Of all the fabulous legends of Cyprus, the one surrounding Aphrodite — the Goddess of love and beauty — is one of the most picturesque. She emerged miraculously from the Mediterranean Sea near Pafos on the Island of Cyprus in 1200 B.C. Aphrodite is often spoken of in the same breath as Venus, whose name in Greek means “foam.” So it was from the foaming waves that this legendary beauty appeared, much to the astonishment of the islanders.

No wonder they formed the Cult of Aphrodite which flourished for several centuries and drew worshippers from all over the Mediterranean. The cult’s temple was 2 km’s inland from where Aphrodite came ashore, and a large rock, variously called the “Rock of Aphrodite,” “The Venus Rock” or “Petra Tou Romiou,” juts dramatically out into the sea. Recent excavations tell us that an extensive city — one of the original Island Kingdoms of Cyprus — grew up around it. As the cult was pagan, and its instigator was known for her fondness for the opposite sex, to put it mildly, the worshippers followed suit, turning the temple into a place of indulgence as well as worship. It took another four centuries before Theodysus issued his famous edict banning paganism, and the cult became colorful history.

No less an authority than Homer called Aphrodite “Cyprian,” and asserted that she was daughter of Zeus and Dione. In the Odyssey, she philanders with the handsome God of war, Ares. But he was only one of her conquests. Her mortal lovers included the Trojan Anchises, with whom she mothered Aeneus, and of course the most handsome of them all, Adonis. When Adonis was killed by a boar, the female population lamented his passing at the festival of Adonia.

Remnants of the Cult of Aphrodite are to be seen to this day in the many statues of her that can be found in Cypriot Museums, (a particularly fine example can be found in the Pafos Archeological Museum).

The Spring Flower Festival, which grew out of the wearing of flowers during the cults rites, is also grounded in ancient tradition surrounding the Goddess of love, while in Kataklismos, a plunge into the sea commemorates Aphrodite’s emergence from the Mediterranean with quite a splash!