secret on Mount Olympus (as they were seen together many times by Helios), with Hephaestus being the only person that didn't know, possibly because he wanted to believe that his wife could love him. Aphrodite gave birth to five children from Ares: Eros, Deimos, Phobos, Harmonia, and Anteros, yet their lack of resemblance to Hephaestus would make her husband suspicious.

One day, when Hephaestus pretended to depart for Lemnos, Ares and Aphrodite retired to the latter's bedroom but were imprisoned and immobilized by an unbreakable golden net as soon as they jumped into bed. A returned Hephaestus then proceeded to lead the rest of the gods into his bedroom, determined to humiliate the cheating pair. However, Zeus and Hermes found the situation hilarious and were promptly joined in prolonged contagious laughter by the other gods, with Athena taking the chance to jeer at Aphrodite. Finally, however, Poseidon managed to collect himself and requested that Hephaestus release the pair. The blacksmith god begrudgingly agreed, but only on the condition of Zeus repaying him all the gifts that he had made for Aphrodite's dowry. Poseidon then insisted that Ares be released as well, vouching to ensure that the war god would pay any price that would settle this debt. Hephaestus agreed, requesting a price of 10 wagon loads of the best armor, weapons, and war spoils from Ares' fortress. With an agreement reached, Hephaestus finally released them both.

In the subsequent years, however, Hephaestus continued to find ways to trap and publicly embarrass Ares and Aphrodite, as seen in The Lightning Thief. While he was still married to his unfaithful wife, Hephaestus would now feel entitled to pursue relationships with other women as well, the first of them, much to Aphrodite's chagrin, being Aglaia, who was one of her three Charities handmaidens. Despite the public humiliation, however, Aphrodite continued her affairs with Ares. She would also have romances with both mortals and other gods over the centuries.

### Hippolytus

After learning that Hippolytus, a charming and handsome prince joined Artemis' hunt without any interest in flirting with her Huntresses, the goddess was greatly enraged. Hence, when Hippolytus returned home to visit his father King Theseus, the two got into an argument about Hippolytus marrying and having children, despite the latter insisting on remaining with Artemis. Unbeknownst to father and son, Aphrodite was manipulating their emotions into a rage, resulting in Theseus drawing a sword and striking Hippolytus dead. Artemis, however, managed to persuade her nephew Asclepius to resurrect her dear friend with the Physician's Cure, angering Aphrodite again, making her complain to Zeus. The King of Olympus appeased her and Hades by personally striking down Asclepius with a thunderbolt.

### Pygmalion

Pygmalion, a Cypriot sculptor, failed to find love among local women and carved a beautiful ivory statue resembling Aphrodite, his ideal of what a woman should be. Much to his dismay, he found himself deeply in love with the statue. Hence, during the Feast of Aphrodite, Pygmalion went to the goddess' temple and requested her assistance in finding a woman as wonderful as the goddess herself, and as beautiful as his ivory statue. Touched by his passionate love, Aphrodite granted the sculptor's request, making the statue come to life as a woman who returned Pygmalion's passionate love and affection.

### Anchises and Aeneas

Zeus would eventually come to blame Aphrodite for inducing his many affairs with mortal women since that always caused problems and arguments with his wife Hera. Hence, as a punishment, Zeus somehow made her fall in love with a mortal shepherd Anchises. Aphrodite disguised herself as a mortal maiden and approached him. Awed by her beauty, Anchises would soon propose to her and they had a wonderful honeymoon. Several months later, however, Zeus' enchantment finally wore off, much to the goddess' shock and embarrassment. She had to leave, making Anchises promise never to reveal who his wife had been. Aphrodite subsequently raised their demigod son Aeneas until he was five, after which she brought him back to his father. When Anchises got older and less careful, he eventually let it slip that Aeneas's mother was actually Aphrodite herself. As a punishment, Anchises was lightly struck by Zeus' thunderbolt, injuring his legs.

Aeneas would grow up to become a great prince of the city of Troy, participating in the 10-year-long Trojan War, and later sailing to Italy, becoming the first leader of a new people, who came to call themselves the Romans.

### Adonis

One Greek princess, Smyrna, refused to worship Aphrodite, so the goddess punished her by making Smyrna fall in love with and seduce Cinyras, her own father. Afterward, an infuriated Cinyras would pursue her with a bared sword, threatening to kill her. However, Aphrodite took pity on the woman and transformed Smyrna into a myrrh tree.

