Aphrodite: Hephaestus' wife, lover of Ares
Goddess of Love and Beauty
Aphrodite was married to the smith Hephaestus but had no love for him. In myth she took Ares as a lover, and in the games she gave Kratos Medusa's gaze.
Aphrodite was the Olympian Goddess of Love and Beauty and the wife of the smith Hephaestus, though she held no love for her husband. When Kratos fought to save Athens, she lent him her favour, and when the Ghost of Sparta later turned against the gods she was one of the few Olympians he left alive. (God of War (2005); God of War III)
Marriage and affairs#
The games never show how the marriage came about, and in God of War III Aphrodite simply makes it plain that she has no love for the smith. (God of War III)
The affair with Ares comes from Greek myth. In Homer's Odyssey, Aphrodite is already the wife of Hephaestus when Helios catches her with Ares and tells the smith, who snares the lovers in an invisible net and exposes them to the other gods in mockery. (Odyssey)
The defense of Athens#
During the struggle for Athens against the hordes of Ares, Aphrodite appeared to Kratos in the city and set before him the task of slaying Medusa, the Queen of the Gorgons, by decapitating her and turning her petrifying gaze into a weapon. She granted him the power to wield that gaze and allowed him to continue his quest in the name of Olympus. Deep within Pandora's Temple, Kratos later found an ancient necklace of hers and used it to progress toward the Architect's Tomb. (God of War (2005))
The fall of Olympus#
When Kratos returned to Olympus during his war on the gods, he found Aphrodite in her chamber attended by her handmaidens. Though she tried to draw him to her bed, Kratos had no time for such games. She complained that Zeus had refused to let the imprisoned Daedalus repair the bridges of the city, and when she realized Kratos needed those bridges, she gave him the information regardless, directing him toward Hephaestus for further help. (God of War III)
Aphrodite was one of the few gods Kratos never killed. Her fate after the destruction of Olympus is uncertain; Athena came to believe herself the only goddess left, though other gods Kratos never faced may have survived elsewhere. (God of War III)
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Aphrodite in God of War?
- Aphrodite was the Olympian Goddess of Love and Beauty. She was married to the smith Hephaestus and was one of the few deities to help Kratos.
- Why was Aphrodite married to Hephaestus?
- The games don't explain it. In Homer's Odyssey she is already Hephaestus's wife when Helios catches her with Ares, and in God of War III she makes it plain she has no love for her husband.
- How did Aphrodite help Kratos during the defense of Athens?
- Aphrodite set Kratos the task of slaying Medusa, the Queen of the Gorgons. She granted him the power to wield Medusa's petrifying gaze as a weapon.
- Did Kratos kill Aphrodite?
- No, Aphrodite was one of the few gods Kratos never killed. When he returned to Olympus during his war on the gods, she gave him information about the broken bridges of the city and directed him toward Hephaestus.
- What happened to Aphrodite after the fall of Olympus?
- Her fate after the destruction of Olympus is uncertain. Athena came to believe herself the only goddess left, though other gods Kratos never faced may have survived elsewhere.
Gallery
Images via God of War Wiki
Sources
- GameGod of War (2005), Santa Monica Studio, 2005
- GameGod of War III, Santa Monica Studio, 2010
- BookOdyssey, Homer, around the 8th century BC
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Ares: the god who made Kratos a killer
Ares tricked Kratos into slaughtering his own wife and daughter to bind him as a weapon. Kratos killed him at Athens and took his place as God of War.
Athena: from Kratos' guide to his enemy
Athena set Kratos against Ares to save Athens, then turned on him when his reign grew worse. She died taking a blow meant for Zeus, and named Kratos his son.
Helios: the sun god Kratos beheaded
Kratos once saved Helios from the Titan Atlas. Years later he tore the sun god's head from his body and carried it through Olympus as a lantern.
Hephaestus: the smith who made the Blades
He forged Pandora's Box for Zeus and the Blades of Chaos for Ares, and lost everything for it. Kratos killed him in the Underworld, defending his daughter.
Olympians: the gods Kratos killed off
Zeus led the third generation of Greek gods to victory over the Titans. Kratos then destroyed almost every one of them, and Greece fell with them.
Zeus
Zeus was the King of Olympus and ruler of the Greek Pantheon, the youngest son of Cronos who freed his siblings, ended the Great War, and claimed the heavens. Father of Kratos, he became the great antagonist of the Greek age and fell at last to the very son he had tried to destroy.
Mentioned in13 entries
Aphrodite's Handmaidens
Aphrodite's Handmaidens were two mortal women who served and attended the Goddess of Love in her chamber upon Olympus. Among the few mortals who showed no fear of Kratos, and they stayed in her chamber while plague spread across Olympus.
Eros: the Primordial of Love and Desire
Eros was the Primordial entity of Love and Desire, one of the first beings to come out of Chaos in the Void before the world took shape. He embodied the force that brought new life into the young cosmos. His name was still invoked in the age of Kratos, though his own fate was never recorded.
Euryale
Euryale was an immortal Gorgon and the sister of Medusa, who took the throne of the Gorgons after Kratos slew her kin. From her temple on the Island of Creation she sought to sacrifice the Ghost of Sparta to the Sisters of Fate, until he cut off her head and turned it against his enemies.
God of War III Story and Ending Explained: Plot Summary
The whole story of God of War III in order, from the Titans' climb up Mount Olympus to the death of Zeus. Then the ending in plain terms: why Kratos drove the Blade of Olympus into himself, what Athena wanted, and where that trail of blood leads.
Gorgon
The Gorgons were a serpentine race of female monsters whose gaze turned the living to stone. Ruled by three matriarchs, Medusa, Euryale, and Stheno, they marched in the army of Ares and were hunted across Greece by Kratos, who claimed their severed heads as weapons.
Greek Gods
The Greek Gods were the pantheon that ruled over Greece across three generations, the Primordials, the Titans, and the Olympians. Once the masters of mortals, monsters, and the natural world, they were brought to near extinction by Kratos in his war of vengeance against Olympus.
Hephaestus: the smith who made the Blades
He forged Pandora's Box for Zeus and the Blades of Chaos for Ares, and lost everything for it. Kratos killed him in the Underworld, defending his daughter.
Hyperion
Hyperion was the Titan of the Sun and Light, who embodied the sun before his son Helios took it over. He fell with his kind in the great war and was chained in Tartarus, and the gates that bear his name still cross the world.
Medusa
Medusa was a Gorgon queen who fought among the armies of Ares during the siege of Athens. Slain by Kratos at the command of Aphrodite, her severed head granted him the petrifying power of Medusa's Gaze.
Mount Olympus: Zeus' seat, torn down
The golden mountain became the seat of the gods after the first Titanomachy, and none but a god could set foot on it. Kratos brought the whole thing down.
Olympians: the gods Kratos killed off
Zeus led the third generation of Greek gods to victory over the Titans. Kratos then destroyed almost every one of them, and Greece fell with them.
Pandora's Box: the power to kill a god
Hephaestus forged Pandora's Box from the Flame of Olympus to hold the Evils of the Great War. Opening it let Kratos kill Ares, and loosed the Evils on the gods.
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