From white birds to red roses, the symbols of love and beauty we use today are some of the oldest in the world! The Imagery of Aphrodite
History, archaeology, and even language tell us that Aphrodite’s symbols were borrowed from a culture that was already ancient when the first Greek people began to worship her. She was not the first goddess to use them, though. While most modern readers probably don’t think of them immediately, they are often still used to denote the goddess’s attributes.Īphrodite’s symbols, including doves, shells, and fruit, are still used not only in images of her, but as enduring emblems of beauty and love. Others are less well-known.Īphrodite was one of the many goddesses whose symbols were recognizable throughout Greece. Some gods and goddesses had prominent symbols that remain with us to this day, like Athena’s owl or Zeus’s thunderbolts. These symbols were even thought to confer protection from the god. They served as focuses for worship and ways for devotees to display their allegiances. In literature they served as signs of the god’s presence and pleasure, or displeasure, with characters. In art, they could make the deity instantly identifiable. Symbols and images were an important aspect of the gods and goddesses in ancient mythology.