The Other Olympians- Girls- Aphrodite

Aphrodite/Venus/Cytherea/Cypris- The goddess of love, beauty and sexual pleasure. Usually said to have been formed in the sea foam from Cronus' genitals, although sometimes Zeus and Dione, a minor goddess, or Thalassa, a sea goddess, are given as her parents. She arose from the sea near Cyprus, fully formed in a shell.

She was desired by all the gods and to stop them quarelling over her, Zeus had her married to Hephaestus. Some sources say he gave her as a wife to Hephaestus in exchange for him freeing Hera from the throne she was stuck to. However she was unfaithful, usually having affairs with the war god Ares. Hephaestus was informed of their affair by Helios and devised a trap for them. He ensnared them in a fine chain net when they were making love and brought the other gods to see them.

Aphrodite gave Pandora, the first woman, grace, beauty and longing. She was on the side of the Trojans and helped bring about The Trojan War. When Eris cast a golden apple for the fairest into Thetis' wedding, Aphrodite, Hera and Athena all laid claim to it. Zeus commanded Paris to judge the fairest and he picked Aphrodite when she offered him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen.

She had fun in making the gods and goddesses fall for mortals spawing the age of heroes. This ended when Zeus tired of her games and made her fall in love with a mortal, Anchises. With Anchises she had the mortal son Aeneas who was both a part of Greek and Roman legend.

Like the other immortals Aphrodite could be cruel and vengeful and many felt her wrath as well as her blessing. She turned the six sons of Poseidon and Halia to madness when they drove her from Rhodes, they raped their mother and sister and were placed under the earth by Poseidon. Hippomenes/Melanion asked for Aphrodite's help to win the heart of Atalanta, he had to beat her in a race so the goddess gave him golden apples to distract the female warrior with so that he could win. When Hippomenes failed to thank the goddess she either turned them into lions or drove them to have sex in a temple of Cybele leading Zeus or Cybele to turn them into lions. According to some versions of the story of Myrrha/Smyrna, Aphrodite made her desire her own father as punishment for failing to honour the goddess, from this unnatural union Adonis was created. The Propoetides, daughters of Propoetus were driven to become the first prostitutes by Aphrodite when they denied her divinity.

Hippolytus was a son of Theseus who scorned Aphrodite for Artemis, Aphrodite drove his stepmother Phaedra to develop a passion for him and when he turned her down she accused him of rape to his father who cursed him leading Poseidon to kill him.
Polyphonte was a maiden and a granddaughter who chose to be a chaste follower of Artemis, in anger at this Aphrodite drove her to desire a bear. She gave birth to the cannibal twins Orius and Agrius as a result, the three were turned into birds of prey.

Diomedes was persuaded by Athena to wound Aphrodite in the Trojan War, he stabbed her arm with a spear and never forgetting it, she drove his wife Aegialia to take lovers or a lover and to keep him from his own city. Aphrodite even drove a Titaness, Eos, to continously fall in love because she had once slept with Aphrodite's lover Ares. A minor sea god Nerites, a son of Doris and Nereus, was a lover of Aphrodite's before she ascended to Olympus. The goddess tried to make the god go with her to Olympus but he refused, even when she offered him wings, in anger she turned him into a shellfish. Erymanthus, a son of Apollo, was blinded by Aphrodite for watching her make love to Adonis, according to some this is why Adonis was killed by a boar, it was actually Apollo in disguise, those most sources say it was a jealous Ares.

Anaxarete was a maiden loved by a shepherd, Iphis, but she ignored all of his advances and in grief he killed himself. She did not cry for him and mocked his funeral, in anger Aphrodite turned her to stone. In another myth it is a princess, Arsinoe, who scorns the love of a wealthy man, Arceophon. He tried to bribe Arsinoe's nurse but she reported this to her parents and her nurse lost her tongue, fingers and nose and was driven from the house. Arceophon then committed suicide and Arsinoe was turned to stone when she looked out her window to watch the funeral. King Glaucus, son of Sisyphus, fed his mares human flesh and forbid them from mating, insulted by this, Aphrodite drove them to eat him. In another version of the myth they eat him because he has no food left for them, or he died during a chariot race.