Nine months later, the tree split open, revealing a baby boy inside. Due to her own busy schedule, Aphrodite chose Persephone to help her raise him, with both goddesses taking turns raising the boy (whom Aphrodite named Adonis), shuffling him back and forth between Aphrodite's secret lair on Cyprus and Persephone's Palace. He would eventually grow up into an incredibly handsome young man, by far the most handsome mortal man in the world. As a result, both goddesses instantly fell in love with Adonis and began fighting over him. With them unable to reach a compromise, both goddesses took Adonis to Mount Olympus, where Zeus decided that it would be best for Adonis to spend a third of each year with each respective goddess, and have the final third to himself.

During the time he spent with Persephone, Adonis would have to hide in closets and under her bed every time Hades entered her chambers since the latter did not know about his wife's secret boyfriend.

For a while, Adonis and Aphrodite were a happy couple and had a demigod daughter Beroe. One day, however, while hunting in the woods, Adonis came across a fierce wild boar (most likely placed there by a jealous Ares) that stabbed him to death with its tusks. A devastated Aphrodite turned his body into blood-red roses and anemones.

## Personality

Aphrodite is temperamental, vain, crafty, flirtatious, and disloyal to her husband Hephaestus, as evident by her having many affairs (most notably with Ares and Hulk). She was shown to have a deep grudge against those who have "perverted" notions of love, such as the self-absorbed Narcissus and the asexual Hippolytus, and would punish them severely if she could.

Aphrodite could also be cruel and vindictive against those who either disrespect her, as seen by the example of Smyrna, who refused to worship and respect the goddess. As a result, the goddess cursed Smyrna into falling in love with Cinyras, her own father. Afterwards, an infuriated Cinyras pursued her with a bared sword, threatening to kill her. The goddess was infamously brutal towards Psyche in Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes, since the latter had not only unintentionally taken away the spotlight from Aphrodite, but had also won the love of the goddess' own son, Eros.

Despite her dark side, Aphrodite could be truly sweet, loving, and passionate, and she has a faith in love that is absolute and true. She could also be gentle and gracious to those she favors (such as Pygmalion and Adonis in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods), and she deeply cares for her children as well as their fathers. Her graciousness could even extend towards those who had initially incurred her wrath by offending her, as seen by how she ultimately took pity on Smyrna and transformed her into a myrrh tree to protect her from her father's wrath.

Presiding over the most powerful of human feelings, Aphrodite has great insight into mortal emotions, as well as mortal nature by extension. It is nearly impossible to disagree with her. She also is shown to be good-natured and cheerful, looking at the bright side of most, if not all, situations.

## Appearance

> “She was so pretty...I couldn't stop looking at her...It was like she has me under some kind of love spell or something..."
>
>

–-*Hulk's first encounter with Aphrodite*

As the personification of beauty, Aphrodite's true appearance is actually unknown, as she would appear to others as their personal epitome of physical attraction and sexual desire/lust.

Aphrodite's appearance would change to appeal to each person who gazed upon her. Before she was presented to the other gods at Olympus, the Horai dressed her in a beautiful white gossamer dress, placed a delicate golden crown on her head, hung gold earrings in her ears, and draped a gold necklace at the base of her throat. She was so beautiful that she immediately excited desire and admiration in all the Gods, and envy and resentment in all the goddesses. It is said that Aphrodite's eyes glow pink when she is infuriated.

In The Titan's Curse, Aphrodite was portrayed as wearing a red satin dress, with hair curled in a cascade of ringlets, perfect makeup, dazzling eyes like pools of spring water, and a smile that would have lit up the dark side of the moon. Her beauty was such that at his first sight of her, Percy forgot his location and how to speak coherently, and he noted that when she smiled, she looked like a mixture of Annabeth and a TV actress he had a crush on in fifth grade. Aphrodite was also shown to take especial care of her looks and can see the tiniest flaw, as demonstrated by her asking Percy to hold her mirror while she amended some flaw he could not see.

In The Lost Hero, when Piper first saw Aphrodite in Medea's department store during a dream, she wore a different appearance but was still gorgeous to behold: shoulder-length hair, a graceful neck, perfect features, and an amazing figure tucked into jeans and a snowy-white top. Piper also noted that Aphrodite was different from other extremely beautiful women she had seen before: her mother was elegant without trying, fashionable without effort, stunning without makeup. However, she was unable to determine the exact color of her mother's hair and eyes, given that Aphrodite's appearance changed as she observed her, due to her trying to match Piper's ideal of beauty.

