5. Aphrodite's temple

The first temple we encounter belongs to Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love. Hesiod claimed that she was born off the coast of Cythera from the foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus. But in Dodona Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus and Dione; her temple was small and in the Doric order. We do not know when her worship in Dodona was established, but at the time of King Pyrrhus (early 3rd century BCE) there was a fusion with the Roman goddess Venus (who was related to Aeneas, the founder of Rome). Pyrrhus wished to make a political statement against the Romans since his tribe, the Molossians, also claimed a Trojan origin through Andromache, the hapless wife of Hector.

It was Homer who gave parents to Aphrodite. During the Trojan War, Aphrodite intervened to protect Aeneas, her mortal son, from the wrath of Diomedes, the king of Argos. The Greek hero thrust his spear against her, wounding her hand. Ichor, the immortal blood started flowing and Aphrodite, in great pain, asked for the horses of Ares to get back to Mount Olympus. She must have been in a state of profound shock at the audacity of this mortal man! She flung herself upon the knees of her mother Dione. She clasped her daughter in her arms and tried to sooth her by reminding her of all the suffering gods had to endure at the hands of mortals. Then Dione wiped the ichor from the arm and the pain subsided.