Aphrodite and Anchises
Aphrodite falls in love with the Trojan Anchises, and their union produces Aeneas.
The Story
Anchises belonged to the Trojan royal family through the branch descended from Assaracus.
Aphrodite became attracted to him.
In the famous tradition preserved in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, the goddess approached Anchises disguised as a mortal woman.
Anchises believed her story and slept with her.
Afterward Aphrodite revealed her divine identity.
Anchises was terrified.
A mortal who had slept with a goddess had reason to fear divine consequences.
Aphrodite told him that their son would be Aeneas.
The child would belong to both the Trojan royal tradition and the divine family of Aphrodite.
Aeneas later became one of the important Trojan survivors of the war.
His story would become especially significant in Roman tradition, but his mythological ancestry begins within the Greek tradition of Aphrodite and Anchises.
Key Figures
Why It Matters
The union of Aphrodite and Anchises explains Aeneas' divine ancestry and connects the Assaracus branch of Troy with one of its most important later heroes.
Traditions & Variations
The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite provides the fullest early surviving treatment of the encounter. Later traditions develop Anchises' fate and Aeneas' ancestry differently.