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1%% Image replaced per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1304220317053692200
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3%%
4[[quoteright:200:[[Myth/ClassicalMythology https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_1cupid_8317_9136.jpg]]]]
5[-[[caption-width-right:200:[[OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous God? Goddess?]] Doesn't matter, [[Music/TheBeatles love is all you need]].]]-]
6
7->''"A goddess on a mountain top\
8Was burning like a silver flame\
9The summit of beauty and love\
10And Venus was her name\
11She's got it\
12Yeah baby, she's got it\
13Well, I'm your Venus, I'm your fire\
14At your desire"''
15-->-- '''Shocking Blue''', "Venus" (later CoveredUp by '''Music/{{Bananarama}}''')
16
17This character is regarded as a deity of love (which, more often than not, includes sexual lust as well). Most likely a member of the setting's ruling pantheon, but could be any character (including a mortal) who is regarded by other characters as a goddess of love. Male love gods are included in this trope. It is called "Love Goddess" rather than "Love Deity" because the females are much more common, owing to [[LoveBeALady love being associated with the feminine]].
18
19TheMatchmaker is her GodJob; her role in any given plot is most likely to put characters into a relationship. Thus, she is a [[DefiedTrope walking defiance of tropes]] such as WillTheyOrWontThey and TwiceShy. Naturally, this does not preclude a MatchMakerCrush. She may also be a FertilityGod, who either has a bunch of babies herself or encourages others to make them.
20
21As a character, they're likely to be an EthicalSlut, GoodBadGirl, HotGod, SexGod, or all of the above. If she is like Cupid, then she will have archery skills. Often overlaps with a FoodGod as well to associate different types of fertility.
22
23{{Historical Domain Character}}s like Aphrodite and Freyja count as separate examples when they appear ''as characters'' in separate works of fiction. For example, ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' count, since Aphrodite is a character in some episodes, while ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' so far does ''not'' count: Freyja is a part of the northern pantheon, but unlike Thor, she has so far never really been part of the plot. [[note]]Aphrodite, on the other hand, has made a cameo appearance, but that's just it: a cameo appearance in which she and her entire pantheon were {{unperson}}ed.[[/note]]
24
25Contrast WarGod, this trope's polar opposite.[[note]]Or so you’d think. [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Ishtar]] might disagree. And [[Myth/NorseMythology Freya]]. And Aphrodite Areia. And [[Myth/CelticMythology The Morrigan]].[[/note]] Mythology and media in general [[OddFriendship tend to]] [[OppositesAttract pair these two]] [[GodCouple up regardless]], in a sort of cosmic example of AllGirlsWantBadBoys.
26
27These deities will often need ThePowerOfLove to live and function while ThePowerOfHate can outright kill them. Subtrope to StockGods.
28
29Sometimes, they may be depicted with doves ([[DovesMeanPeace due to their relation with positive concepts]]).
30
31Strictly speaking in terms of historical cultural significance, gods of love were often considered [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower one of the most powerful members of the pantheon]]. God of love does not just cover romantic love; [[TheFourLoves it covers all types of love]], including [[InLoveWithYourCarnage love for]] [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence violence, war]] (especially with the WarGod) and alcohol (hence why Aphrodite wandered about the battlefield at Troy), and the obsessive kinds that make you [[LoveMakesYouDumb stupid]], [[LoveMakesYouEvil evil]] or [[LoveMakesYouCrazy crazy]]. This makes them gods you never, ever want to cross.
32
33Compare CupidsArrow.
34
35----
36!!Examples:
37
38[[foldercontrol]]
39
40[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
41* Urd from ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'' likes to consider herself a Goddess of Love, but Peorth is a love goddess in a more [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold sexual sense]].
42* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': The Namekian Dragon is also the Namekian God of Love. It is worth noting that Namekians are mono-gendered and reproduce asexually, which probably explains why it's the side-portfolio of a low-ranking high end wish-granter, rather than the central role of a major deity like for most ''human'' religions.
43** Brianne de Chateau/Ribrianne from ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' intended to use the Super Dragon Balls to make herself one of these if her universe won the Tournament of Power.
44* Suzaku from ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' is the God of Love. His rival, Seiryuu is the God of War.
45* [[MeaningfulName Venus]], mother of main character Samatarou from ''Anime/KamisamaKazoku'', is the goddess of love.