Psyche/Psykhe was a woman whose beauty Aphrodite was jealous of, she asked Eros to make her fall in love with a monster but fell in love with her himself. He met her at night but forbid her from seeing him, persuaded by her jealous sisters she lit a candle and he fled from her. Psyche went to Aphrodite for aid and Aphrodite set her several tasks. First to seperate grains in a day, which she does with the help of ants, then to retrieve golden wool from vicious sheep, a river god advised her to pluck it from the fence whilst the sheep slept, and then to get water from a place unreachable to humans and guarded by serpents, an eagle helped her this time. Finally, Aphrodite asks Psyche to get her a box of beauty from Persephone but Persephone, angry over Adonis, gives her a box of sleep instead. Psyche, curious, opens the box and falls asleep, Eros finds her, forgives her and awakens her and then asks Zeus to intervene so that they might be married, which they are.

Adonis was a lover of Aphrodite, created by the incestuous love between Myrrha and her father Cinyras, an affair brought about by Aphrodite's wrath. Myrrha became a tree and Aphrodite found the infant Adonis within her and gave him to Persephone to mind. When he grew up to be handsome the goddesses argued over him, Zeus decreed that he would spend a third of the year with Persephone, a third with Aphrodite and a third with whomever he desired (he chose Aphrodite). He is killed by a boar that was either a vengeful Apollo or jealous Ares in disguise, and returns to the Underworld. Zeus decrees that this time he will spend half the year with Persephone and half with Aphrodite.

Aphrodite could be kind as well as a cruel and showed favours to many. She gave the daughters of Orion, Menippe and Metioche, beauty and she took care of Cleodora and Merope when their parents died, but when she went to Zeus to sort out their marriages, the Furies took them as handmaidens. She gifted Ariadne with either a crown of stars or a jewelled crown, Corona, and she gave Andromache a headdress or veil on her wedding day, according to Homer. With Apollo she preserved Hector's body from injury. She also spirited Paris away when Menelaus defeated him battle, thus saving him from death. When Boutes/Butes, an Argonaut, succumbed to the Sirens, Aphrodite saved him and he became her lover.

Pygmalion was a man who shunned women, finding none worthy of his love. Aphrodite inspired him with a dream to sculpt a statue in the likeness of Aphrodite, which he did. He then fell in love with the statue and prayed to the goddess to bring it to life. She did and it became known as Galatea, who he married. Another version of the myth says the women of his town were angry that he was unmarried and demanded that Aphrodite make him marry, she told him he had to choose a wife but he begged her to give him time to make a statue in her likeness first. He created Galatea and asked for the statue to be his wife, Aphrodite refused until he asked to be turned into a statue, then in pity she brought the statue to life.

Aphrodite had several children. With her favoured lover Ares she had- Phobos (fear), Deimos (terror), Adrestia (vengeance), Harmonia (harmony and concord), rarely given as a child of Hephaestus, she was the wife of the hero Kadmus/Cadmus, and grandmother of Dionysus, and the Erotes. The Erotes were Eros, sometimes considered an older deity born before even the Titans, Anteros (requited love), Himeros (uncontrollable desire) and Pothos (longing).
Pindar says that with Poseidon she was the mother of Rhode/Rhodos, consort of Helios, but other sources give Amphitrite or Halia as her mother, which seems more likely given that Aphrodite cursed her brothers to rape her and her mother. She is also given another daughter with Poseidon, Herophilos/Herophilus/Herophile, a Haliade, sea nymph.
With Hermes she had Tyche (luck), though she is also given as a daughter of Okeanos and Tethys, Peitho (persuasion), Hesiod says she is an Okeanid, Eunomia (good laws), sometimes given as a daughter of Zeus and Themis, and Hermaphroditus, born a boy, the nymph Salmacis fell in love with him and asked the gods to join them, which they did.
With Dionysus she was the mother of the Charites (Aglaea ("Splendor"), Euphrosyne ("Mirth"), and Thalia ("Good Cheer")), although Zeus and Eurynome are also given as their parents, and Priapus, a minor fertility god with a permanent erection who may have been a son of Dionysus and Chione.
With Adonis she had a daughter, Beroe. With Phaethon, son of Eos, she had a son, Astynous/Astynoos, making her the great, great-grandmother of Cinyras whose daughter Myrrha she cursed to love him.
With her mortal lover Anchises she had the hero Aeneas, and Lyros, and with her other mortal lover Butes she had Eryx, a king and a boxer killed by Heracles, who is also listed as a son of Poseidon.

