The shock of the bolt was so
strong though, he could never walk upright again. Aphrodite, soon after bearing
his son, lost all interest in Anchises. Adonis One day, the wife of King Cinyrus
was foolishly boasting that her daughter Smyrna was more beautiful than
Aphrodite. She heard this insult and got revenge by Smyrna fall in love with her
father and sleep with him. Smyrna got pregnant, and the baby she was carrying
was actually the King's son and his grandson. When the King learned this, he
chased his daughter out of the palace with a sword. Aphrodite saw this and,
before he could do anything, changed her into a tree. When he swung the sword at
her, the sword broke in half, and the infant Adonis came tumbling out.14
Aphrodite, already regretting the trouble she had caused, took Adonis, and put
him in a chest. She gave the chest to Persephone, asking her to hide it in a
dark place. Persephone couldn't stand not knowing what was inside the chest, so
she opened the chest and found Adonis.15 Persephone found Adonis to be a very
cute baby, so she took hi into her own palace to raise him. Aphrodite did not
find out about this until Adonis was a grown man. When she did find out about
this though, she immediately went to Persephone's palace to claim Adonis.
Persephone would not give him back to Aphrodite though, because she had made him
her lover. Persephone appealed to Zeus, but Zeus knew that Aphrodite wanted to
have him as her own lover. He refused to settle this case and transferred it to
a lower court.16 The court's verdict was that Persephone and Aphrodite should
get equal claims to Adonis, since Aphrodite arranged his birth and Persephone
rescued him from the chest. They also decided that Adonis should get some time
to without these goddesses in his life, so they divided a year up into three
equal parts: 1) Four months with Persephone 2) Four months with Aphrodite 3)
Four months to be with whomever he wanted to be with.17 Although this is what
the court ruled, Aphrodite wore her magic girdle and persuaded Adonis to let her
not only her time with him, and she persuaded him to let her have his time to
himself to be with him.18 Persephone did not agree with this at all.
She went to
Ares and told him how angry she was. Ares got jealous of Persephone's true love
for Adonis, so he disguised him self as a wild boar and killed Adonis right in
front of Aphrodite. Aphrodite had two children. She had a son, Golgas, who was
the founder of the Cyprian Golgi. She also had a daughter, Beroe, who was the
founder of Beroea in Thrace. Some also say that, instead of Dionysus, Adonis was
the father of her son Priapus. THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS There is a myth called the
Judgement of Paris that has to do with Paris, the son of Priam and Hecuba,
having to judge who is the fairest goddess. This myth starts off at a wedding.
Eris threw out a golden apple into the midst of the female crowd that was
inscripted For the Fairest. There was a quarrel between Athena, Hera, and
Aphrodite. Each of the goddesses were claiming that they should get the apple
because they thought themselves to be the fairest. After arguing endlessly, they
eventually agreed to make Paris the settler of their dispute.20 All three of the
goddesses offered Paris bribes. Aphrodite offered him lust. Hera and Athena
offered him kingship and victory in war. Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite and
rejected the other goddesses. HEPHAESTUS Hephaestus was an unattractive
Smith-god that was married to Aphrodite. Hephaestus was the only god who worked
or suffered from a physical disability. Although he was ugly and deformed,
Hephaestus was a kind, peace-loving god and he was popular on Mt. Olympus.
Hephaestus was a muscular man with a thick neck with a hairy chest. He had a
shortened leg and a club foot, and both of his feet facing backwards. Because
his legs were like this, he had to use a crutch to support himself. He had a
beard, and he usually dressed in a ragged sleeveless tunic and a wool hat.21
There is a myth that says Hephaestus was so weakly at birth that his mother,
Hera, dropped him from the top of Mt. Olympus to rid herself of the
embarrassment of an ugly child. He survived this, though, because he fell into
the sea and Thetis and Eurynome saved him. These goddesses took them into their
care and he thanked them by making them all kinds of ornamental and useful
items. After about nine years, Hera met Thetis who was wearing a jewel that
Hephaestus made.