46* A slight variation in ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' includes Katsuragi Keima, who is the God of Conquest. He is able to make any girl fall in love with him in games and, apparently, in reality too.
47* The proposed divinity of Yuri in ''Manga/RedRiver1995'' is linked to Ishtar (see mythology below).
48* We get a strange example from the ''Manga/SailorMoon'' manga and its prequel ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'': Minako may be of human birth, but is openly described by Artemis and others as the goddess of beauty, love and war, unable to ever find her true love (in fact the one person she had ever truly loved [[spoiler:died by her hand at the end of ''Sailor V'' because he was a Dark Kingdom underling]], and it's made clear she would always choose duty over love) but capable of bringing lovers together with her mere presence. Note that she is the ''only'' character in the series ever called a goddess or anything divine (with the exception of Sailor Pluto, who has been described as a goddess of time).
49* Mikage was a god of matchmaking in ''Manga/KamisamaKiss'', which is assumed to continue on with his successor Nanami.
50* ''Literature/{{Gate}}'' has Rory Mercury, who is the oldest demigod (961 years) in that world under the god of destruction, chaos and war, and she [[BloodKnight loves fighting]] with actual ecstasy just by being close to a battlefield (or simply people fighting). She wanted to become the goddess of love when she upgrades to the god status (at the 1000 year mark of becoming a demigod). Seemingly no other gods have taken up the place in their world.
51* ''Literature/InAnotherWorldWithMySmartphone'' features a Goddess of Love, who first advices Touya about dropping his beliefs from his original world and not worry about [[MarryThemAll marrying multiple girls]]. She later descends to the mortal realm and passes herself off as Touya's older sister, often giving him and his fiancées advices to push their love lives further.
52* ''Literature/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'' has Vida, goddess of Life and Love and one of the eleven High Gods of Lambda, who was sealed by Alda the GodOfOrder thousands of years ago for creating several races that disgusted Alda. She is considered the biggest patron of Vandalieu the protagonist.
53* ''Manga/LifeWithAnOrdinaryGuyWhoReincarnatedIntoATotalFantasyKnockout'': The main characters were brought to another world by its Goddess of Love, a [[HotGod very attractive]] woman [[LittleBitBeastly with rabbit ears]]. Her followers are shown to worship physical beauty, wearing {{Stripperific}} clothing as ceremonial garments, and her chosen champion, the {{Gender Ben|der}}t Tachibana, is so beautiful that men will fall over him due to his presence alone, and he has to use a PerceptionFilter to avoid causing chaos everywhere he goes.
54[[/folder]]
55
56[[folder:Arts]]
57* ''Art/AphroditeOfMenophantos'': It is a portrayal of Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love. In particular, a version of her that is self-aware of her HeadTurningBeauty and therefore tries to cover herself up. This element is present because here, she's young and still a virgin, just learning the ropes of being a goddess.
58* ''Art/TheBirthOfVenusBotticelli'': Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love, is the subject of the painting. This status is represented by several symbols: the color pink, her naked state, the flowers, and the seashell she's standing on.
59* Creator/WilliamAdolpheBouguereau:
60** ''Art/{{The Birth of Venus|Bouguereau}}'': The painting's central figure is the Roman goddess of love. The piece makes this evident by showing the nymphs and centaurs around her in sheer shock and adoration at the sight of such a beautiful woman. As if they've fallen in love with her. Or with each other because of her presence.
61** ''Art/{{Psyche and Cupid|Bouguereau}}'': Or Love God, as is the case with Cupid.
62* ''Art/ThePlanetVenus'' depicts Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love. This portrayal, in particular, highlights the sexuality aspect of her domain by focusing on Venus' AngelicBeauty.
63* ''Art/TheRapeOfProserpinaRubens'':
64** Venus, Roman goddess of love and sexuality, is one of the goddesses trying to rescue Proserpina.
65** The [[{{Putto}} putti]] are meant to represent Cupid, the Roman God of Erotic Love.
66* ''Art/VenusCupidFollyAndTime'': Both Venus and Cupid are depicted in the forefront giving a flirtatious kiss in witness to the other characters. Considering the personification of folly is about to shower the two in rose petals, this is likely a bad move, especially considering both Venus and Cupid are infamous for their tendency to cause problems.
67* ''Art/VenusAndCupidGentileschi'': Venus and her son Cupid, the subjects of the painting, are both love gods from classical mythology.
68* Art/VenusDeMilo: Her assigned name suggests that it's a sculpture of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of erotic love.
