**aphrodite - Goddess Of Love And Beauty Poem by RAJ NANDY

APHRODITE – GREEK GODDESS
OF LOVE AND BEAUTY!

Hesoid the Greek poet, lived in the latter part of
eighth century BC;
His writings form a major source of our Greek
Mythology!
He has said that when Quranos the ‘Father of the
Sky’ was castrated by his son Kronos, - @
His severed genital was thrown into the sea!
And from the froth and foam of the sea arose the
beautiful Aphrodite!
The goddess of love, fertility and beauty!
She was also the protector of sailors at sea!
The notion of ‘love at first sight’, had originated
from the beauteous Aphrodite!
Seeing her beauty and bewitching power,
Zeus the Godfather, planned to keep other Gods
away from her!
So he married her off to Hephaestus the god of
blacksmiths and craftsmen;
Whom the Romans later called the Vulcan!
Aphrodite is associated with the dove, those
cooing birds of love!
She is also seen to ride her sacred bird the
Goose, - on a vase painting of antiquity!
And she is also the Greek goddesses of fertility!
The Renaissance painter Botticelli’s famous
painting inspired by Hesiod,
Shows Aphrodite on a giant scallop shell, -
Coming out of the sea in this world to dwell!

Aphrodite is said to have helped Jason to obtain
the 'golden fleece', -
From the kingdom of King Colchis, by making
the king’s daughter Medea to fall in love with him!
She is also reputed to be the principle instigator of
the Trojan War!
And as the story goes, when hero Peleus was married
to the sea-nymph Thetis,
All the Gods were invited excepting she!
So she planted on the banquet table a 'golden apple',
With the words inscribed - “For the Fairest”!
Hera, Athena and Aphrodite vied with each other,
And finally they decide to appointed an arbitrator!
The arbitrator they sought, was to be the most
handsome man from the mortal lot!
So a Trojan shepherd by the name of Paris, was
the man they finally got! #
Those three goddesses who were in the fray,
Secretly decided to bribe Paris on that day!
Hera the Queen of Olympus, promised to make Paris
the ruler of the world!
Athena the goddess of war rattled, that Paris will never
lose a battle!
But the shrewd Aphrodite who had sized him up, -
Promised Paris the most beautiful woman's love!
The subsequent elopement of the Spartan Helen with
Paris to Troy, -
Led to the siege and destruction of Troy! ##
But Aphrodite always protected Aenes throughout the
War,
Till he established the dynasty of Roman Emperors
on the Italian shore!
Aphrodite remained as the Roman goddess Venus,
Inspiring lovers, artists, painters and poets en-mass!

-Raj Nandy
07 Sep 09
New Delhi

FOOT NOTES: -
@ Ouranos, husband of Gaia- the Mother Earth, had imprisoned her
sons in Tartarus – in the depths of the earth! Gaia through her son-
Kronos got her husband castrated! When the genitals were thrown into
the sea, from the foam(‘aphros’) - rose Aphrodite! And from the blood
of the genitals which fell on the earth - rose the Three Furies! ! !
# There are other versions! This is the ancient Mythical version!
# # Homer in his Iliad says Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus
and Dione. In his Odyssey, Homer narrates the story of Aenes, and
his wanderings and how he became the mythological founder of the
Roman Emperors - in Italy! The famous marble statue of Venus de Milo, with her both arms missing; was discovered by a peasant in
1820, amongst the ancient ruins of Milos island on the Aegean Sea!
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