APHRODITE FAMILY

APHRODITE was the Olympian goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation.

This page provides an overview of the family of the goddess including her divine and mortal children and a referenced genealogical list.

The "Loves" pages detail those liaisons which were elaborated upon in myth.

(1) DIVINE OFFSPRING

ANTEROS The god of reciprocal (or some say, unrequited) love was a son of Ares and Aphrodite.

BEROE The goddess of the city of Beroe (in Lebanon, Asia Minor) was a daughter of Adonis and Aphrodite. She wed the god Poseidon.

DEIMOS The god of fear was a son of Ares and Aphrodite.

EROS The winged boy god of love was a son of Aphrodite and her constant companion. (Some say the father was Ares, others that she was born pregnant with the child).

EROTES The winged godlings of love were sons of Aphrodite.

HARMONIA The goddess of harmony (marital and civic) was a daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, born of their adulterous union. She was married to the mortal Kadmos, founding King of Thebes.

HERMAPHRODITOS The Hermaphroditic godling was a son of Hermes and Aphrodite. His form was merged with that of the Naiad Salmakis to form a creature that was half male and half female.

HIMEROS The god of desire, twin brother of Eros, was a son of Aphrodite. The goddess may have been born pregnant with the pair, giving birth to them as she grew from the sea-foam.

IAKKHOS (Iacchus) A god of the Eleusinian Mysteries, often called the Eleusinian Dionysos or Hermes was, according to the Orphic Hymns, a son of Dionysos and Aphrodite.

PEITHO The goddess of persuasion and seduction was sometimes said to be a daughter of Aphrodite. (She was usually, however, described as an Okeanis daughter of Okeanos and Tethys).

PHOBOS The god of panic was a son of Ares and Aphrodite.

POTHOS The god of sexual longing was a son of Aphrodite. He was one of the Erotes.

PRIAPOS (Priapus) The god of garden fertility was a son of Aphrodite by Dionysos, Zeus or Adonis.

RHODOS or RHODE The goddess of the island of Rhodes and wife of Helios was a daughter of Aphrodite and Poseidon.

(2) MORTAL OFFSPRING

AENEAS A prince of Dardania in the Troad (Asia Minor) who was born of Aphrodite and Ankhises. He led his people on the side of the Trojans in the Trojan War and later founded the Kingdom of the Latins (Rome).

ASTYNOOS A prince of Syria (West Asia). He was a son of Aphrodite and Phaethon.

ERYX A king of Sikelia (Sicily) (southern Italy) who was born of Aphrodite and the Argonaut Boutes.

HEROPHILOS or HEROPHILE One of the sibyl prophetesses who was said to be a daughter of Poseidon and Aphrodite.

LYROS A prince of Dardania in the Troad (Asia Minor) who was born to Aphrodite and Ankhises.

GENEALOGICAL LISTING

OFFSPRING IMMORTAL

[1.1] HARMONIA, DEIMOS, PHOBOS (by Ares) (Hesiod Theogony 933, Hyginus Preface)
[1.2] HARMONIA (by Ares) (Aeschylus Suppliants 1038, Euripides Bacchae 1357, Apollodorus 3.25, Ovid Metamorphoses 3.131, Nonnus Dionysiaca 3.373)
[2.1] EROTES, THE (Pindar Eulogies Frag 122, Aeschylus Suppliants 1039, Orphic Hymn 55, Ovid Fasti 4.1, Ovid Heroides 7.59, Seneca Phaedra 274, Valerius Flaccus 7.171, Colluthus 82, Nonnus Dionysiaca 33.4)
[2.2] EROS (Ibycus Frag 284, The Anacreontea Frag 44, Apollonius Rhodius Argonautica 3.82, Pausanias 9.27.1, Plato Phaedrus, Oppian Halieutica 4.10, Hyginus Astronomica 2.30, Ovid Metamorphoses 1.452 & 5.363, Statius Silvae 1.2.51, Apuleius 11.218, Nonnus Dionysiaca 4.238 & 33.4)
[2.3] EROS (by Ares) (Ibycus Frag 575, Nonnus Dionysiaca 5.88)
[2.4] EROS (she was born pregnant with him from the sea-foam) (Sappho Frag 198, Nonnus 33.4 & 41.128)
[2.5] EROS, HIMEROS (she was born pregnant with him from the sea-foam) (possibly Hesiod Theog. 176)
[2.6] HIMEROS (Aeschylus The Supliants 1039)
[2.7] ANTEROS (by Ares) (Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.21)
[2.8] EROS, ANTEROS (Seneca Phaedra 274)
[3.1] HERMAPHRODITOS (by Hermes) (Diodorus Siculus 4.6.5, Hyginus Fabulae 271, Ovid Metamorphoses 4.288, Cicero De Natura Deor. 3.21)
[4.1] THE EROTES, POTHOS, PEITHO, HARMONIA (Aeschylus Suppliants 1039)
[4.2] PEITHO (Sappho Frag 96, 200)
[5.1] PRIAPOS (by Dionysos) (Pausanias 9.31.2, Diodorus Siculus 4.6.1)
[5.2] PRIAPOS (by Adonis) (Tzetzes on Lycophron 831)
[5.3] PRIAPOS (by Zeus) (Suidas s.v. Priapos)
[6.1] RHODOS, HEROPHILOS (by Poseidon) (Scholiast on Pindar's Pythian 8.24)
[6.2] RHODE (Pindar Olympian 7)
[7.1] IAKKHOS (by Dionysos) (Orphic Hymn 57)
[8.1] BEROE (by Adonis) (Nonnus Dionysiaca 41.155)

OFFSPRING MORTAL

KINGDOM OF DARDANIA, MYSIA (Anatolia)