69[[/folder]]
70
71[[folder:Comic Books]]
72* ''ComicBook/FinePrint'': The Cupids, who spread love by firing golden arrows into humans which cause love (they can also be used on Cubi, but it causes pleasure instead).
73* ''ComicBook/GoldenEyesAndHerHeroBill'': There's a [[http://cartoons.osu.edu/digital_albums/nellbrinkley/5.php#anchor towheaded cupid]] following the protagonist who's alternately referred to as Love, "[[AllCaps LOVE]]," and "The God of Love."
74* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': The Predator Entity of the Emotional Spectrum seems to be one, as it is the embodiment of the violet light of love.
75* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules'': Aphrodite resigned from the role because she no longer felt she could serve in that role. She was succeeded by the siren [[ComicBook/AgentsOfAtlas Venus]].
76** It should be noted that Venus, who starred in her own comicbook series in the 50s, was supposed to be THE goddess of love; that she was a siren with identity issues all along is a later {{Retcon}}.
77* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'': Mistress Love is one of the cosmic forces.
78* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheEnchantress Amora the Enchantress]] technically counts as she used to be Freyja in a previous Asgardian incarnation, and [[LivingAphrodisiac her power]] emphasizes [[TheVamp seduction]] and [[MsFanservice sex appeal]].
79* ''ComicBook/{{Valhalla}}'': Freya is one of the main characters and is presented as an EthicalSlut and one of the saner members of the cast. One album ("Freya's Necklace") focuses on Heimdall, Odin and Freya and how she as Goddess of Love embodies both the physical and emotional acts of love ([[DirtyOldMan Odin is only interested in her sexually]], while [[KnightInShiningArmor Heimdall]] [[CourtlyLove is only interested her platonically]]).
80* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': Aphrodite is one of the main patron goddesses of the Amazons.
81[[/folder]]
82
83[[folder:Fan Works]]
84* In a ''Dungeons and Dragons'' Fanfic, even ''orcs'' [[http://www.reocities.com/Area51/Vault/9974/orcgods.htm have love goddesses.]]
85** Kislova: goddess of "light, kindness, mercy, growth, life, love, family"
86** Baalibastus: goddess of "love, beauty, fire, passion, animals, children"
87* The ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' takes the approach that Cadence ''isn't'' the Alicorn that represents love as canon implies (see Western Animation below), with that role falling to her older sister Venus instead (it's just that Cadence's powers are similar enough that she can ''remind'' ponies that they're in love). At one point, Entropy, the goddess of nothingness, claims that love comes from nothing, so she also represents love.
88* Besides Cupid in ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'', there's Charity, Phileo, Xenia, and a rogue cherub named Eros, who spreads fiery arrows of lust.
89* Well, something like that anyway. From ''Fanfic/LokiAgentOfDoomgard'' comes Loki Goddess of Seduction and Intoxication (the Loki of Metropolis 51). Well yes she is mostly goddess of the sex and conquest aspect of the love domain, and she is also god of of mind altering substances (including but not limited to alcohol).
90* In the ''Mai Hime'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6726668/1/Theogony Theogony]]'', Shizuru is the goddess of charm, persuasion and seduction. Hade's daughter Natsuki catches her eye.
91* Deconstructed in ''Fanfic/{{Chemistry}}''. The WingedUnicorn Cadance is the Goddess of Love and, subsequently, Lust as well. Without medication, she goes into a [[MatingSeasonMayhem heat-like state]] where she has an attraction to everyone and suffers from love magic PowerIncontinence.
92[[/folder]]
93
94[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
95* Uma Thurman played Venus in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen''.
96* Creator/UrsulaAndress played Aphrodite in the 1981 ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}''.
97* The film ''Film/OneTouchOfVenus'' and its remake have a statue of Art/VenusDeMilo coming to life and understandably causing wacky hijinx in the protagonist's life.
98[[/folder]]
99
100[[folder:Literature]]
101* In ''Literature/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays'', Sir Francis Cromarty points out a statue of Kali, and says that she is the Hindu goddess of love and death. "Of death, perhaps," replies Passepartout, "but of love -- that ugly old hag? Never!"
102* There are number of love goddesses in Adam R. Brown's ''Literature/AstralDawn'' series.The most notable goddess of love is Ixchel of the Mayan pantheon. She's also ironically Caspian's love interest.
103* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' has at least three.
104** Astoria the Ephebian Goddess of Love. According to the Great God Om, "[[TheDitz a complete bubblehead]]".
105** Petulia, Ephebian Goddess of, er, [[TheOldestProfession Negotiable Affection]] might count, too.
106** And the troll pantheon has Chondrodite, who makes trolls fall in love by hitting them with a rock.
107** Discworld astrology has a sign called Astoria's Flame: this is a large single red star. People born under Astoria's Flame are said to be naturally drawn towards Seamstressing and negotiable affection.
108* Syph from ''Literature/DivineMisfortune'' started out as the Goddess of Love (her pantheon is never specified). Then after she fell in love with Lucky only for him to dump her, it changes her so fundamentally that she turns into a Goddess associated with Heartbreak and Tragedy. She spends literally a millenia wandering around as a depressed vagrant before eventually being inspired to use her godly powers to avenge scorned lovers.
109* ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'' gave a cameo to Aphrodite when the group went to Olympus. She basically struts out, sexfully supports her lover Ares in an argument, and then struts away, having made the male protagonists temporarily forget their own names. Meanwhile Eros hovers nearby and makes lewd gestures at April.
110** There's also Hel, who could be called a sex goddess. In the [[AliensMadeThemDoIt most horrible]] [[NightmareFetishist way possible]]. [[spoiler:Half of her body is the most magically irresistible woman possible, while the other half ''[[ILoveTheDead is a corpse]]'']].
111* ''Literature/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'':
112** Freya is a goddess of love and beauty famed for being the WorldsMostBeautifulWoman even among InhumanlyBeautifulRace of gods. All of her children are enraptured with her and are willing to fight each other (and other familia) to the death for her favor. She also possesses CharmPerson and ThePornomancer powers that she can use at will even without releasing her arcanum, making her especially powerful and dangerous to mortals, who are almost completely incapable of resisting her abilities.
113** Ishtar is another goddess of sex and beauty who runs Orario's RedLightDistrict. Jealous of Freya's power and attention, she schemes to usurp her as the leader of the most powerful familia in Orario while also possessing similar, but not as potent, CharmPerson powers. Her children are also workers in her network of brothels throughout the district and many of them are as promiscuous as their goddess is, as shown when Bell is nearly torn to pieces in a LoverTugOfWar between her children after he stumbles into her domain while looking for Mikoto.
114** Aphrodite appears in the ''VideoGame/MemoriaFreese'' spinoff. Hephaestus' former lover and yet another goddess of beauty, she's prone to butting heads with the virgin goddesses Hestia, Athena, and Artemis, telling them that they're "2,000% missing out on life" without the allure of love.
115* One of the ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' novelizations "All You Need Is A Love Spell" has a family from Greece move to Westbridge. They turn out to be [[AncientGrome Mars and Venus and their son Cupid]]. Venus is portrayed as stunningly beautiful but a complete airhead and quite manipulative. Cupid meanwhile is actually being manipulated by his parents into thinking that Sabrina is his Psyche from mythology. He also misuses his powers to make the wrong couples fall in love at school.
116* ''Literature/TheRedemptionOfAlthalus'' has Dweia, who loves all things but especially Althalus. She's an interesting variation in that it's primarily maternal rather than romantic love.
117* ''Literature/TillWeHaveFaces'' by Creator/CSLewis, as a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, includes the primordial Ungit as a love goddess, and the God of the Mountain, as a love god.
118* The Last Literature/ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant introduces the Lover, a third AnthropomorphicPersonification on par with the Creator and the Despiser, who is characterized as female. Except that the Despiser didn't much care for that, so he seduced the Lover and betrayed her, to taint all love forever, and both of them got [[SealedEvilInACan trapped in the Land]] for their troubles. The Despiser became [[BigBad Lord Foul]]; the Lover became [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds She Who Must Not Be Named]].
119* Literature/TheCampHalfBloodSeries, being an adaptation of Classical Mythology, has Aphrodite. Her children have a cabin at Camp Half-Blood.
120** In ''[[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Titan's Curse]]'', Aphrodite shows up to tell Percy to [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl rescue Annabeth]], and that while [[ShipperOnDeck she wants them to get together]], she's going to arrange a lot of indecision and confusion beforehand [[ItAmusedMe to make things more interesting]]. Notably, she [[AppearanceIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder changes her appearance]] to whatever the viewer finds most beautiful; to Percy, she looks like a mix between Annabeth and a TV actress whom he used to have a crush on.