In The Mark of Athena, Aphrodite appeared to Annabeth as a breathtakingly beautiful woman with dark chocolate curls and eyes that sparkled playfully, going from green to blue to amber. She was dressed like a Southern belle: her gown had a low-cut bodice of pink silk and a three-tiered hoop skirt with white scalloped lace, and she wore long white silk gloves and held a feathered pink-and-white fan to her chest. Her face was said to be hard to describe as her features seemed to shift from those of one glamorous movie star to another, becoming increasingly beautiful as it changed by the second. Annabeth was instantly, irrationally jealous of her because she had always wished she had dark hair so she would be taken more seriously than a blonde. Aphrodite also manifested other traits that served to make Annabeth feel inadequate: the easy grace with which she wore her dress, the perfect yet understated makeup, and the way she radiated feminine charm that no heterosexual man could possibly resist.

## Abilities

> “I've met Aphrodite, goddess of love, and I couldn't be happier than I've ever been in my life."
>
>

> –*Hulk talking to Annabeth about his feelings towards Aphrodite*
>
>

As a daughter of Ouranos, Aphrodite is an extremely powerful goddess who surpassed many others, especially since - in her own words - "love can bring even the gods to their knees". Even Percy once acknowledged that Aphrodite's powers scared him more than Ares's.

**Amokinesis**: As the Goddess of Love, she has divine authority and absolute control over the emotions of love and desire. She is able to arouse love and passion in others, and to entrance any mortal or god she desires with control over love, lust, beauty and other things related to them. The only known deities who have at least partial immunity to this are the three Virgin Goddesses: Hestia, Athena, and Artemis.

**Love Blasts**: Aphrodite, when infuriated, can generate explosions of beautiful pink love energy, which are destructive enough to instantly blast the ceiling of her palace to rubble.

**Chlorokinesis**: It is mentioned that magnificent flowers would blossom wherever she walked. She would later transform the body of her beloved Adonis into blood-red roses and anemones. While helping Piper fight Periboia, Aphrodite strew numerous rose petals into the Giantess's eyes while calling encouragement to her daughter.

**Nephelokinesis**: While helping Piper fight Periboia, Aphrodite floated around them on a small white cloud.

**Beauty and Omnipotent Allure**: As the Goddess of Beauty, Aphrodite could change her appearance at will, depending on the perception of beauty of the person she is in the presence of. Aphrodite is so breathtakingly beautiful that Hulk's jaw dropped and he was speechless for a couple of seconds after first seeing her. In The Lost Hero, Annabeth described Aphrodite as "elegant without trying, fashionable without effort, stunning without makeup." Hence, Aphrodite is the one to grant Pandora irresistible feminine beauty and charm.

**Beauty-Related Curses**: As shown in Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes, Aphrodite cursed the women of Lemnos with a stench so terrible that none of the men could stand to be within 50 feet of them.

**Charmspeak**: Aphrodite's voice has a mesmerising effect, capable of influencing the emotions of others or of placing them in her thrall. It was revealed that her Charmspeak is far more powerful than that of her daughter, Piper. It's even able to to mesmerize Hulk, despite his strong will.

**French**: As revealed in The Lost Hero, Aphrodite has perfect fluency and understanding of French, as it is a language of love. She often uses her knowledge of the language to tease and seduce Hulk, as well as many mortal suitors interested in her.

**Infallible Visual Acuity**: Aphrodite possessed a level of microscopic-vision, as demonstrated by her being able to see flaws in her makeup that Percy could not.

**Personification of Desire**: As the Goddess of Desire and Pleasure, Aphrodite is the personification of all desire and fulfillment, and hence has full authority over provinces such as craving of the attainable, physical appetite, emotional need, envious desire, and even satisfaction (as it is an extension of the attainment of one's desire).

**Reality-Warping**: Aphrodite was able to make Pygmalion's beautiful ivory statue come to life, demonstrating that she could manipulate reality itself to a considerable extent. Aphrodite further demonstrated this ability by conjuring up a rosewood box for Psyche out of thin air, and later creating several optical illusions of people in need, which, however, failed to distract Psyche.

**Control of Animals**: Aphrodite appeared to have a high level of control over animals, particularly the dove, which is sacred to her. She can make doves rise up from nowhere.