One thing I don’t like about modern portrayals of the Greek myths is this tendency to portray Aphrodite as, essentially, either goddess Regina George, or a flat “girly-girl”, like honey no. (Again, valid interpretation- still not one I like)
This is a complex, multifaceted goddess - so multifaceted, in fact, that she had multiple forms and epithets, including at least one (1) male form named Aphroditus, usually depicted with an erect phallus
Aphrodite Ourania, the daughter of Ouranos, heavenly and spiritual and far separated from the works of man, goddess of the celestial love and homosexual desire
Aphrodite Apotrophia, the goddess of love in Thebes, who expelled from the hearts of man lust and sinful pleasure
Aphrodite Areia of Sparta, warlike and fierce, lover of Ares, the armored one. Worshipped through the Hybristica, when women took on the traditional roles of men
Aphrodite Pandemos, daughter of Zeus and Dione, goddess of common, sensual pleasure, worshipped alongside her companion Peitho, goddess of persuasion, goddess of heterosexual desire
She of the common man, whose sanctuary was erected by philosopher Solon and paid for by the escorts and prostitutes she was the patron goddess of - well, according to the records, mostly the hetairai, the high-class escorts, but I always assumed that that was because the pornai, their cheaper counterparts, simply couldn’t afford it
Melainis, the Black One. Androphanos, Killer of Men. Anosia, the Unholy One. Tymborychos, the Grave-digger, but also Eleemon, the Merciful, also Genetyllis, Mother, also Morpho, the Shapely
And so, so much more than “just a girly-girl” (not that there’s anything wrong with that interpretation)