Aphrodite 12.4.1982

This First Day Cover is dedicated to the Goddess Aphrodite. The cover depicts the ruins of her temple at Kouklia in Cyprus. The stamp on the left is a damaged statue of Aphrodite and the stamp on the right is a painting of her in a museum. These stamps were issued on 12.4.1982.

Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. Her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus. Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia. According to Hesiod's Theogony, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranus' genitals and threw them into the sea, and from the sea foam (aphros) arose Aphrodite. Thus, Aphrodite is of an older generation than Zeus.

Because of her beauty, other gods feared jealousy would interrupt the peace among them and lead to war, so Zeus married her to Hephaestus, who was not viewed as a threat. Aphrodite had many lovers, both gods such as Ares, and men such as Anchises. Aphrodite also became instrumental in the Eros and Psyche legend, and later was both Adonis' lover and his surrogate mother. Many lesser beings were said to be children of Aphrodite.

Aphrodite is also known as Cytherea (Lady of Cythera) and Cypris (Lady of Cyprus) after the two cult-sites, Cythera and Cyprus, which claimed her birth. Myrtles, doves, sparrows, horses, and swans are sacred to her. The Greeks further identified the Ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor with Aphrodite. Aphrodite also has many other local names, such as Acidalia, Cytherea and Cerigo, used in specific areas of Greece. Each goddess demanded a slightly different cult, but Greeks recognized in their overall similarities the one Aphrodite. Attic philosophers of the fourth century separated a celestial Aphrodite of transcendent principles with the common Aphrodite of the people.

Thank you Merja for this wonderful card.