Anchises

Anchises slept in his herdsman’s hut on Trojan Mount Ida when Aphrodite came to him in disguise. She appeared as a Phrygian princess, wearing a dazzling red robe. Anchises was the King of the Dardanians, a grandson of Ilus, and Aphrodite had been made to desire him. Zeus had decided to humble her by causing her to fall desperately in love with a mortal. Her magic girdle had placed even Zeus under constant temptation, although he had never lain with his adopted daughter, as some said that he had.

Aphrodite joined Anchises on a couch spread with the skins of bears and lions. Bees buzzed drowsily around them as they slept together. Her shining clothes and ornaments, along with her beauty, concealed her divine nature and persuaded Anchises. In the Homeric account, he was seized by desire when he first saw her. At dawn, when they parted, Aphrodite cast off her mortal disguise and revealed herself as a goddess. Anchises turned his head aside in fear when he saw her divine form, marked by radiant beauty, bright eyes, and a complexion that showed her immortal nature.

Anchises was horrified that he had uncovered the nakedness of a goddess. He begged her to spare his life. Aphrodite assured him that he had nothing to fear. She told him that their son would be famous, and foretold the birth of Aeneas. She then made Anchises promise that he would tell no one that she had slept with him. The account presents the meeting as one of Aphrodite’s acts of enchantment, but also as a moment in which the goddess herself becomes subject to the desire that she imposes on others.