121** In ''[[Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus The Mark of Athena]]'', Annabeth, Piper and Hazel meet Venus, who isn't very different from Aphrodite. Her appearance changes to make Annabeth jealous.
122** In ''[[Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus The House of Hades]]'', Jason and Nico meet Cupid. He's a bit more of a jerk than his mother, forcing Nico to [[spoiler:admit his crush on Percy]], though he'd probably argue that was for Nico's own good.
123* Freya appears in ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard''. She shines with so much light that it illuminates her entire realm of Folkvanger, and her smile is so beautiful that Magnus thinks that he would give up his own life to keep it fixed on him. Which is a little weird when you find out that [[spoiler:she's his aunt]]. Also, she's the mother of his [[NonHumanHumanoidHybrid half-dwarf]] friend, Blitzen.
124* Xochiquetzal, the Aztec goddess of lust and childbirth, features prominently in ''Servant of the Underworld'', the first book of the ''Literature/ObsidianAndBlood'' trilogy.
125* ''Literature/{{Psyche}}'' features both Aphrodite and her son, Eros, who falls in love with the PrincessProtagonist, when he is pricked by his own arrow.
126* ''Literature/TheSagaOfBilly'': In the pantheon of [[MedievalEuropeanFantasy Erenner]], Mélène represents maternal and compassionate love, while her sister Ytia embodies a more romantic and sexual love.
127* R'hllor, The Lord Of Light of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', represents fire, life and sex.
128[[/folder]]
129
130[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
131* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'':
132** Aphrodite was portrayed as a ValleyGirl with HiddenDepths and an even more HiddenHeartOfGold, played by Alexandra Tydings.
133** These shows also feature her son Cupid (portrayed by Karl Urban), and an AlternateUniverse where Ares is the God of Love. In "A Comedy of Eros", Cupid's son, Baby Bliss, steals Cupid's arrows and causes chaos by indiscriminately causing people to fall in love.
134* The Hallmark version of ''Series/JasonAndTheArgonauts'' leaves out Aphrodite but has Hera ordering Eros to shoot Medea with one of his arrows and make her fall in love with Jason. This version portrays Eros as being made completely of fire.
135* Hathor pops up in a season 1 episode of ''Series/StargateSG1''. Of course, since the Goa'uld are TheEmpire and controlling the masses by posing as gods, "love" equals "brainwashing gas makes you act infatuated while carrying out Hathor's every whim."
136* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', angels of love are called "Cupids", who manifest as nude men rather than diapered babies.
137--> '''Cupid:''' ''(hugging Castiel)'' Love is more than word to me you know. I love love. I love it and if that's wrong I don't wanna be right.
138** Though later seasons retcon this a bit, by presenting Cupids as being of both genders and, you know, wearing clothes.
139* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'':
140** In a two-part season finale, the girls were given the powers of the Greek gods, with Phoebe as the goddess of love. Men fell in love with her instantly and she basically created a harem-cult when the power was going to her head.
141** The series also shows Cupids a few time, who are basically spirits who spread love. [[spoiler:Phoebe ends up marrying one.]]
142* Vanna White played Venus in a forgettable 1988 romantic comedy TV movie titled (what else?) ''Goddess of Love''.
143* ''Series/TheAlmightyJohnsons'', a show about Norse gods hiding in New Zealand, had two:
144** Michele (Sjofn) is a minor goddess (as everyone keeps reminding her), but a goddess of love, lust, and mischief.
145** Freya, goddess of love and marriage, is much more restrained, and her human identity is a mystery for much of the series.
146[[/folder]]
147
148[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]
149%%* Literature/ArsGoetia has multiple demons that cause love.
150* Several Indo-European dawn goddesses, such as the Hindu Ushas and Baltic Aushrine, a function that was probably inherited by the common Proto-Indo-European goddess from which they descend, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hausos Hausos]]. Hausos was the embodiment of Venus, the Morning Star, which means that most of her derivatives, especially Eos from Myth/ClassicalMythology may have also been love goddesses.
151* Myth/NorseMythology has Freyja, a goddess of sex and war.
152* Myth/EgyptianMythology has several, including Bast and Hathor, who (to complicate things further) were occasionally regarded as being different aspects of the same deity (Egyptian mythology is like that).
