阿佛洛狄忒Aphrodite
雅思口語素材：古希臘12主神介紹(阿佛洛狄忒)
阿佛洛狄忒(APHRODITE)，古希臘神話人物，愛與美的女神。羅馬神話中稱為維納斯。她生于海中，以美麗著稱。被認為是鍛冶工匠之神赫準斯托斯的妻子，有關(guān)她的戀愛傳說很多。在古希臘、羅馬藝術(shù)作品中被塑造成絕色美女，最著名的雕像是在米洛斯島出土的“米洛斯的阿佛洛狄忒”。 她是宙斯和大洋女神狄俄涅的女兒。又說她從浪花中出生，故稱阿佛洛狄忒(出水之意)。
Aphrodite (/æfr??da?ti/ af-r?-dy-tee; Greek ?φροδ?τη) is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. Her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus.
Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia.
According to Hesiod's Theogony, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranus' genitals and threw them into the sea, and from the sea foam (aphros) arose Aphrodite. Thus, Aphrodite is of an older generation than Zeus.
Because of her beauty, other gods feared jealousy would interrupt the peace among them and lead to war, soZeus married her to Hephaestus, who was not viewed as a threat. Aphrodite had many lovers, both gods such asAres, and men such as Anchises. Aphrodite also became instrumental in the Eros and Psyche legend, and later was both Adonis' lover and his surrogate mother. Many lesser beings were said to be children of Aphrodite.
Aphrodite is also known as Cytherea (Lady of Cythera) and Cypris (Lady of Cyprus) after the two cult-sites,Cythera and Cyprus, which claimed her birth. Myrtles, doves, sparrows, horses, and swans are sacred to her. The Greeks further identified the Ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor with Aphrodite. Aphrodite also has many other local names, such as Acidalia, Cytherea and Cerigo, used in specific areas of Greece. Each goddess demanded a slightly different cult, but Greeks recognized in their overall similarities the one Aphrodite. Attic philosophers of the fourth century separated a celestial Aphrodite (Aprodite Urania) of transcendent principles with the common Aphrodite of the people (Aphrodite Pandemos).