Introduction
Although I, Aphrodite, am absolutely the most beautiful creature in all the universe, some foolish goddesses, and even some foolish mortal women, dared to think they were more beautiful than me! This did not make me happy. I am the one to award beauty to people and I can just as easily take it away, as you will see in some of the stories. I can make people happy and just as easily make people miserable with my great deal of power...so you all better watch how you speak to me!
I am about to lead you through some of the ancient myths that express the cultural Greek obsession with physical beauty and the power that comes along with it. Among these many stories, I will tell you stories of the Trojan War and just how that war got started. As you may have guessed, it all began with a simple competition of beauty. Want to know who was ruled the most beautiful? You’ll just have to wait and find out!
Also, I will show you just how important beauty was considered to be in comparison to other personal qualities. You think being clever is important? Smart? Funny? Pah! Please, beauty trumps all of these, for beauty is what makes people fall in love and what gives people truly irresistable power. Psyche, for instance, had suitors coming to ask for her hand in marriage for many years simply due to her "beauty." (I say "beauty" because her looks are increadibly inferior to mine!) Sometimes, strangers from other countries would travel far just to witness her beauty. Do you see strangers ever traveling hundreds of thousands of miles to witness wisdom or wit? Never. My point, exactly.
Some men have had a hard time handling my great deal of beauty. Adonis, a young mortal whom I loved very much, suffered greatly when having to compete with the great deal of beauty and power I have bestowed upon me. Although I am the goddess of beauty and love, I have somehow made quite a few enemies along my way!
Many people have suffered from underestimating my power as well. I grew up in Cyprus, and once the people of my city realized how beautiful I was, they became overprotective and treated others poorly. They didn't want to share my beauty with others and began treatening others to scare them away from me and my city. Since the people of Cyprus were taking such great advantage of my beauty, (wanting to keep it all to themselves) I had to take control and remind them just how much power I had.
So you see, my friends, there is reasoning behind our stress on the importance of beauty and I expect you all to sympathize with that once we are finished here today. As you will see, many times great amounts of beauty lead to disaster because of its extreme importance in our culture. Some people might even say that my beauty is more trouble than it is worth, but don't you listen to them! Even if beauty brings disaster and destruction into the world, it's still worth it: just look at me! Don't you think my beauty is worth it? Right this way…
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