153** Hathor is effectively Aphrodite's Egyptian counterpart (in fact, they were sometimes believed to be the same deity) and is the LauncherOfAThousandShips in Egyptian mythology -- it's probably easier to find a god she ''hasn't'' been paired up with in some myth or other. She's a goddess of love, sex, food, music, drunkenness, joy, beauty, motherhood, the stars, and the sky; she also has a connection to fate and is one of a few goddesses that helps the dead in the afterlife. She's also very, ''very'' sexual, even by the standards of Egyptian mythology; in one myth, Ra was sulking on the floor, so she "exposed her vagina before his very eyes", which led him to laugh and get up.
154** Bast was a goddess of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood who came to be depicted as a cat, perhaps because cats were regarded as protective of their offspring.
155** It should be noted that both Hathor and Bast had much darker aspects, though -- either or both were believed to have a much darker aspect known as Sekhmet (or Sakhmet or a number of other spellings) that came out when they were particularly angered. Interestingly, Sekhmet was primarily a goddess of war, plagues, and poisons (although sometimes also of healing), showing that the line between LoveGoddess and WarGod isn't always that thick. In one myth, the gods unleashed Sekhmet to punish humanity, but she quickly went far beyond their intentions, and she got so literally (not figuratively) bloodthirsty that she threatened to wipe out humanity entirely. Ra's solution was to fill a lake with beer and dye it red to make her believe it was blood. After she drank the ''entire lake'', she got so drunk she forgot about her rampage and returned to being Hathor. Egyptologists hold that the dichotomy between Sekhmet and Hathor (or Bast) illustrates ancient Egyptians' conception that femininity, in Carolyn Graves-Brown's words, "encompassed both extreme passions of fury and love."
156* Myth/ClassicalMythology has two or four depending on whether or not you consider the Roman pantheon to be separate or the same pantheon with different names:
157** Aphrodite in Greek Mythology. As much a goddess of lust as of love, encouraging people to get it on as much as possible whenever and wherever they can, which is how she started UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar.
158*** Some theorists (notably Creator/{{Plato}}) divided Aphrodite into two aspects or personas, Aphrodite Urania, the "heavenly Aphrodite" of sublime love, and Aphrodite Pandemos (known in the Roman version as Venus Vulgivaga, the "Venus of the people"), who was in charge of purely sexual love. In some versions Aphrodite had a dark aspect; for instance in Sparta she was portrayed wearing armour and one of her epithets was ''Androphonos'', "the man-killer".
159*** It should be noted that the ancient Greeks (or at least some of their philosophers) didn't view "love" between a man and woman as a good thing. Partially because it was considered an animal instinct and a distraction from more important things such as war and philosophy depending on the area, and partially because they believed women to be objects, and therefore loving them was inferior to their "people"-centered loves of agape and philia. This led the ancient Greeks (or, again, at least certain mythographers and poets) to see Aphrodite as a villainous figure.
160*** The Romans identified Aphrodite with their native goddess Venus. It's not entirely clear what Venus was originally like, but after the Greeks colonized Italy in the early Iron Age, Venus took on Aphrodite's description as a goddess of various forms of physical and emotional love and was portrayed similarly in art.
161** Eros (or Pothos) in Greek mythology, Aphrodite's son, sent (sometimes reluctantly) to put his mother's nefarious plots in action. Depending on who told the story, he could be portrayed much more sympathetically than his mother. In Hesiod's ''Theogony'', Eros is one of the primal gods (brother to Gaia and Tartaros) and thus older than Aphrodite. Also in most myths Eros engages in all kinds of mischief without needing Aphrodite's orders to do so. The story of Eros and Psyche, where he is portrayed as her reluctant servant, is so late that it can be considered literature more than actual mythology. The Romans identified Eros with their own Amor or Cupid(o) in a similar manner to Aphrodite and Venus.
162** There were also a few less well-known love deities, for instance Anteros, the god of requited love who was particularly associated with homosexual love, and Himeros, god of sexual desire. There were also some minor deities belonging to Aphrodite's train or sometimes assisted her, most notably the three Graces and Peitho, goddess of persuasion (who helped Aphrodite to get Helena in bed with Paris).
163** Dionysos or Bacchus, while not a god of love per se, was god of ecstasy, which included sexual ecstasy, as became evident in the Bacchanalia.
164** According to some Bible students, Artemis of the city Ephesus was worshiped as the goddess of love.
165** