A Comparison of the Goddess Aphrodite Research Assignment

Comparison of Aphrodite with other goddesses
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Roles of Aphrodite among the Greeks
Aphrodite is one of the most famous goddesses of the Greeks. In most cases, Aphrodite is associated with love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. Most of the myths about Aphrodite portray her as a beautiful woman with lots of love especially to men. Her attributes, on the other hand, include things like a mirror, dove, shell, apple, and scallop. Most of the sculptures that exist today also depict her to be nude.[Havelock, Christine Mitchell. The Aphrodite of Knidos and her successors: a historical review of the female nude in Greek art. University of Michigan Press, 1995.]
Some of the important primary functions of the Goddess Aphrodite include procreation and love. These two roles are supported by several myths about Aphrodite. The first myth that portrays her as a goddess of love to human is the myth about her affair with Ares, the God of war. Here, Aphrodite is portrayed as a goddess who followed her heart’s desires; especially when she decided, have an affair with Ares, behind the back of her husband, Hephaestus, the god of Iron,. The other myth that portrays her love personality includes the tale about her love for Adonis, the handsome youth killed by a boar and the legend about her love for the shepherd prince, Ankhishes.
Aphrodite, on the other hand, had the role of procreation bestowed upon her. The same way as her role of showing love, several myths about her have also highlights ways through which she fulfilled this role. First, being the Goddess of love beauty and pleasure implies that she engaged in the act of sex, which enables her to conceive and have children. The myth about her son Eros indicates that she did fulfill her responsibility of ensuring continued procreation. This myth also suggests that she did have other children such as Himeros, Pothos, Phobos, Deimos, Armonia, and Nymph.
On the contrary, as much as Aphrodite has been portrayed as the most beautiful goddess of Mount Olympus, Homer's famous poem known as lliad represents her as a goddess with weak and fearsome personality.
Role Venus Goddess among the Romans
In the mythology of the Romans, Venus is viewed as the motherly figure of the Roman people. Some of the duties of Venus the Goddess to the Roman people included love, beauty, fertility, and ensuring that her people became successful in their endeavors. The figure of Venus the goddess is believed to have been an important aspect in several religious ceremonies within the Roman culture. Just like Aphrodite the goddess of Greek, there is a myth indicating that Venus fulfilled her fertility function by ensuring continued procreation. This is after the myth showed that she had given birth to a son known as Aeneas. The myth also indicates that Venus was a daughter of Jupiter, while Mars and Vulcan were some of her lovers.[Staples, Ariadne. From good Goddess to vestal virgins: Sex and category in Roman religion. Psychology Press, 1998.]
Role of Goddess Inanna among Sumerians
Inanna is regarded by the Sumerians as the goddess of love, warfare, and fertility. Most of her symbols depicted her to be more masculine than feminine. For instan...