Some sources say that Hephaestus actually divorced her as a result of her infedelity. Hermes fell in love with her when he saw her bathing but she rejected him. Zeus helped him to seduce her by stealing one of her sandals or sending an eagle to steal it, Hermes then used the sandal as leverage. When her affair with Ares was exposed, Poseidon offered to pay her bride price, acting as a guarantor should Ares fail to pay it, Ares did but Poseidon did not gain her as wife as Hephaestus would not divorce her or fell back in love with her.

Her animals are doves, dolphins, sparrows and swans, her plants/fruits pomegranates, apples, myrtle, roses, and limes. Her symbols are the mirror, her girdle, pearl, scallop shell, and the seashell. She is usually depicted with long, golden hair, generally naked with Eros in attendance, or on her seashell rising from the sea.

Her Roman counterpart was Venus, a goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility and military victory. In a very early form she was a goddess of vegetation, vineyards and gardens. Just as Aphrodite was linked to the Levantine goddess Astarte, a goddess of fertility, sexuality and war who was worshipped in the Eastern Mediterranean, so Venus drew connections with the Etruscan goddess Turan, goddess of love and vitality. Venus was viewed as a mother goddess associated with domestic bliss, she was also the patron goddess of prostitutes.

The Twelve Olympians

The chief hierarchy of the gods, they sometimes varied but were usually given to be- Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Hermes. Rarely Dionysus was swapped with Hades but generally Hades was not considered a member due to dwelling in the Underworld rather than Olympus. Quintus Ennius, a Roman writer swapped Bacchus (Dionysus) with Vesta (Hestia) so as to have six males and six females. To explain this, Hestia/Vesta later gave up her position so that Dionysus/Bacchus could be a member without there being thirteen.

Zeus/Jupiter- the king of the gods, youngest of the six (Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Hestia, and Zeus), he drew lots with his brothers when they overthrew the Titans and won the heavens. He is the god of the skies, thunderstorms and rain. His symbols are the lightning/thunderbolt, the eagle, the bull, the oak and the sceptre.
His first wife was Metis, the Titaness of Wisdom and mother of Athena, his second is Themis the Titaness of divine order who he has the Horae with, and his third is Eurynome the Titaness of pasture lands, whom he has the Charites with. Hesiod, in the Theogony then gives Zeus' sister Demeter the goddess of agriculture to be his fourth wife and with him parent to Persephone, Mnemosyne the Titaness of memories is given as his fifth wife and the mother of the Muses with him, Leto the Titaness of motherhood is his sixth wife and with him parent to the twins Artemis and Apollo, and Hera his sister and the goddess of marriage is his seventh and final wife, and with him mother to Ares, Eileithyia and Hebe.
He is the father of the heroes Heracles, Perseus, the kings and later three judges of the dead- Minos, Rhadamanthus and Aeacus, and Helen of Troy, amongst many others.

Hera/Juno- the goddess of marriage, wife to Zeus and queen of the gods and goddesses. She was said to have been fostered by Okeanos and his wife Tethys. Zeus seduced her in the form of a bird before marrying her. She is given to be the most beautiful of the goddesses, more beautiful than even Aphrodite. Gaia gave her the Garden of the Hesperides as a wedding gift, in it golden apples grow and are tended by the Hesperides and the many headed dragon Ladon.
She is said to have given birth to Hephaestus/Vulcan without a father in response to Zeus birthing Athena/Minerva without a mother. When Hephaestus was born either Hera cast him down from Olympus because he was ugly or Zeus threw him down because he helped Hera when she was in chains, as a result Hephaestus was lamed.
With Poseidon and Athena she sought to overthrow Zeus, they chained him down but Thetis rescued him. As a result Hera was chained between the sky and the abyss.
As a goddess of marriage she did not have affairs despite her husband having many.
Her symbols are the peacock, the cow, the milkway, the pomegranate, the lily, the sceptre and the crown.

