The Ineffable Aphrodite The Olympian goddess Aphrodite was the Greek's epitome of love, beauty, and fertility. Unlike her Roman counterpart Venus, Aphrodite was not only the goddess of sexual love but also the social emotion between a man and woman. According to the poet Homer, she was the simply the daughter of Zeus and Dione. The poet Hesiod's account is more elaborate, and considerably more gruesome. Life first began when Gaia, the Earth and mother goddess, emerged from chaos. She gave birth to Ouranos, the sky god, and began to conceive children. The sky embraced her so powerfully however that she was unable to give birth to any of her children. In her anger s