Garner's Greek Mythology

Ep 9: Aphrodite - Love Is A Battlefield

December 20, 2020 Patrick Garner Season 1 Episode 9
Garner's Greek Mythology
Ep 9: Aphrodite - Love Is A Battlefield
Show Notes Transcript

... In our best  installment yet (and our 9th episode) , we meet  Aphrodite. You might think of her as Venus, but the Greeks knew her as Aphrodite, the eternal Goddess of Love.

Her origins are amazing, and her decision to devote herself to the arts of love are an amazing decision, as you will see.

What happened to this seductress? Reassuringly, nothing. Of all the gods and goddesses, Aphrodite remains the most engaged in the modern world.

Narrated by mythologist and best-selling author, Patrick Garner,  Garner's Greek Mythology is unlike any other Greek history series.  Here these divine beings are viewed as if they were anything but mythical...

If you love these podcasts, you'll also enjoy new stories about the gods in Garner's novel Homo Divinitas, now available as an audio book on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

(Musical score includes selections from Fesliyan Studios and Free Sounds Library. Many thanks to both. In addition, thanks to "klankbeeld" and freesound.org for the choir music at 10:54; thanks also to Capella Ducis, Organ Axel Wenstedt, Cello Angela Heetvelt, and members of Scordatura.)

Support the show

Tweet me comments at @Garner_images, or email any episode suggestions to patrickgarner@me.com


PODCAST #9 Aphrodite ("Love Is A Battlefield")

WELCOME TO GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY, THIS IS PATRICK GARNER, I'M A MYTHOLOGIST AND AUTHOR OF 3 BEST-SELLING NOVELS... 

THEY CONSTITUTE A TRILOGY AND HAVE ONE THEME: THAT THE ANCIENT GREEK GODS ARE HERE ... AND THAT THEY NEVER LEFT! IMAGINE WITH ME THAT THEY WERE NEVER ... MYTHS.

THIS IS EPISODE 9... THEY SAY, 'ALL IS FAIR, IN LOVE AND WAR' ... AND THAT’S TRUE WHETHER YOU'RE A MORTAL OR A GOD ... AND ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE THE GODDESS OF LOVE, BEAUTY AND DESIRE ... I SPEAK OF APHRODITE! 

TODAY WE WALK WITH THIS GODDESS, WHO CAN CREATE ECSTASY ... OR MORE PAIN THAN THE DARKEST REALMS OF THE UNDERWORLD ITSELF ...

IT’S HAPPENED TO US ALL: YOU’RE OUT ON SOME BORING TASK ... maybe at the store, or at a party ... You see someone & are absolutely smitten with an undeniable, almost *supernatural* 'urge' to ... say hi?

This may have happened to the ancient Greek poetess Sappho, from the island of Lesbos, whom history suggests may have been attracted to woman ... Sappho WAS SO FREQUENTLY ATTRACTED TO OTHERS THAT she wrote:

'IRIDESCENT-THRONED APHRODITE, DEATHLESS CHILD OF ZEUS, WEAVER OF WILES, I IMPLORE YOU, DON'T, LADY, TORMENT MY SPIRIT ANY LONGER WITH THE PAINS OF LOVE …’

WELL, YOU KNOW THE PHRASE: 'LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD' ... AND APHRODITE SETS THE LANDMINES SO MANY OF US STEP ON REPEATEDLY ...

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OUR EARLIER EPISODES ARE FILLED WITH STORIES OF CREATION, SEDUCTION, CONSTANT DECEPTION & ... DIVINE POWER PLAYS... TODAY IS NO DIFFERENT ...

WHILE YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF APHRODITE, PERHAPS 'VENUS' IS MORE FAMILIAR? THAT'S BECAUSE APHRODITE WAS RENAMED VENUS BY THE ROMANS AND IS COMMONLY USED TODAY ... & AS THIS PODCAST EXPLORES ANCIENT GREECE, WE WILL CALL HER APHRODITE.

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SHE BROKE HEARTS & SPARKED INFATUATION, INFLAMED THE SHY WITH COURAGE & CREATED CONSTANT AFFAIRS BETWEEN GODS & MORTALS ...

AND APHRODITE WORKED HAND-IN-HAND WITH HER SON, EROS ... THEY WERE LIKE THE BONNIE AND CLYDE OF LOVE.... PARTNERS IN CRIME... THE ROMANS CALLED EROS, 'CUPID'. OF COURSE THE TERM 'EROTIC' DERIVES FROM 'EROS.'

HERE'S HOW IT WORKED: APHRODITE WOULD CHOOSE THE TARGET ... & EROS WOULD SHOOT HIS ARROW ... IT WAS DONE.

THE ANCIENT LYRIC POETS BEST DESCRIBE THE EFFECTS THAT THESE TWO CREATED. 

IBYCUS, A SIXTH CENTURY WRITER, SAID, "EROS LOOKS AT ME MELTINGLY ... & FLINGS ME INTO THE INESCAPABLE NETS OF ... APHRODITE."

SAPPHO, WHO I QUOTED EARLIER, ALSO WROTE, "EROS SHOOK MY HEART LIKE A WIND FALLING ON MOUNTAIN OAKS." 

AND EURIPIDES, ONE OF THE GREATEST OF ANCIENT GREEK PLAYWRIGHTS WROTE, “APHRODITE, THY ETERNAL SWAY, ALL THE RACE OF MEN OBEY."

ALONE THEY WERE A FORCE... TOGETHER THEY WERE UNSTOPPABLE, EVEN BY OTHER GODS, AND HAVE NOT SLOWED DOWN -- EVEN TODAY. 

AND SO WHEN I SPEAK OF APHRODITE, I INCLUDE HER CONSTANT WINGMAN, EROS ...

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OF THE 12 OLYMPIC GODS, ONLY THREE COULD WITHSTAND APHRODITE'S CHARMS. ONE WAS ATHENE ... ANOTHER HESTIA ... & THE THIRD WAS ARTEMIS. 

ALL WERE HER SISTERS & THE DAUGHTERS OF ZEUS. THEY WERE PROUD OF THEIR VIRGINITY & UNLIKE THEIR FATHER, THEY WERE TOTALLY UNMOVED BY APHRODITE'S SCHEMES.

BUT ZEUS & THE REST OF THE GODS COULD NOT RESIST … 

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EROS SHADOWED APHRODITE, MORE AN ASSISTANT THAN A FLUNKEY ... WHAT KIND OF PRESS DID EROS GET? THE WRITER HESIOD — ONE OF HOMER'S CONTEMPORARIES — WROTE, "HE LOOSENS THE LIMBS & WEAKENS THE MIND, OVERPOWERING REASON & THE PLANS OF MAN & GODS."

YOU SEE, EROS WAS THE INFAMOUS DIVINITY WHO SHOT LOVE ARROWS INTO THE INNOCENT. ANYONE HIT BY HIS ARROWS BECAME BESOTTED, HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE WITH ... 

SOMEONE, ANYONE ... BUT USUALLY SOMEONE THEY'D NEVER BEEN ATTRACTED TO BEFORE.

IMAGINE! THE GODDESS WOULD POINT TO A NEW VICTIM, EROS WOULD ACT & WITHIN A SHORT TIME, A NEW AFFAIR OR A MAD INFATUATION WOULD BEGIN.

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EROS' ORIGIN WAS UNCERTAIN ... BUT REGARDLESS OF HIS ANCESTRY, HE BECAME HER CONSTANT COMPANION, OFTEN INFLICTING LOVE ON OTHERS AT HER DIRECTION OR EVEN AT HIS WHIM.

SOMETIMES HIS LOVE ARROWS WERE SHOT FROM PURE SPITE ... AT OTHER TIMES, THEY WERE LOOSED WITH A MADDENING SENSE OF HUMOR …

SHAKESPEARE HIMSELF WROTE A PLAY CALLED "A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM," WHERE ONE OF THE CHARACTERS FALLS IN LOVE WITH A DONKEY.

IT WAS ALL THE DOING OF THE MISCHIEVOUS EROS.

IN ANY EVENT, HE COULD NOT BE STOPPED ... IF YOU BECAME HIS VICTIM, YOU FELL MADLY IN LOVE ... 

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS TO TWO OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE WINNOWING, MY FIRST BOOK ABOUT GREEK GODS. JACK & CHLOE ARE MANIPULATED BY APHRODITE & EROS & BEGIN A TORRID AFFAIR IN ORDER TO PAVE THE WAY FOR THE OLYMPIC GODS RE-ENTRY INTO OUR WORLD …

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IN THE EARLY GREEK STORIES ABOUT EROS, HE APPEARED AS A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN. BUT ... HIS AGING MYSTERIOUSLY REVERSED ... AS TIME WENT BY HE GOT YOUNGER.

