Aphrodite’s Love for Ankhises

Valentina tossed and turned in her attempt to sleep all night long. She could not take her mind off of the humiliation Aphrodite must have felt from the way her adulterous affair unfolded. The second she could catch a glimpse of the sun rising she hopped out of bed as though she had gotten plenty of rest and began her hike to the Temple of Aphrodite. Of course, the diary remained in its place near the column she used as the back of a chair. Once she felt comfortable, she opened the diary and began to read the fourth and final entry left by the Olympian goddess…

Dear Diary,

I am officially humiliated. I have really done it this time and there is no going back because the proof is in my stomach. I used to hold such power in my words when I would taunt the gods for lying with mortal women, and now I am no better.

In my defense it is all Zeus’s fault. You see, I took pleasure in casting desire upon the immortal gods and watching them be unable to resist sleeping with mortal women. I used this to my advantage because I thought I would never mate with a mortal man. Therefore, I could mock the gods for being so weak. Zeus must have used my mockery against me by forcing me to lust after a mortal man. He put desire in my heart for a mortal Shepherd-Prince.

 I don’t know how it happened, but once I saw Ankhises I was in love with him. My desire for him was uncontrollable and like nothing I had ever felt for a mortal before. I was determined to have him and so I went to my temple and had myself bathed in delicious scents and dressed in riches and gold. Next, I headed to Troy to find Ankhises.

While the rest of the shepherds were following their herds I came to him alone in the homestead where he was playing his lyre. I had taken the form of a pure maiden once I left my temple so that I would not startle him when he saw me. Even though I tried to disguise my position as a goddess, he clearly assumed I was of some kind of goddess and requested that he should build me an altar and make sacrifices to me.

I immediately removed any thoughts he might have had that I was anything more than a mortal woman by lying to him and claiming I was merely one of the Nymphai, a marriageable young woman. I told him that Hermes had captured me with his golden wand and had told me that I was meant to marry Ankhises and bear him children. I knew this trickery would work because Ankhises desperately sought to produce an heir. Just to make sure he would fall for it, I used my power to place desire in his heart and he was overcome with love for me.

That is when it happened. I, an immortal goddess, mated with a mortal man, and even better, he did not know what he had done. While he slept, I returned to my unearthly beautiful self. I woke him and asked if I looked any different to him. I could tell by the fact that he would not look at me in the eyes that he knew he had been deceived. He was fearful that because he had lain with an immortal goddess he was doomed to live a worse life.

This was when I informed him that he did not need to fear any harm because I was carrying his son, who would reign over the Trojans. I told him that his son's name would be Aeneas and that the Nymphs would raise him here in the mountains. I told him I would bring him his son once he had entered boyhood and he would be full of joy because of how godlike his son would appear. I then told him he must claim that his son was the offspring of the Nymphs and if he disobeyed by claiming he slept with me, Zeus would unleash his wrath upon him.

I left as quickly as I could after revealing the orders he must follow. Now I am floating through heaven, fearing my return to the gods. They are going to mock me for joining them in sleeping with mortals and the shame will be awful.

 
Valentina cannot believe that she is sitting in the very place Aphrodite entered before bedding a mortal. This is the very place where the goddess had made herself irresistable to Ankhises. Valentina sympathizes with the torment Aphrodite must have had to face once she returned to the gods carrying a child in her stomach, but at the same time she begins to question how ruthless Aphrodite can be when she finds something she wants. She closes the diary for the last time, but stays where she is seated to sleep that night.

Venus and Anchises. Web Source:  Liverpool National Museum

Author’s Note: I changed the original story to be told from Aphrodite’s point of view. She writes about her experience first hand in her diary and the reader is experiencing the story through Valentina. The original story has much more detail concerning why Zeus casts desire upon Aphrodite’s heart. This story does not invent new things to add to the original story and pretty much covers the general experience of Aphrodite’s affair with a mortal man. She really did lie to convince him to sleep with her and then she only tells him the truth once the deed has been done. In the original story it is clear that Ankhises is desperate to produce children because he needs an heir. So, even though Aphrodite is deceitful, the story goes on to show how she actually bears him two sons, Aeneas and Lyros. Having these two sons is more than satisfying to Ankhises. Aphrodite, both in the original story and my story, is primarily concerned with the shame she will have to deal with when the gods find out she has also slept with a mortal. This story parallels the original story and in addition, allows the reader to experience this story from a different point of view. Just like the other stories from this storybook, the reader gets to understand what I would imagine Aphrodite is thinking first hand. This puts a more modern twist to the original story as well because I am using my own thoughts to convey what I think Aphrodite would be experiencing emotionally.

Bibliography
Story: Aphrodite Loves: Ankhises
Website Name: Theoi
Web Source : Theoi: Aphrodite's Loves