., in marriage, cf. Harmonia), Nymphia ("bridal goddess"),
Kourotrophos ("rearer of boys"). Aphrodite Apaturus (see G.M. Hirst in
_Journal of Hellenic Studies_, xxiii., 1903) refers to her connexion
with the clan and the festival Apaturia, at which children were admitted
to the _phratria_. It is pointed out by Farnell that this cult of
Aphrodite, as the patroness of married life, is probably a native
development of the Greek religion, the oriental legends representing her
by no means as an upholder of the purer relations of man and woman. As
the goddess of the grosser form of love she inspires both men and women
with passion ([Greek: epistrophia], "turning them to" thoughts of love),
or the reverse ([Greek: apostrophia], "turning them away"). Upon her
male favourites (Paris, Theseus) she bestows the fatal gift of seductive
beauty, which generally leads to disastrous results in the case of the
woman (Helen, Ariadne). As [Greek: mechanitis] ("contriver") she acts as
an intermediary for bringing lovers together, a similar idea being
expressed in [Greek: preis] (of "success" in love, or=_creatrix_). The
two epithets [Greek: androphonos] ("man-slayer") and [Greek: sosandra]
("man-preserver") find an illustration in the pseudo-Plautine (in the
_Mercator_) address to Astarte, who is described as the life and death,
the saviour and destroyer of men and gods. It was natural that a
personality invested with such charms should be regarded as the ideal of
womanly beauty, but it is remarkable that the only probable instance in
which she appears as such is as Aphrodite [Greek: morpho] ("form") at
Sparta (O. Gruppe suggests the meaning "ghost," C. Tumpel the "dark
one," referring to Aphrodite's connexion with the lower world). The
function of Aphrodite as the patroness of courtesans represents the most
degraded form of her worship as the goddess of love, and is certainly of
Phoenician or Eastern origin. In Corinth there were more than a thousand
of these [Greek: ierodouloi] ("temple slaves"), and wealthy men made it
a point of honour to dedicate their most beautiful slaves to the service
of the goddess.

Like her oriental prototype, the Greek Aphrodite was closely connected
with the sea. Thus, in the Hesiodic account of her birth, she is
represented as sprung from the foam which gathered round the mutilated
member of Uranus, and her name has been explained by reference to this.
Further proof may be found in many of her titles--[Greek: