Who is Aphrodite????

By Sarah K.

One beautiful day in Athens, not that long ago, I saw a wonderful Greek pot. I happened to be looking for a pot to give to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. I needed a wife so badly. On this magnificent pot was a picture of a woman, no a goddess, Aphrodite. I shrieked.  It was what I was looking for. All I could think of was how lucky I was until I remembered that one thought that was in the back of my mind: PRICE. How much could a pot this gorgeous be going for?

I went over to the merchant who said, “I will take two cows or one horse.”

Suddenly, I realized how unlucky a day this was. I came to the market with four chickens hoping to find a magnificent pot. Who was I kidding?  The only man that could afford this was King Phillip himself. A thought came to mind: I wonder what Aphrodite is doing???

Dear Diary,

It is me, the wonderful, gorgeous Aphrodite. All I was doing one fine morning was sitting on the clouds watching all the little men and women give me pots, cows, horses and other worthless things, when I saw a man with a crown coming near with a present wrapped in a beautiful box. All I could think of was, who could this man be???

I went down to the land of mortals.  It turns out that the man was Phillip the king of Macedonia. He was coming to ask me for help.  He wanted a wife that would bear a son to rule on the throne when he died. I, of course, did nothing. Why should I help a silly mortal?

Love, Aphrodite

Dear Diary:       

Oh my, is that what I think I see down by the stream? It’s the king who first came to me. I wonder what he wants now.

“Oh great Aphrodite, I need a wife that can bear a son.  I am getting old. Please, great goddess, I need this so badly.”

I suddenly realized that I should do this.  What kind of goddess would I be if I didn’t give people what they wanted? I decided I would give this king his wish but a little differently. I gave the gift of love to a woman named Olympia; she was not Macedonian but I didn’t think this would be a problem. The man came one moon after I gave him this gift and thanked me so well. 

Love, Aphrodite

Dear Diary,

It is me again. One summer day later, I was talking to my good friend Zeus and he asked me what I was up to. I told him of the king and he decided to make things a bit more interesting.  He said he was going to be the father of this king’s young boy. I laughed at this; no god, especially of Zeus’ richness, would have a child with a mortal.

The king came back and thanked me for the wonderful gift of a son. I came down and asked him, “Are you the father of the son?” He said, yes, why wouldn’t he be? I answered that I just wanted to know. I decided to ask Zeus if he had slept with the woman and he said yes, but I decided to just ignore it.

Love, Aphrodite

I suddenly heard trumpets; it was the king’s royal announcers. They said, “The king has just had a son. Give extra contributions to the treasury for the new baby boy.” I was in shock. I had just predicted that in a dream. I was an oracle. I decided to ask the merchant if he would take four chickens.

He said, “Sure, nobody will buy my pots now. That announcement changed everything.”

I took the pot to Aphrodite and thanked her for the gift of telling the future.