A Night With… Aphrodite: the Colours of love, beauty, desire, and sexuality

Join us for the new session of our discussion series “A Night With…”, where we dive into timeless myths and their universal messages.
Let’s unravel the myth of Aphrodite, one of antiquity's most polarizing figures!
The myth of Aphrodite is all about beauty and love emerging out of a chaotic, turbulent beginning. It kind of reminds us of the energy of upcoming Budapest Pride, celebrating love and joy as a form of beautiful resistance.🏳️‍🌈​🏳️‍⚧️

In classical mythology, Aphrodite wasn't just the goddess of heteronormative romance; she was the ancient deity of all love, raw desire, passion, and human connection. Her myth fits beautifully into the spirit of Pride, especially in a city like Budapest where the community relies heavily on historical, safe, and artistic spaces to connect.

What to expect:

• I will open the meetup with a short introduction to Aphrodite’s myth and share (or suggest) a few possible interpretations and connections.
• After that, the floor is yours! Bring your thoughts, reflections, and any links you see between this myth and other domains, e.g. literature, art, philosophy, psychology, history or even your own creative work.
• If you’re an artist and your work resonates with the divine twins' story, feel free to share it with the group.

Before the event:
Take 5 minutes to read the quick snippet of Aphrodite’s story (provided below👇🏽) and think of:

• A book, artwork, or personal reflection that relates to her story.
• Any modern parallels or insights you’d like to discuss.

This is a space for open dialogue, creativity, and shared exploration.

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### 🌊The story of Aphrodite (aka Venus) in Brief

🦪​ Chaper 1. A Violent Birth: The Evisceration of Ouranos

Before the famous gods like Zeus existed, the universe was ruled by Ouranos (the sky) and Gaia (the earth). Ouranos was a terrible ruler. His son, Cronus, decided to overthrow him by using a sickle to castrate (eviscerate) his father.
Cronus threw Ouranos's severed body parts into the sea. The primordial fluids mixed with the saltwater, creating a thick white sea foam. Out of this foam, a fully grown, spectacularly beautiful woman emerged.

What's in a name? The Greeks named her Aphrodite because aphros means "foam." She floated ashore on a giant seashell, a moment immortalized in famous art like Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.

🏞️​ Chapter 2. The Forced Marriage: Hephaestus

When Aphrodite arrived at Mount Olympus (the home of the main gods), her beauty caused immediate chaos. Every male god wanted to marry her, and fights were breaking out.
To keep the peace, Zeus (the king of the gods) forced Aphrodite to marry Hephaestus (sometimes spelled Ephestus).
Hephaestus was the god of fire, blacksmiths, and crafts. He was also the only god who was physically disabled, walked with a limp, and worked covered in soot.
It was a completely mismatched marriage arranged for political stability: the most beautiful goddess paired with the most unglamorous, hardworking god.

💥 Chapter 3. The Secret Affair: Ares
Unsurprisingly, Aphrodite was not a faithful wife. Her most famous, controversial lover was Ares, the god of war. Where Hephaestus was gentle and quiet, Ares was hyper-masculine, aggressive, and exciting.Their affair was a poorly kept secret until Helios (the sun god) saw them together from the sky and ratted them out to Hephaestus.
Instead of fighting Ares, Hephaestus used his blacksmithing skills for revenge. He forged an invisible net made of unbreakable, razor-thin gold chains. He rigged it above the bed and pretended to go on a trip. When Ares and Aphrodite met up, the trap sprang, locking them together in an embarrassing embrace. Hephaestus then invited all the other gods to come over and laugh at them.

The aftermath of the invisible net incident is actually one of the earliest recorded examples of a legal divorce in storytelling.
When Hephaestus trapped Aphrodite and Ares in bed, he didn't just want to embarrass them, he wanted a return on his investment.

While the couple was still trapped under the net, Hephaestus called out to Zeus and demanded a full annulment of the marriage. Hephaestus refused to lift the net until he got his wealth back.
Zeus, utterly embarrassed by the whole public spectacle, actually refused to pay. He argued that Hephaestus shouldn't have put his family's private drama on display for all of Mount Olympus to see.
That is when Poseidon (god of the sea) stepped in to mediate. Poseidon essentially said, "Look, just let them out. I personally guarantee that Ares will pay you a steep financial penalty for the adultery. And if Ares flakes on the debt, I will pay it myself."
Hephaestus agreed, lifted the net, and the marriage was effectively over.

💞​Chapter 4. Tragic Mortal Love: Adonis

Aphrodite didn't just love gods; she also fell hard for mortals. Her greatest love story was with Adonis, a mortal man so extraordinarily handsome that Aphrodite fell for him the moment he was born.
Because he was mortal, Aphrodite was terrified he would get hurt. She constantly warned him to avoid hunting dangerous predators like bears and lions. But Adonis was young and reckless. One day, while hunting without her, he tracked down a massive wild boar. The boar charged and gored Adonis to death.
Aphrodite rushed to his side, but it was too late. As she wept over his body, her tears mixed with his blood. From the blood-soaked earth, she created the Anemone flower (the windflower) as a permanent memorial to his fragile beauty.

💗​ Chapter 5. Geopolitics: From Troy to Rome in the name of Love

Aphrodite wasn't just a bystander in history; she actually triggered the Trojan War and paved the way for the founding of Rome.

It started at a divine wedding. Eris, the goddess of discord, threw a golden apple into a crowd of goddesses labeled "To the Fairest" (the most beautiful). Aphrodite, Hera (queen of the gods), and Athena (goddess of wisdom) all claimed it.
They asked a mortal prince named Paris of Troy to judge the contest. To win his vote, the goddesses tried to bribe him:
Hera offered him political power over Europe and Asia.
Athena offered him military mastery and wisdom.
Aphrodite offered him the love of the most beautiful mortal woman in the world: Helen of Sparta.
Paris picked Aphrodite. She kept her promise, helping Paris kidnap Helen and bring her back to Troy. This action outraged the Greeks, launching a thousand ships and starting the devastating 10-year Trojan War.

During the fall of Troy, Aphrodite looked out for her mortal son, a Trojan hero named Aeneas. She protected him as the city burned, helping him escape with a band of survivors.
Aeneas went on an epic journey across the Mediterranean Sea and eventually landed in Italy. His descendants—centuries later—would found the city of Rome.
**The Roman Rebrand: When the Romans conquered the region, they adopted Greek myths but changed the names. Aphrodite became Venus. Because Aeneas was her son, Julius Caesar and the Roman emperors claimed they were direct, literal descendants of Venus herself!

📃📜Principal ancient sources:

• Homer, Iliad
• Homer, Odyssey
• Ps. Homer, Hymn 5 to Aphrodite
• Hesiod, Theogony
• Euripides, Hippolytus
• Ovid, Metamorphoses
• Virgil, Aeneid
• Apuleius, The golden ass

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