Aphrodite had an unusual birth. She rose up out of sea foam, beautiful and fully grown-up. She was the goddess of love, and she liked doves, sparrows, and swans. She was married to Hephaestus, the god of the forge, but not at all happily. She was really in love with Ares, the god of war.Aphrodite and her son Eros were in charge of making people and gods fall in love. Eros used his magic bow and arrow to make that happen.Oddly, this goddess of love helped start a terrible war. But she didn’t really mean to. Eris, the goddess of discord, liked to stir up trouble. So one day Eris made a golden apple. She wrote the words “For the Fairest” on it. Then she threw this apple where the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite would find it.Each one of them thought she was “the Fairest”—the most beautiful goddess of all. They decided to hold a beauty contest. To judge the contest, they chose a mortal named Paris. He was a handsome Prince of Troy.