Poseidon/Neptune- the god of the seas, rivers, earthquakes and horses. He is depicted as bearded and carrying a trident. He is a tempermental god and once conspired with Athena and Hera to overthrow Zeus but they were thwarted thanks to Thetis. He is given as the father of many giants and cyclopes.
He competed with Athena over the rights to the city Attica, she offered the people an olive tree whilst he offered a salty spring, they picked Athena's gift and the city was renamed Athens. Some say Poseidon actually created the horse as a gift.
In another version of the creation myth he created the horse to impress Demeter, it was through trial and error and many other creatures such as the zebra were created as a result before he finally created the horse.
With Demeter, in horse form, they sired Arion/Areion, a talking horse. He is also the father of the hero Theseus with the princess Aethra, and Pegasus the winged horse and Chrysaor a man or winged boar, with Medusa. Medusa was cursed by Athena for defiling her temple by being raped by Poseidon in it.
His wife was the Nereid (sea nymph) Amphitrite, daughter of the sea Titan Nereus, known as the Old Man of the Sea, and his wife Doris, a sea nymph.
His symbols are the trident, the horse and the dolphin.

Demeter/Ceres- the goddess of agriculture, the harvest and to an extent marriage. Demeter and her daughter Persephone are infamous for being key figures in the Eleusinian Mysteries. She and her daughter were, amongst other goddesses, also associated with the Maiden, Mother and Crone mythos.
With Zeus she had Persephone and with Poseidon she had the talking steed Areion after she took the form of a mare to escape her brother and he raped her in the form of a stallion, with him she also had Despoine, a minor goddess. With the mortal lord Karmanor she had a son, Eubouleos and a daughter, Khrysothemis who were associated with the ploughed earth and harvest respectively. With the mortal prince Iasion, who was killed by a jealous Zeus, she had the twin boys, Ploutos and Philomelos.
Persephone was her most beloved child and when she was taken by Hades, Demeter wandered the earth in despair looking for her. As a result of her depression the crops failed and famine spread across the world and the weather turned bad. Seeing mankind's suffering, Zeus commanded Hades to return Persephone but she had eaten in the Underworld and was forever tied to it, so Demeter sees her for half of the year, and Hades sees her for the other half, alternatively, Demeter has her for nine months whilst Hades gets three. This resulted in the belief that in Spring and Summer the weather was good because Persephone and Demeter were united, in Autumn it turned bad as their approach drew near or had already happened and in Winter Demeter was in mourning for her daughter.
She is, like Poseidon, associated with the horse. The cornucopia, a horn overflowing with wheat, flowers etc, is usually her symbol as well as an ear of wheat.

Athena/Minerva- the goddess of war, wisdom, strategy, and weaving. She was also given the title of Pallas Athena/Athene after slaying the giant Pallas or, in alternate stories, accidentally killing her friend Pallas. She is a virgin goddess and the daughter of Zeus and Metis.
When Zeus was told that Metis would birth a child more powerful than the father he swallowed her to prevent such a fate but she was already pregnant. After time he suffered from a severe headache and one of the gods was forced to open it with an axe. Out of the wound Athena sprang fully grown and armoured.
Though she had no children she fostered Erichthonius who was created when Hephaestus tried to rape her and his seamen hit Gaia and impregnated her. Erichthonius was given in a box to three sisters to guard but they got curious and opened the box and saw a snake or an infant with a snake or a half-man, half-snake, and two of them went mad and killed themselves. Erichthonius grew up to be a king of Athens.
In one story she turned a crow from white to black when it reported that the sisters had opened the box.
She is said to have turned Medusa into a gorgon after her temple was soiled by Poseidon raping Medusa there.
She and Poseidon competed over Athens for the right to have the city named after them, Poseidon offered the people a salty spring and Athena offered an olive tree, the people picked her gift and Athens was named.
She was a friend to heroes giving advice to Odysseus, Heracles and Perseus, giving Perseus the world's first bridle to tame Pegasus with.
At the wedding of Thetis and Peleus an uninvited Eris threw a gold apple labelled 'to the fairest one', this started a competition between the goddesses for it. Prince Paris was asked to pick between Athena, Aphrodite and Hera. Athena offered him wisdom and glory in and for all battles, Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, and Hera offered him Europe and Asia. Paris picked Aphrodite and as a result Athena and Hera aided the Greeks against the Trojans in the Trojan War.
Athena's association with weaving and the loom is prominent in the tale of Arachne, a weaver who boasted that she was better at it than Athena. Athena came to her disguised as an old woman to warn her but Arachne would not heed and requested a competition. Arachne weaved the gods committing infedelity whilst Athena depicted her success in winning Athens from Poseidon. Arachne's work was perfect but Athena was angered by her choice of topic and jealous so she destroyed it, Arachne then hung herself in despair but Athena turned her into a spider out of pity.
She is shown with her aegis, her shield that has Medusa's head on it, an owl, and a maned helmet. The snake is also associated with her.

