WHAT...

by Andrea Leaf
(Bismarck ND)

"There are two versions about her birth. According to one of them, she was the daughter of Zeus and Dione.

The other version is better known: Aphrodite Greek goddess of love was born from the foam of the sea. When Cronos emasculated his father, Uranus, the blood drops that fell into the sea generated the goddess."


IT SAYS THAT SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF ZEUS AND DIONE,AND IN THE SECOND PARAGRAPH IT SAYS THAT WHEN CRONOS EMASCULATED HIS FATHER "URANUS, THE BLOOD DROPS THAT FELL INTO THE SEA GENERATED THE (GODDESS)"

SO WHO IS HER REAL FATHER???



Hi! Sorry, now that you point it out, I see I've not been very clear (I'll go back and re-write the paragraph).
So, as I said, there are 2 versions: in one of them, Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus and Dione.
In the other version, she was born from Uranus' genitals, which were thrown into the sea and created foam. Hesiod explained her name, Aphrodite, as deriving from the word "aphros", which meant "foam" (i.e., the one born from the foam (of the sea)).
In this case, we might consider Uranus as her father and the sea (or the foam) as her mother.
I have also read there are ancient tales in which she was considered the daughter of Zeus and Thalassa (i.e. the sea).
In fact, there is no "real" father, as she was not a "real" person. Even some of the ancient Greeks thought that mythology was an embellished retelling of stories about heroes from the old times, in which additions were made along the centuries that followed.
As regards Aphrodite, we can't say that maybe in the beginning she was a beautiful woman/princess queen, because, as a goddess, she was "imported" from Phoenicia (or at least inspired from the cult of the goddess Astarte, from Phoenicia).
There was no "official" manual about Greek mythology, the things that we know today come from many ancient sources. Each writer told a different story, that's why there are several versions about a god or goddess. Also, many cities/islands etc. claimed to be the birth place of a god, that's why there are several versions about that, too. In Aphrodite's case, the island on which she arrived pushed by the winds is either Cyprus or Kythira (and, by the way, being the "real" birth place of a god meant having a temple and, of course, lots of business from the "pilgrims").
Hope that answers your question!