| “ | Kratos, it's been far too long. Even though you are no longer the God of War, you can still share my bed. | ” |
–Aphrodite inviting Kratos to her bed | ||
Aphrodite (Αφροδίτη) is the Olympian Goddess of Love and Beauty, and one of the many supporting characters in the God of War series.
Quick Answers
What role does Aphrodite play in the God of War series?
What are the different origin stories of Aphrodite in Greek mythology?
How is Aphrodite portrayed in God of War 3 Remastered?
What is Aphrodite the goddess of in Greek mythology?
Does Aphrodite die in the God of War series?
Greek Mythology
In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of Love, Beauty, Seduction, Pleasure, and Happiness. There is more than one story about her origins. According to Hesiod's Theogony, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranus's genitals and threw them into the sea, and she arose from the sea foam (aphros). According to Homer's Iliad, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. Because of her beauty, other gods feared that their rivalry over her would interrupt the peace among them and lead to war, so Zeus married her to Hephaestus, who, because of his ugliness and deformity, was not seen as a threat. Aphrodite had many lovers - both gods, such as Ares, and men, such as Anchises. One day, the sun god Helios caught Ares and Aphrodite in their affair. When he told Hephaestus, the smith god decided to plan his revenge. He created an invisible net, which he set over the marriage bed. No sooner had Hephaestus left their home, that Aphrodite called her lover and Ares snuck into the house and in bed with the naked goddess; but, just in the midst of their lovemaking, the net fell upon the two lovers, trapping and immobilizing them, locked in a very private embrace. Hephaestus immediately walked back to his bedchamber with a host of other gods and exhibited them as they were naked and wrapped in each other's arms.
Her Roman equivalent is Venus.
In the God of War Series
God of War
During the desperate struggle for the ancient city of Athens, the Goddess Athena looks for ways to strenghten and gain favour for Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta as he faces the innumerable hordes of her brother Ares. After already securing the power of Poseidon's Rage for her Champion, she now turns to the Goddess of Love with whom she, as a maiden goddess has a complicated relationship.
The virgin Goddess of Wisdom and War enters the chambers of the Goddess of Love and Sex, the walls full of tapestries of Gods and Mortals engaged in passion and love. Athena makes up a story for her that Medusa, the Queen of the Gorgons is jealous of her beauty and desires to turn all her worshippers to stone, which the ancient love goddess finds ridiculous. She asks if Athena is still bitter about Medusa's incident with her uncle Poseidon at her Temple in Carthage, to which she also adds that Athena has no idea in what places her and Poseidon have been together, before Athena cuts her off and redirects the conversation back to her cause, managing to persuade the Love Goddess of her plan.
Aphrodite appeared to Kratos in the first game in the city of Athens, presenting one of the tasks Kratos must pass: killing Medusa by decapitating her, and using her gaze as a weapon. Once the task is complete Kratos must then use the gaze to turn a few minotaurs into stone. She then allows Kratos to pass and continue his quest in the name of Olympus.
Later during the advanced stage of Pandoras Temple in the Cliffs of Madness, Kratos finds an ancient necklace of her which he uses in a puzzle in order to progress to the Architect's Tomb.
God of War III
Kratos finds Aphrodite in her Chamber, making love with her handmaidens, on a lavish bed. When she sees Kratos, she tells them to leave; then she attempts to seduce Kratos, telling him, "Even though you are no longer the God of War, you can still share my bed." But Kratos says he has no time for games. Annoyed, she complains that she has yearned for too long for a “real man” to come to her, but since Zeus refused to let the imprisoned Daedalus fix the bridges, her desire had not yet been satisfied and she expressed how much she dislikes Hephaestus. When she realizes that Kratos needs those bridges fixed, she seems to make him believe that she might give him information only if Kratos make love with her her (however, even if he refuses, she still provides him with the information). If he does, Aphrodite lies on her back to invite the Spartan, moaning "Ohh, Kratos". The love scene is not shown and can therefore only be guessed: at the sight of Kratos' manhood, the concubines, who are watching the couple, comment: "Such power!!". While, as the player has to wriggle the analog stick, the two are probably making out, rolling on the bed; and when the handmaid gasps: "Is he going to...?" Kratos is obviously about to take the Goddess who, in fact, begins to moan louder and louder until she climaxes. If Kratos manages to satisfy the Goddess of Love, he would be given a high number of Red Orbs and the concubines become so excited that they begin to make love as well; while, if he fails, they show their disapproval. Regardless of how many times Kratos pleasures her, Aphrodite ever wants Kratos to make love to her again and, when he finally leaves, she angrily complains about the men's "need for war and vengeance" and tells him to go to Hephaestus for help instead.
After killing Hephaestus, Kratos returns to the chambers of the, now widowed, Aphrodite and can lay with her again.
Powers and Abilities
As the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite possessed many powers.
- Acausality: The laws of time and space work differently for the Gods of Olympus.
- Astral Projection: She was able to communicate with Kratos in God of War through a magical image of her face in a doorway.
- Beauty Embodiment: Aphrodite's beauty was spellbinding, such that even Kratos could not bring himself to attack her. When he first faced her in Athens she was surrounded by empyreal glory and her beauty "hit him harder than any foe ever had". It was Kratos´s indomitable willpower and focus on his revenge which allowed him resist Aphrodite's charm and seduction.
- Beauty Inducement: She could also cause others to become beautiful.