Dionysus/Bacchus- the god of wine, drinking, partying, festivals. There are two versions of his birth both of which involve Zeus sewing him in his thigh. The first gives his mother as the mortal Semele who was killed when she asked Zeus to appear in his true form after prompting from a disguised Hera. Zeus rescued the fetus and sewed it into his thigh. The second version gives his mother as Persephone, the baby Dionysus is killed by Titans sent by a jealous Hera, they left his heart though, which Zeus sewed into his thigh, or gave to Semele to eat (probably an attempt to unite the two stories) and recreated him from.
As a baby he was fostered by his aunt Ino and her husband Athamas after being given to them by Hermes, Rhea or Persephone. Ino was the stepmother of Phrixus and Helle, who were infamous for riding the golden ram Chrysomallus, whose fleece was the Golden Fleece. Ino was said to have been a cruel stepmother who blamed them for a famine and bribed an oracle to support her and ask for their sacrifice.
Hera struck either Ino or Athamas with madness leading to the murder of their son Melicertes and their own deaths. Zeus however intervened to turn Ino into the white goddess Leucothea, a sea deity, and her son Melicertes into the god Palaemon. Athamas also killed their son Learchus in his madness thinking he was a ram/lion/deer hunting him down.
Ino's sisters Autonoe and Agave were also cursed with madness and killed their own relations. It is believed that all this madness came from Dionysus who was famous for inflicting people with insanity, particularly women. In fact these mad women even had a title- Maenads or Bacchae. They included the women who had nursed and raised him, which included the nymphs of Nysa who either took him after Ino's death or raised him instead of Ino depending on the source.
His companion and tutor was Silenus, a man originally depicted with a horse's ears and tail and sometimes legs, a little like an equesterian satyr/faun. He was always drunk and said to be wise, when he wandered and got lost once he was found by servants of King Midas. Midas treated him well and as a result Dionysus rewarded him with what he wanted and he picked the golden touch. After he found he could not eat nor drink and his daughter became a golden statue he asked for the gift to be revoked and Dionysus granted the request.
Dionysus also became the husband of Ariadne after finding her on the island Theseus abandoned her on, some stories say Dionysus demanded Theseus do this whilst others say he simply found her after the deed had been done. He is listed to have had several lovers and children.
Dionysus' symbols were the thyrsus, his staff which had a pinecone on the top, the vine and the wine goblet.

