Aphrodite

The Greek Venus, Aphrodite was so called because she sprang from the foam of the sea. According to Homer, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. She is the goddess of love, sister to Ares and half-sister to Hercules. In Xena, she is portrayed as being flirty, michievous and temperamental, like a spoilt child. Sometimes she can be a bit slow on the uptake and she also does not wear very much!

Aphrodite is the mother of Cupid (Gr. Eros) and sometimes interferes in his match-making ventures, which infuriates him no end (see "For Him The Bell Tolls"). Although she seems indifferent to mortals, she has mellowed somewhat and appears to care for them more than she is prepared to admit. Perhaps this soft side of her is the result of Hercules' influence and her love for Hephaestus, the smith god.