APHRODITE The Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite epitomized all that was beautiful and pure in woman. Daughter of Zeusand Dione, she bore a son, Eros, and was always accompanied by the Charites , the Horae, Himeros, Pothos and Peitho . She rescued the young shepherd Adonis, struck by his beauty, making the gods promise to allow the youth to live on the Earth for half of each year, spending the remainder in Hades, where she could visit him. Aphrodite married Hephaestos (Vulcan) who, after being told by Helios of his wife's amorous liaisons with Ares, caught both of the perpetrators in a cunning net of his own design, and brought them before Zeus, demanding punishment.