Apollo- Also known as Phoebus (radiant) Apollo was the twin of Artemis and a son of Leto and Zeus. He was a god of light, prophecy, archery, music, poetry and healing and later a god of the sun, displacing Helios as his Artemis displaced Selene as goddess of the moon.
He was associated with the Phythia/Oracle of Delphi and said to have given her, her prophecies. The Phythia was named after Python, a dragon of Delphi that chased the pregnant Leto and was slain by Apollo in revenge.
His son Asclepius was a healer god who angered Zeus by taking his gifts too far by resurrecting the dead, chiefly Hippolytus. Zeus then struck him down with lightning, in revenge Apollo killed the Cyclopes who had made the lightning bolt. Zeus then punished Apollo by having him labour as a shepherd for King Admetus, who treated him well.
He had many lovers and children but was equally rebuked by several including the nymph Daphne whose father rescued her from rape by turning her into a laurel tree, and the infamous princess of Troy Cassandra who he cursed to speak prophecies that no one would believe.
It is said that he turned crows from white to black after one told him that his lover Coronis, Asclepius' mother, had taken another lover. Apollo dismissed it as lies and punished the crow, when he found out it was true he made the bird sacred.
Hermes as an infant stole Apollo's cattle and with one's intestines and a tortoise shell he invented the lyre. Apollo tracked down the cattle and hearing the music of the lyre he exchanged the cattle for it.
He cursed Midas with the ears of an ass when he said Pan's music was better than Apollo's. The satyr Marsyas challenged Apollo to a music contest after finding Athena's discarded aulos (like a flute). They were equal until Apollo challenged Marsyas to play his instrument upside down or to sing at the same time, he could not do it and a result Apollo flayed him alive.
His symbols were the bow and arrows, the lyre, the laurel wreath and the crow.

Artemis/Diana- Daughter of Leto and Zeus, twin to Apollo and a goddess of the hunt, wildlife and childbirth and later the moon. She was a virgin hunter who expected her companions to keep their virgnity. She was known for cursing those companions that lost their virginity whether it was willingly or not and for cursing people who spied her bathing.
When Actaeon saw her bathing she turned him into a stag and his own dogs killed him. In some myths she had Adonis killed by a wild boar in an act of revenge against Aphrodite for causing Hippolytus' death.
The giant Orion hunted with her and was either killed by a giant scorpion sent by Gaia after he boasted that he could kill every living thing or by Artemis either in defence after he touched her or tried to seduce a follower or because Apollo, wary of his sister's chastity, tricked her into doing it.
She tricked the giants Otos and Ephialtes into killing each other when they threatened to kidnap her by jumping between them in the form of a doe.
She punished her nymph Callisto after she was impregnated by Zeus by turning her into a bear and with her brother she killed the children of Queen Niobe after Niobe boasted she was superior to Leto. She also punished King Agamemnon after he killed a sacred stag by calming the winds so his fleet could not sail to Troy. He sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to her but Artemis took her at the last moment and left a deer in her place.
All animals were sacred to her but deer and dogs were usually associated with her like her brother the bow and arrows were also her symbols.

Ares/Mars- the god of the violent and cruel aspect of war, a son of Hera and Zeus. Few of the gods liked him, he was a rival to Athena and his lover was Aphrodite. Deimos (terror/dread), Phobos (fear), and Adrestia (war goddess) were his children by Aphrodite and his companions. His sisters Enyo, a war goddess, and Eris, strife/discord, were also his companions. Ironically he is also sometimes given as the father of Eros, love, and Harmonia, harmony, and Anteros, requited love.
He was tried and acquitted for the murder of Halirrhothius, a son of Poseidon who raped Ares' daughter Alcippe.
Hephaestus caught Ares and Aphrodite in a net making love after Helios told him of their affair. He then invited the other gods to come and mock them.
The giants Otus and Ephialtes put him in a bronze urn so he could not stop their takeover of Olympus. He was a prisoner for thirteen months, saved when the giants' stepmother Eriboea told Hermes and he rescued him.
Some say he and not Artemis killed Adonis because he was jealous of Aphrodite loving him.
His symbols were the helmet, spear, shield, armour, vultures and dogs.