EROS WAS EVENTUALLY IMAGINED AS WHAT SCHOLAR JENNY MARCH CALLS AN, "INFANT ... WITH A BOW & A QUIVER FULL OF INESCAPABLE ARROWS."

AND DON'T FORGET HE HAD WINGS & FLEW! HE HID BEHIND CURTAINS & INSIDE CLOSETS. OR ABOVE UNSUSPECTING INNOCENTS. 

SOUNDS LIKE CUPID, RIGHT? WE’VE KEPT THE ROMAN NAME FOR HIM & STILL IMAGINE HIM WITH HIS BABY-LIKE FEATURES, WINGS & ALL ...

WITH EROS AROUND, NO ONE WAS SAFE, EVEN THOSE WITH THE HIGHEST MORALS — EVEN THOSE WITH A CONSTANT SCOWL ... ALL WOULD FALL DELIRIOUSLY IN LOVE.

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IN THE SAME WAY THAT THE ANCIENTS ARGUED OVER EROS' BEGINNINGS, THEY DISAGREED ABOUT APHRODITE'S ORIGIN. 

AS USUAL, IT WAS ALL A BIT SLIPPERY ... THE ANCIENT GREEK POET 'HESIOD' CLAIMED SHE AROSE FROM SEA-FOAM. 

AFTER ALL, THE GREEK WORD FOR FOAM IS 'APHROS,' AS IN APHRODITE, OR ‘SHE OF THE FOAM.’

BUT SAYING SHE AROSE FROM 'SEA-FOAM' MASKS THE GRISLY DETAILS OF HESIOD'S POETIC TALE. 

YOU'LL REMEMBER FROM PREVIOUS EPISODES THAT THERE'S A DARK STAIN THAT RUNS THROUGH MUCH OF OLD GREEK HISTORY.

KINGS WERE FREQUENTLY OVERTHROWN BY A SON ... THIS STARTED WITH GAIA'S MATE, URANUS. 

FROM THEIR UNION CAME A CHILD CALLED KRONOS WHO KILLED URANUS, THE FIRST INSTANCE OF A SON KILLING HIS FATHER.

IT WAS GRUESOME. KRONUS ACTUALLY DISMEMBERED URANUS & THREW HIS PARTS INTO THE SEA.

HESIOD SAID THAT FROM THE 'SEA-FOAM' THAT RESULTED, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF GODDESSES EMERGED ... 

OF COURSE I SPEAK OF ... APHRODITE … AS AN ASIDE, IN EPISODE 7 WE LEARN OF KRONOS BEING KILLED BY *HIS* SONS …

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WHILE NO ONE REALLY KNOWS EXACTLY HOW APHRODITE CAME TO BE, PERHAPS ALL THE AMBIGUITY MADE SENSE ...  

YOU SEE, URANUS, GAIA'S 'HUSBAND', WAS SYNONYMOUS WITH HEAVEN.

IT'S FITTING THAT THIS MOST HEAVENLY OF GODDESSES APHRODITE AROSE AS A RESULT OF THE SKY-GOD URANUS'S  DEATH. AND THAT THE MOST HEAVENLY OF PLEASURES MOST MORTALS KNOW COMES FROM LOVE.

IN ADDITION, THE POET HESIOD'S TALE IS SO TYPICALLY GREEK. THE GREEKS REVELED IN VIOLENCE & DECEIT.

THE IDEA THAT IMMENSE BEAUTY WOULD ARISE FROM THE GRUESOME DEATH OF AN ANCIENT DEITY SURPRISES US, BUT IT'S ... HARDLY SURPRISING.

SO, THAT'S APHRODITE'S ORIGIN STORY... AND WE CAN TAKE AWAY FROM HER BEGINNINGS WHY SHE IS THE WAY SHE IS: BIRTHED FROM VIOLENCE, IT'S NO WONDER LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD... 

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WHILE HESIOD OFFERED ONE VERSION OF HER BIRTH, HOMER WROTE AS IF HE'D NEVER HEARD THE HORRENDOUS TALE OF KRONOS & URANUS.

HE STATED THAT APHRODITE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF ZEUS & A TITAN NAMED DIONE ... 

BUT DOES EITHER STORY MATTER MORE THAN THE OTHER? WHETHER APHRODITE AROSE AS A YOUNG WOMAN FROM THE SEA-FOAM OF HER DISMEMBERED GRANDFATHER ... 

