Hephaestus genuinely loved and desired his beautiful wife and never wanted to be apart from her. But Aphrodite couldn't help her nature, and she continued to cheat on her husband — not just with Ares, but with others as well.

Tell-All Anchises

This love affair was all Zeus's doing. Aphrodite sometimes teased the other deities for succumbing to her love spells, so Zeus decided to teach her a lesson by making her fall in love with the mortal Anchises, king of Dardania.

Aphrodite encountered Anchises as he was herding sheep on Mount Ida. Zeus's love spell made Aphrodite fall head over heels in love. She approached Anchises as a beautiful mortal girl and seduced him easily. Their union produced a son, Aeneas.

Thinking that Anchises would be pleased to know that he was a consort of the goddess of love, Aphrodite revealed her true identity to him. Anchises, however, reacted in a way she hadn't anticipated. He'd heard stories about love affairs between gods and mortals, and he knew that such relationships often ended badly for the mortal involved. He was frightened of the repercussions of making love to a goddess.

Aphrodite quieted Anchises' fears by promising to protect him as long as he never told anyone about their affair. This news was too exciting to keep secret, and before long Anchises forgot his fears and bragged about his relationship with Aphrodite. As punishment, Zeus struck him with a thunder-bolt. The strike didn't kill Anchises, but it made him lame. Since he'd broken his promise, Aphrodite abandoned him. Anchises had been right — dallying with the gods usually spelled disaster for a mortal.

Siren-Seduced Butes

Butes' mother was Zeuxippe, daughter of the river-god Eridanus; his father was either Teleon or Poseidon. Butes was one of the Argonauts who accompanied Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece (see Chapter 19). He was also a priest of Athena.

Sailing on the Argo, the Argonauts encountered the Sirens, bird-women with beautiful voices. The Sirens' alluring songs mesmerized sailors and caused them to run their ships onto the treacherous rocks. When the Argonauts heard the Sirens, the entire crew resisted their call — except Butes, who fell completely under their spell. When the crew wouldn't steer the Argo toward their music, Butes jumped overboard and tried to swim to the Sirens.

Butes would have perished, but Aphrodite saw his plight and took pity on him. She rescued Butes from the sea and took him to Sicily, where the two made love. Aphrodite and Butes had a son, Eryx. (Some myths name Poseidon as Eryx's father.)

Pretty-Boy Adonis

Aphrodite's most famous mortal lover was Adonis, an incredibly handsome man who was born as the result of an incestuous relationship between Myrrha and her father, King Theias of Assyria. (Other myths name other men as her father, including King Cinyras of Cyprus.) When Myrrha's mother bragged that her daughter was more beautiful than Aphrodite, the goddess caused the girl to feel an unquenchable lust for her own father. King Theias repulsed his daughter's advances but was fooled one night when she disguised herself as a concubine and managed to seduce him. When Theias learned that his daughter was pregnant with his child, he chased her with a knife, intending to kill her. As she fled, Myrrha prayed to the gods for help and was changed into a myrrh tree.

Adonis was born from the tree's trunk. When Aphrodite came across the baby, she was taken with the child's beauty. She put him in a box and delivered him to Persephone in the Underworld. Adonis grew into a handsome young man, and Aphrodite wanted him back, but Persephone didn't want to give up the boy she'd raised. Zeus intervened, saying that Adonis would split his time between the two goddesses.

Aphrodite was so obsessed with her beautiful lover that she wanted to spend every moment with him. Ares grew jealous, took the form of a boar, and killed Adonis. (Some myths say that Artemis sent the boar to avenge Hippolytus, one of her favorite huntsmen, whose death Aphrodite had indirectly caused.) The grieving Aphrodite transformed the blood of Adonis into anemone flowers and decreed that an annual festival would be held in his honor. Adonis's shade returned to the Underworld.

Immortal Lovers

Aphrodite also had love affairs with gods. Some myths claim that Ares and Aphrodite shared more than mere physical desire. Although no one else cared for Ares, he was Aphrodite's true love. Together, they had four children: Anteros, Deimos, Phobos, and Harmonia. Some myths say that Eros was also the child of this divine couple.

Aphrodite had affairs with other Olympian gods. Hermes manipulated her into a sexual liaison (see Chapter 14). She also had affairs with Dionysus (which, according to some myths, resulted in the birth of Priapus) and with Poseidon.