- Immortality: Aphrodite is an immortal, as she cannot die through natural causes or weapons that can easily kill a mortal. Only other gods, divine weapons or other immortals, can probably harm her.
- Amokinesis: Aphrodite attracts both men and women naturally through her presence and/or by her will.
- Love inducement: Aphrodite could cause other beings to fall in love with one another. She focuses on thousands of couples at any given time, driving the romance and love among mortals.
- Power Bestowal: Aphrodite granted Kratos the ability to wield Medusa's gaze.
- Shapeshifting: A small alteration to her appearance in God of War III is that Aphrodite has auburn hair, rather than the blond hair in God of War, implying that she too can alter her appearance.
- Telepathy: Aphrodite was able to perceive Kratos' mind when he encountered her. None of the other Olympians displayed this ability like she did. This implies that, as she is the Goddess who oversees strong emotions such as love, this allows her to see into people's minds.
Personality
In God of War I, she shows a noble side, helping Kratos against her former lover, Ares, who has now become a threat to Olympus.
Instead, in God of War III, she seems to be rather carefree and promiscuous. In fact, the only thing she seems to care about is making love with anyone, male of female, she finds attractive enough and is therefore actively neutral in the war Kratos is waging against the Gods. However, some unused lines (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XrDRKXpVI0) show that, in an earlier version, she would instead attempt to stop Kratos from destroying Olympus, first by seducing him to divert him from his plan, then even attempting to kill him during intercourse. Apparently, Kratos would not have killed her anyway, merely pushing her into Hades through the well hidden behind her bed, telling her that she “deserved to be with her husband.” This last sentence reveals that the scene would have taken place after the killing of Hephaestus and could thus be seen as an attempt by Aphrodite to avenge him.
Being the Goddess of Love, Beauty and Desire and having been forced by Zeus into an unhappy marriage with the ugly Hephaestus, she clearly has no love for her husband, calling him "worthless" and cheating on him with his brother Ares and later with Kratos even long before Pandora’s Box was opened. Yet, her over-the-top promiscuity is likely caused by the very opening of Pandora's Box after which, the evils Lust/Vanity seem to have completely taken hold of her, making Aphrodite even more promiscuous and thirsty for sex than she initially was.
It is implied by her handmaidens that, despite she is the very embodiment of sex and love, Kratos still manages to surprise her with his sexual power, which “is almost too much for even Aphrodite to handle.”
Appearance
Aphrodite is considered to be flawlessly beautiful. She has long, auburn hair kept in a braid and blue eyes. Her body can be considered "perfect" since she is the Goddess of Love, Beauty and Sexuality. She is tall and fit, while her breasts are large and perfectly shaped. The Goddess of Love proudly exhibits her beauty by wearing a revealing purple dress that leaves most of her body naked, exposing entirely her breasts, stomach, legs and back. Some bracelets adorn her arms.
Trivia
- Many if not most modern media adaptations of Greek myth choose to portray Aphrodite as a daughter of Zeus. One of the few besides God Of War that portrays her as a Primordial or the daughter of one is ironically the animated series based on Disney's Hercules feature film, where she is portrayed as a bit of an airhead voiced by Friends' alum Lisa Kudrow.
- Aphrodite had a strong romantic relationship with Ares in Greek mythology, mainly because she found his violent nature appealing. Since Kratos was more savage than Ares ever was, this might be what attracted Aphrodite to Kratos in the first place.
- Besides Ares, she also had a relationship with Hermes and Poseidon.
- Aphrodite is one of the few gods not killed by Kratos, and one of very few to admire him.
- Director Stig Asmussen revealed in an interview that originally, before being scrapped, the idea would be when trying to do the sex mini-game a second time, the camera would pan out. A record-scratching sound would then occur, and the camera would pan back to the bed. Aphrodite would then try to kill Kratos with the daggers hanging over the bed, initiating a quicktime-event to boot her down into Hades. It was however re-enforced that she would not be murdered.
- Aphrodite appeared in the God of War II game booklet as one the gods who appear in the game, though she actually doesn't.
- In the God of War novel, Aphrodite is revealed to be the mother of twins, named Zora and Lora, whom Kratos encounters, and make love to, on the ship to Athens.
- In the Japanese version, Aphrodite and her Handmaidens aren't topless.
- It is unknown why Aphrodite helped Kratos by bestowing the power of Medusa's Gaze upon him, as she had a relationship with Ares, the being Kratos wished to slay.
- It is likely that Aphrodite helped Kratos because Ares was a threat to Olympus. This indicates that the Goddess had a more noble side, at least before Pandora's Box was opened.
- In the Greek mythology, she was emerged as an adult from the sea foam that formed after when the mutilated genitals of Ouranos was thrown at the sea, making her, in fact, the half-sister of the Titans and aunt of the six olympians originals. In an alternate version, she is the daughter of Zeus with one of his lovers, Dione. The God of War series follows the version of Aphrodite as daughter of Zeus and Dione, as stated in the official manual for God of War 2005.[1]
- The novelization of that game on the other hand follows the version where Aphrodite is born from Ouranos genitals mixed with sea foam.
- Aphrodite is the only one whose sexual minigame is introduced directly in the campaign instead of being in a side path.
- She is also the only woman in the minigames to have sex with Kratos alone (optional).
Gallery
Concept Art
.webp "Aphrodite (1).webp (66 KB)")
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