OR SIMPLY GREW UP IN THE DARK SHADOWS OF HIS MURDER, HER PURSUIT OF LOVE MAY HAVE BEEN HOW SHE ESCAPED THE FAMILY ATROCITIES.

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THERE’S A GLORIOUS 15TH CENTURY PAINTING BY BOTTICELLI SHOWING HER BORN AS A YOUNG WOMAN & STANDING IN A SCALLOP SHELL.

SHE MODESTLY COVERS HERSELF WITH A HAND, HER LONG HAIR FALLING OVER ONE OF HER BREASTS. SEVERAL DIVINITIES NEARBY CELEBRATE HER BIRTH. YOU'VE PROBABLY SEEN THIS WORK.

THIS ITALIAN PAINTING WAS CREATED SEVERAL *THOUSAND* YEARS AFTER THE GREEK CIVILIZATION PEAKED ... 

BY THEN SHE WAS 'VENUS.’ YET, WHATEVER HER NAME & HOWEVER MUCH TIME HAS PASSED, ALL STILL CELEBRATE HER & HER INFLUENCE IS CLEARLY AS STRONG AS EVER.

LOVE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST OF HUMAN EMOTIONS. APHRODITE EMBODIES ALL THAT LOVE REPRESENTS: ITS GLORY, ITS AGONY & ITS ETERNAL ALLURE ...

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APHRODITE COULD MANIPULATE EVEN THE MOST POWERFUL GODS .... EVEN THE MIGHTY ZEUS WAS NO MATCH... WHILE HE WAS VIRTUALLY INVINCIBLE, HE WAS ALSO MORE PRONE TO SUDDEN BOUTS OF INFATUATION THAN ANY OTHER GOD.

HIS EXPLOITS WERE ... INFAMOUS ... GODDESS, NYMPH, SISTER, MORTAL WOMAN — ALL WERE PURSUED BY ZEUS.

YET THERE WERE TIMES WHEN EVEN ZEUS RESENTED APHRODITE'S SPELLS. AFTER ALL, HIS LAST WIFE, HERA, WAS CONSTANTLY JEALOUS AS HE CONSTANTLY FELL IN LOVE.

FED UP WITH APHRODITE'S TRICKERY, ZEUS DECIDED TO PUNISH HER BY GIVING HER A DOSE OF HER OWN MEDICINE. 

SHE SHOULD LEARN, HE THOUGHT, WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE STRUCK ... BY DESIRE FOR A MORTAL ... AND IF SHE WERE HUMILIATED AS WELL, OKAY, ALL THE BETTER ...

TO SET HIS TRAP, HE PICKED A SHEPHERD WHO HE FOUND TENDING FLOCKS. ZEUS MUTTERED A DIVINE SPELL ... AND ENCHANTMENT  ... AND SMILED AS HE SAW APHRODITE'S EYES FILL WITH CONFUSION. 

SHE WONDERED WHAT HAD STRUCK HER ... SHE KNEW SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED …

THEN SHE KNEW! ... WHEN APHRODITE SAW THE SHEPHERD TENDING HIS FLOCK, SHE WAS SEIZED WITH DESIRE. 

SHE HAD TO HAVE HIM SO SHE WENT TO HIM DRESSED AS A PRINCESS ... 

AT FIRST THE SHEPHERD THOUGHT SHE MUST BE A GODDESS ... SHE WAS TOO PERFECT AND HE TOO LUCKY ... 

BUT SHE ASSURED HIM SHE WAS NOT. SHE PLEADED ... 'LET US .... CONSUMMATE OUR UNION HERE & NOW!' HE AGREED & LED HER INTO HIS SIMPLE HUT.

HOMER WROTE OF THIS NIGHT, "THEN BY THE WILL OF THE GODS & DESTINY, HE LAY WITH HER ... A MORTAL MAN LYING WITH AN IMMORTAL GODDESS, WITHOUT KNOWING CLEARLY WHAT HE DID."

WHEN SHE DID REVEAL HER TRUE IDENTITY, HE PLEADED FOR MERCY, KNOWING NO GOOD EVER CAME TO MORTAL MEN WHO SLEPT WITH GODDESSES. 

SHE TOLD HIM HE WAS SAFE AS LONG AS HE KEPT THEIR SECRET ... LATER, SHE HAD HIS SON, AENEAS, A HERO DURING THE TROJAN WAR AND WHOM MANY SAY WAS THE FOUNDER OF ROME.

