Two Aphrodites Were Worshiped In Ancient Greece

The eighth interesting fact on the Greek Goddess of Love is that two Aphrodites were worshiped in ancient Greece. Aphrodite is known by several epithets, including Aphrodite Urania and Aphrodite Pandemos. According to Plato's Symposium, there are two Aphrodites. Aphrodite's elder sister, Urania, is the only one without a mother. She is the daughter of Uranus, who rose from the sea foam, and she is known as the "heavenly Goddess."

On the other hand, Aphrodite Pandemos is the daughter of Zeus and Dione, and she is "common to all the people." In Xenophon's Symposium, the same distinction is made, but the author is unsure whether there are two goddesses or whether Urania and Pandemos are two names for the same goddess. It's worth noting that in ancient Greece, the two Aphrodites were treated equally. Perhaps, throughout time, the works of philosophers and moralists helped to distinguish between "celestial" body and soul love and simply physical desire. Persephone was assigned by Aphrodite to nurture and care for a mortal man named Adonis after he was born. Both Aphrodite and Persephone sought to possess him as he reached puberty, resulting in a major dispute. According to Zeus, Adonis would spend half of each year with the ladies, so that they could share him.