[1.1] AENEAS (by Ankhises) (Homer Iliad 2.820, Hesiod Theogony 1008, Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite 200, Pausanias 8.12.8, Hyginus Fabulae 94, Ovid Metamorphoses 13.624)
[1.2] AENEAS, LYROS (by Ankhises) (Apollodorus 3.141)

KINGDOM OF SYRIA (West Asia)

[1.1] ASTYNOOS (by Phaethon) (Apollodorus 3.181)

KINGDOMS OF SIKELIA (Southern Italy)

[1.1] ERYX (by Boutes) (Diodorus Siculus 4.23.2)

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

FAMILY MT OLYMPOS (HOME OF THE GODS)

LOVED : 1. Hephaistos, god of smiths; 3 - 5. Ares, god of war; 8. Dionysos, god of wine.
MOTHERED : 2 - 3. Deimos & Phobos, gods of fear & terror; 4. Harmonia, goddess of harmony; 5. Anteros, god of love returned; 6. Peitho, goddess of persuasion; 7. Pothos, god of loving; 8. Iakkhos, god.

I - 3) DEIMOS, PHOBOS & HARMONIA Gods

For the MYTH of the Aphrodite, her husband Hephaistos and lover Ares see
Aphrodite Loves: Ares & Hephaistos
For MORE information on these gods see DEIMOS & PHOBOS; HARMONIA

4) ANTEROS God

Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3. 21 (trans. Rackham) (Roman rhetorician C1st B.C.) :
"[Venus-Aphrodite] the daughter of Jupiter [Zeus] and Dione, wedded Vulcanus [Hephaistos], but is said to have been the mother of Anteros by Mars [Ares]."

For MORE information on this god see ANTEROS

5 - 6) PEITHO & POTHOS Gods

Sappho, Fragment 96 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric I) (C6th B.C.) :
"Nursling of Kytherea [Aphrodite], but elsewhere she calls Peitho a daughter of Aphrodite."

Sappho, Fragment 200 :
"Sappho says Peitho, was the daughter of Aphrodite."

Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 1038 ff (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"And in the train of their mother [Aphrodite] are Pothos (Desire) and she to whom nothing is denied, winning Peitho (Persuasion); and to Harmonia (Harmony) has been given a share of Aphrodite, and to the whispering touches of the Erotes (Loves)."

For MORE information on this goddess see PEITHO

7) IAKKHOS God

Orphic Hymn 57 to Chthonian Hermes (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"O Bakkheios Hermes [Iakkhos], progeny divine of Dionysos, parent of the vine, and of celestial Aphrodite, Paphian queen, dark-eyelashed Goddess, of a lovely mien."

For MORE information on this god see IAKKHOS

FAMILY AEGEAN SEA (GREEK AEGEAN)

LOVED : 3 - 4. Poseidon, god of the sea; 5. Nerites, sea-god.
MOTHERED : 1. Eros, god of love; 2. Himeros, god of desire; 3. Rhode, goddess of Rhodes; 4. Herophile.

For the MYTH of the birth of Eros and Himeros see The Birth of Aphrodite
For the MYTH of the love of Aphrodite & Nerites see Aphrodite Loves: Nerites
For the MYTH of the love of Aphrodite & Poseidon see Aphrodite Loves: Poseidon
For MORE information on these gods see EROS,HIMEROS, RHODE

FAMILY IN MYSIA (ANATOLIA)

LOVED : 1 - 2. Ankhises, king of Dardania; 3. Hermes, god of flocks; 4. Dionysos or Zeus, gods.
MOTHERED : 1 - 2 Aeneas & Lyros, princes of Dardania; 3. Hermaphroditos, god; 4. Priapos, god.

1 - 2) AENEAS & LYROS Princes of Dardania

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 141 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Aphrodite, in erotic passion, had sex with Ankhises [of Dardania, near Troy] and gave birth to Aeneias, and to Lyros, who left no heirs."

For the MYTH of the love of Aphrodite & Ankhises see Aphrodite Loves: Ankhises

3) HERMAPHRODITOS Minor god

For the MYTH of the love of Aphrodite & Hermes see Aphrodite Loves: Hermes
For MORE information on the god Hermaphroditos see HERMAPHRODITOS

4) PRIAPOS God

Priapos was a fertility god native the Mysian city of Lampsakos.

For the MYTH of the love of Aphrodite & Dionysos see Aphrodite Loves: Dionysos
For the MYTH of the love of Aphrodite & Zeus see Aphrodite Loves: Zeus
For MORE information on the god Priapos see PRIAPOS

FAMILY IN CYPRUS, PHOENICIA & SYRIA (WEST ASIA)

LOVED : 1. Adonis, prince of Kypros, Syria or Phoinikia; 2. Phaethon, Syrian pirest.
MOTHERED : 1. Beroe, goddess of Beruit; 2. Astynoos, king of Syria.

For the MYTH of the love of Aphrodite & Adonis see Aphrodite Loves: Adonis
For the MYTH of the love of Aphrodite & Phaethon see Aphrodite Loves: Phaethon
For MORE information on the goddess Beroe see BEROE

FAMILY IN SICILY (SOUTHERN ITALY)

LOVED : 1. Boutes, king of Elymoi.
MOTHERED : 1. Eryx, king of Elymoi.

For the MYTH of the love of Aphrodite & Boutes see Aphrodite Loves: Boutes

SOURCES

GREEK

• Greek Lyric I Sappho, Fragments - Greek Lyric C6th B.C.
• Aeschylus, Suppliant Women - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
• Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.
• The Orphic Hymns - Greek Hymns C3rd B.C. - C2nd A.D.

ROMAN

• Cicero, De Natura Deorum - Latin Rhetoric C1st B.C.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.