Aphrodite/Venus- A daughter of either Ouranos, forming when his genitals hit the ocean, which would make her sister to the Erinyes who formed from his blood, or of Zeus and Dione. She is the goddess of love and beauty and was married to Hephaestus by Zeus so that the gods would not fight over her. One version of the tale is that she was Hephaestus' reward for freeing Hera from the throne he had stuck her to. She was infamously unfaithful to Hephaestus, taking several lovers including Ares.
Eros fell in love with Psyche when Aphrodite asked him to make Psyche fall in love with the ugliest man because she was jealous of her beauty. Eros made love to her in the dark never revealing his form to her, her jealous sisters suggested he must be a monster so Psyche shone a lamp in his face while he was sleeping and recognised him for a god, he fled in anger. She went to Aphrodite for advice to win him back and Aphrodite set her several tasks- to seperate grains in a time limit, ants helped her, to get wool from violent golden sheep, a river god advised her to pluck it from the bushes when they went to rest and to get a box of beauty from Persephone. She opened the box after getting it and fell asleep, Eros forgave her and awoke her and then married her.
She cursed Myrrha with lust for her own father Cinyras whom she seduces as a disguised prostitute. When he discovered the truth he chased her and the gods turned her into a Myrrh treem Cinyras then committed suicide. From this Adonis was born. Aphrodite gave him to Persephone to raise, when he grew up handsome Aphrodite wanted him back but Persephone refused. They fought over it and Zeus intervened, Adonis was to spend a third of the year with Aphrodite, a third with Persephone and a third with whoever he wanted, he chose Aphrodite. He was killed by either a boar sent by Artemis or Ares, or Ares disguised as a boar.
Eris threw a golden apple addressed 'to the fairest' at Thetis and Peleus' wedding. Aphrodite, Athena and Hera all fought over it until Zeus asked Prince Paris to choose who deserved it. Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world Helen so he picked her.
She brought the statue Galatea to life for her creator Pygmalion who had fallen in love with her image.
When Hippolytus chose to worship Artemis over Aphrodite she made his stepmother Phaedra fall in love with him. He rejected her and she claimed to his father Theseus that he had raped her, after making Hippolytus promise not to speak of her love. Theseus cursed him and Poseidon caused a bull from the sea to panic his horses causing his death. Artemis told Theseus the truth and vowed revenge on Aphrodite.
Despite being a goddess of love she was vain, petty, jealous and vengeful.
Her symbols were the dolphin, dove, sparrow, swan, girdle, mirror and the seashell.

Hephaestus/Vulcan- the lame son of Hera, god of the forge, fires, technology, metal, and blacksmiths. He was born by Hera who was angry at Zeus birthing Athena, but when he was born she threw him away in disgust resulting in his lameness. In another version it was Zeus who threw him down for trying to rescue Hera.
He crafted the gods' armour and weapons and weapons and armour for some heroes. He created automatons to help him and was helped by cyclopes.
He avenged himself against Hera by creating for her a throne from which she could not get up, he freed her only after Dionysus got him drunk. Aphrodite was given to him as a wife by Zeus either as a reward for freeing Hera or to stop the other gods from fighting over her beauty.
He tried to rape Athena but she escaped him and his semen hit Gaia impregnating her with Erichthonius. Despite his ugly looks he did have several lovers and children.
He made the Necklace of Harmonia, a cursed necklace given to Harmonia, a daughter of Ares and Aphrodite and wife to Cadmus. He probably cursed her as revenge against Ares and Aphrodite.
He created the first woman Pandora on Zeus' orders as punishment for mankind, crafting her from the earth.

Hermes/Mercury- the messenger god a son of Zeus and the Pleiade Maia. He is the god of thieves, travellers, trade, athletic contests and wit, a trickster and a guide to the dead.
As a baby he stole the cattle of Apollo and with their entrails and a tortoise shell he invented the lyre, which Apollo took in exchange for the cattle. A man, Battos, saw the theft and was bribed by Hermes to keep silent. Hermes returned to him in disguise and he revealed the theft however and was turned to stone as punishment.
He killed the hundred eyed Argus at Zeus' behest who was guarding Io in her heifer form and he assisted the heroes Perseus and Odysseus, giving Perseus his winged sandals and Odysseus a herb to counter Circe's poisons.
He punished Agraulos by turning her to stone when she refused to let him have access to her sister Herse whom he had fallen for.
Hermes and Zeus disguised themselves as peasants to test the generosity of man, they were denied shelter by all except for Baucis and Philemon, a poor but kind couple. They flooded the town and turned Baucis and Philemon's home into a temple, which they guarded.
His symbols were his winged sandals (Talaria), his winged herald's staff (caduceus), the tortoise, hawk and ram.