what is an aphrodite

Aphrodite is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. She was identified with Venus by the Romans. According to Greek mythology, Aphrodite was born from the white foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus (Heaven), after his son Cronus threw them into the sea. She was widely worshipped as a goddess of the sea and of seafaring, and was also honoured as a goddess of war, love, fertility, and marriage. Her main centres of worship were at Paphos and Amathus on Cyprus and on the island of Cythera, where in prehistoric times her cult probably originated. Corinth was the chief centre of her worship on the Greek mainland. Aphrodite was often depicted as a beautiful woman accompanied by the winged Eros. Her symbols include seashells, myrtles, roses, doves, sparrows, and swans. She was a major deity in modern Neopagan religions, including the Church of Aphrodite, Wicca, and Hellenismos.