Lesson 3 of 5

Aphrodite vs Hades

The gods competed for their loved ones, even if they needed to make a deal with the King of the Underworld. Were these compromises in the struggle between love and death possible? Let's find out in this mythical story.

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In this lesson, we will discover the myth regarding competition between gods of love and death. Welcome the challengers!

Blood-born flowers of love

Hundreds of thousands of hearts were pierced by Eros's golden arrows on the order of Aphrodite. But could the goddess of love herself resist unbridled feelings? According to myth, not even she could, especially when meeting Adonis.

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Common questions

No. No myth pairs them as lovers. Aphrodite had affairs with nearly all the Olympians, but Zeus and Hades were the two who never fell for her, and Hades rarely left the Underworld. Their link comes through Persephone, his wife, not through any romance between the two gods.

In Ovid's Roman version, yes. Venus, the Roman Aphrodite, told her son Cupid to strike Pluto (Hades) with an arrow so he would fall for Proserpina (Persephone). Earlier Greek versions, such as the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, have Zeus give Persephone to Hades without any arrow.

Both goddesses loved the mortal Adonis, so Zeus settled the dispute by splitting his year. In one version, Adonis spent part of the year with Persephone in the underworld and part with Aphrodite above. Tellers linked his time below to winter, so the rivalry stood for love against death. Versions differ on the exact split.

It depends on the myth. In Hesiod, Aphrodite rose from sea foam after Uranus was castrated, so she was older than the Olympian gods. In Homer, she is the daughter of Zeus, which would make Hades her uncle. Because her origins vary, the myths never settle the family tie.

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