Why did the goddess Athena not like Aphrodite?

Did Athena and Aphrodite get along? If they didn’t why not? Also did Athena have any other enemies who were Gods?

✅ Answers

? Best Answer

  • Aphrodite won the beuty contest on top of mount ida
  • Athena was a manly goddess who, when she was born fullgrown from her father Zeus’ head, swore to remain a virgin forever. Granted the permission to do this by the king of the gods, it meant that Aphrodite possessed no power over her like she did over all the other Olympians (with the exception of the other two virgin goddesses Hestia and Artemis). This created a natural animosity between Athena and Aphrodite from the very start of any relationship they might have had.

    According to the Roman writer Hyginus, Athena was displeased with the adultery that Aphrodite committed against her husband Hephaistos when she had an affair with Ares, a god whom Athena didn’t like very much at all (although most of the Olympians hated Ares too).

    Aggravating all of this was the beauty pageant among Athena, Aphrodite and Hera, a conflict which arose at the wedding of the goddess Thetis to King Peleus of the Myrmidones. At that contest Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, threw a golden apple among the gods attending the wedding. The apple was labelled “To the Most Beautiful,” and Athena, Aphrodite and Hera quarrelled over it until Zeus charged Prince Paris of Troy with the job of judging who it should go to. He awarded the apple and its title to Aphrodite, which thus earned Troy the enmity of both Athena and Hera.

    Athena seems to have gotten along quite well with all the other deities of the pantheon.

  • Athena and Aphrodite did rather detest each other. First of all, Athena was one of three goddess who had sworn to remain a maiden forever, whereas Aphrodite was the promiscuous goddess of love. Aphrodite loved to make gods and mortals fall hopelessly in love with others, though Athena was one of the few beings who were immune to Aphrodite’s powers, the other two being the remaining virgin goddess, Artemis and Hestia. The relationship between these two goddesses deteriorated even more when the Trojan prince Paris was asked to judge which goddess was the fairest. Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite each believed herself to be the fairest, and each attempted to bribe Paris. In the end Paris chose Aphrodite and her offer of Helen of Sparta, the most beautiful woman in the world. Thus, during theTrojan war, Hera and Athena sided with the Greeks, whereas Aphrodite supported the Trojans. During the war, Athena encouraged and helped one of her favorite warriors, Diomedes, attack Aphrodite. Athena and Hera then mocked the wounded Aphrodite, saying that she must have accidentally cut herself on the pin of a dress. In the Iliad, Athena also punched Aphrodite in the stomach.

    Athena generally got along well with the other deities, with the exception of Ares. Ares was the god of destructive warfare, and thus Athena’s polar opposite. He represented the chaos and bloodshed of war, which Athena had little taste for. Contrastingly, Athena was the goddess of vengeancec and honorable warfare. In the Iliad, Athena and Ares fought twice, with Athena easily defeating him both times. Athena also helped the Greek warrior Diomedes wound Ares, making Diomedes the only mortal to have wounded two Olympians in a single day.

    Source(s):
    Iliad
    Theoi.com
    Wikipedia

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