The Dove Is Her Most Prominent Symbol

Aphrodite, like her Near Eastern forerunners Inanna-Ishtar, is most often identified with the avian emblem of the dove. Peristerá, the ancient Greek word for "dove," may have been derived from the Semitic term pera Ishtar, which means "bird of Ishtar." Her sanctuary was cleaned with the blood of a dove during the Aphrodisia festival, and the temple of Aphrodite Pandemos on the Athenian Acropolis was embellished with relief sculptures of doves with knotted filets in their beaks. Goose, swans, and sparrows are some bird emblems linked with the Goddess. In Sappho's "Ode to Aphrodite," she rides a chariot drawn by sparrows.

Aphrodite is connected with the rose (which was stained crimson when she cut her foot on its thorns while dashing toward her dying lover, Adonis), the anemone (which was stained by Adonis' blood), and myrtle, among other flowers. The apple (golden apple from the Paris Judgement) and pomegranate (whose seeds she initially showed on the island of Kypros) are two fruits that are frequently linked with her. Aphrodite is linked to seashells, pearls, and dolphins since she was born in the sea.