BUT IT WOULDN'T BE A GREEK TALE WITHOUT SOME FIREWORKS... ONE NIGHT WHEN THE SHEPHERD WAS DRINKING WITH FRIENDS, HE BRAGGED ABOUT APHRODITE... SO MUCH FOR SECRETS ... 

WHEN ZEUS CAUGHT WIND OF THIS MORTAL'S DISRESPECT - AFTER ALL, THE SCORN SHOOTING FROM APHRODITE'S EYES WAS LIKE LIGHTNING - HE STRUCK THE SHEPARD WITH A THUNDERBOLT, BLINDING HIM FOREVER ...

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THE FASCINATION WE HAVE WITH THESE GODS IS THAT THEY ARE JUST LIKE US. THEIR STORIES ARE LIKE OURS. THEIR LOVE AFFAIRS MIRROR OURS.

THEIR TRAGEDIES & THEIR TRIUMPHS ARE FAMILIAR. THEY’RE A REFLECTION OF US... OR WE OF THEM.

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HOMER DESCRIBES APHRODITE AS, "GLAD IN HER HEART", DESPITE HER BIRTH FROM VIOLENCE... 

BUT, SHE DID HAVE ISSUES ...  ISSUES WITH INFIDELITY … AS SHE WASN'T FAITHFUL TO HER HUSBAND.

SHE MARRIED THE GOD HEPHAISTOS.... A REAL GENIUS, BUT NOT ONE IN THE WAYS OF LOVE. 

APHRODITE'S EYE WANDERED & HER HEART BECAME UNFAITHFUL. SHE CHOSE BRAWN OVER BRAINS & BEGAN A LONG AFFAIR WITH ARES, THE GOD OF WAR.

PERHAPS THEY WERE THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THE SAYING, OPPOSITES ATTRACT.

HELIOS, THE SUN GOD, CAUGHT THEM WHILE THEY LAY TOGETHER ... WHISPERING ENDEARMENTS.

THEY WERE IN AN OPEN MEADOW AS HE ARCED OVERHEAD ... A GOSSIP, HELIOS QUICKLY TOLD HEPHAISTOS EVERYTHING.

HEPHAISTOS NEEDED TO FIND OUT FOR HIMSELF... SO HE SET A TRAP ... 

HE TOLD APHRODITE THAT HE WAS TAKING A TRIP TO A DISTANT CITY & WOULDN'T BE BACK FOR AWHILE. BUT INSTEAD OF LEAVING, HEPHAISTOS FASHIONED A MAGICAL, INVISIBLE NET OVER THE BED, AND ... 

AS THEY LAY THERE, HE RELEASED IT, TRAPPING THE NOW HELPLESS LOVERS IN THEIR EMBRACE.

CRUELLY, HE CALLED THE OTHER GODS AS WITNESS TO THE NAKED PAIR ... PREDICTABLY, THE OLYMPIANS LAUGHED & MOCKED THE PHILANDERER & POOR APHRODITE.

DISGRACED, ARES PAID A FINE IMPOSED ON ADULTERERS & APHRODITE BANISHED HERSELF TO CYPRUS TO ESCAPE THE SHAME.

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NOW A FINAL STORY, A TRAGEDY THAT PLAYED ON THE GREEK CONSCIOUSNESS FOR A THOUSAND YEARS. 

THIS ONE IS A TALE OF THREE GODDESSES, COMPETING FOR A GOLDEN APPLE. APHRODITE WON, BUT HER VICTORY LED TO THE 10-YEAR TROJAN WAR & COUNTLESS DEATHS.

WHAT HAPPENED? ZEUS' WIFE, HERA, ATHENE & APHRODITE WENT TO A WEDDING. A GUEST BROUGHT AN APPLE MADE OF GOLD THAT WAS ENGRAVED, 'TO THE FAIREST ONE.'

ALL THREE GODDESSES IMMEDIATELY LAID CLAIM TO IT, SQUABBLING AMONG THEMSELVES. ZEUS INTERVENED, COMMANDING HERMES TO TAKE THE THREE TO A MAN NEARBY WHO WOULD RENDER JUDGMENT AS TO WHO WAS THE FAIREST

THE MAN TURNED OUT TO BE PARIS, THE SON OF THE KING OF TROY ... YOU'VE HEARD THE EXPRESSION, "ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE & WAR." 

THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED HERE. EACH OF THE GODDESSES TRIED TO BRIBE HIM ... ATHENE PROMISED VICTORIES IN BATTLE. HERA PROMISED HIM IMPERIAL POWER THAT WOULD FAR EXCEED HIS FATHER'S. 

THAT WAS ALL WELL & GOOD. BUT APHRODITE OFFERED HIM THE LOVE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD. 

PARIS KNEW THAT COULD ONLY BE HELEN OF SPARTA, WHO WOULD BE KNOWN SHORTLY & FOREVERMORE AS HELEN OF TROY. HERS WAS THE FACE THAT LAUNCHED A 1,000 SHIPS. 

BUT PARIS COULD NOT HAVE ANTICIPATED HIS FATE. OR KNOWN THAT ZEUS WAS PLAYING A LONG GAME & THAT HE, PARIS, WAS A MERE PAWN ... IN A GAME OF GODS.

RACKED WITH LUST FOR THE SPARTAN BEAUTY, PARIS CHOSE APHRODITE AS THE FAIREST OF THE THREE. THIS INCIDENT BECAME KNOWN AS "THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS."

AND, YES, APHRODITE WON, BUT THE TROJANS WERE TO LOSE ... THEIR FATE CAME A DECADE LATER & AFTER A STANDOFF THAT COST THOUSANDS OF LIVES.

DURING THAT WAR, WHEN PARIS IS ADMONISHED FOR STEALING HELEN FROM HER HUSBAND IN SPARTA, PARIS SAYS, 

"DO NOT FAULT ME FOR ACCEPTING THE LOVELY GIFTS OF THE GOLDEN APHRODITE ...      FOR GLORIOUS GIFTS GIVEN BY THE GODS MUST NEVER BE ... DECLINED."

BUT THINGS DID NOT TURN OUT WELL FOR PARIS. JUST BEFORE TROY WAS SACKED BY THE GREEKS, HE WAS KILLED BY AN ARROW ...

AND APHRODITE? SHE KEPT HER GOLDEN APPLE, BECOMING AWARE ONLY AT THE VERY END OF THE WAR THAT ZEUS HAD PLAYED HER, AS WELL …

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HOW DO WE END THIS GODDESS' STORY? BUT WAIT — THERE IS NO END.

WHILE ARTEMIS & ATHENE, POSEIDON & APOLLO, ARES & HEKATE ALL SLIPPED AWAY, APHRODITE — IN HER NEW GUISE AS VENUS — WENT ON AS BEFORE.

THE ROMANS REVERED HER. EROS CONTINUED AT HER SIDE. AND EVEN WHEN THE ROMAN EMPIRE BEGAN ITS SLOW DISINTEGRATION, SHE CONTINUED ON.

SHE WAS, AFTER ALL, LOVE ... IT FLOWED FROM HER AS IF FROM A PERPETUAL SPRING ... PASSION, INFATUATION, DECEPTION, SEDUCTION — ALL OF THESE WERE HER ATTRIBUTES.

AND THEY POWERED THE WORLD ... THEY WERE TIMELESS ... & IF SHE HAD VANISHED LIKE THE OTHER GODS, LIFE MIGHT HAVE ENDED THERE.

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IN MY NOVEL, HOMO DIVINITAS, APHRODITE APPEARS IN TODAY'S WORLD TO MEDDLE & MANEUVER AS SHE ALWAYS HAS.

SHE'S NOT ABANDONED LOVE OR LOVERS. HER MISSION IS INTACT & HER PURPOSE CLEAR.

UNLIKE PARIS, APHRODITE NEVER JUDGES. WE MIGHT CALL HER AMORAL, BUT IN REALITY, SHE'S QUITE MODERN AS SHE CELEBRATES LOVE IN ALL ITS MANIFESTATIONS …

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IN OUR NEXT PODCAST, WE LEAVE LOVE & LOOK INSTEAD AT PROPHESY ... 

THE PROPHESY WE WILL UNVEIL IS NOT THAT OF FORTUNE TELLERS GAZING INTO CRYSTAL BALLS OR SHUFFLING TAROT CARDS.

NO, INSTEAD WE DELVE DEEPLY INTO A WORLD WHERE APOLLO SPOKE THROUGH AN EXTRAORDINARY WOMAN CALLED THE PYTHIA ...