tery between mortals, and seemed to even promote it. Zeus, resisted in his advances by Aphrodite, decides to make her desire a mortal man, a cattle-herder by the name of Anchises. However, he looks like an immortal, and Aphrodite falls in love with him. She decks herself out in finery and goes back to where Anchises is on the pastures, comely as the gods . . . And Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus stood before him, being like a pure maiden in height and mein, that he should not be frightened of her when he took heed of her with his eyes (Hesiod). Anchises wonder out loud if she is indeed one of the Goddessses, and Aphrodite tells him that she is not; she is a mortal that was told by the Slayer of Argus that she should marry him [Anchises] and have children. She puts much love in his heart for her, and they lay together, after which he falls asleep. Meanwhile, Aphrodite changes form, then awakens him and asks him, consider whether I look as I did when first you saw me with your eyes (Hesiod). Anchises realizes who she really is, and is instantly afraid. Aphrodite assures him, however, that he is liked by the gods, and will have a son by the name of Aeneas because I felt awful grief in that I laid me in the bed of mortal men (Hesiod). The Nymphs will bring up the child until hes about five, wherein Aphrodite will bring him to Anchises to see. If anyone is to ask Anchises about his son, he is to tell him the child was begotten of a Nymph; if he tells about his sexual conquest of Aphrodite, Zeus will destroy him. (Of course, he did tell people, and while he was not killed, he was indeed lamed). Lyrus is also thought to have been the second child of these two. In addition to these liasions, Aphrodite also carried on an affair with Ares, the god of war. They had three children together (Phobos, Deimos, and Harmonia), which were probably passed off as the children of Hephaestus. They were caught eventually. The sun observed Aphrodite an...
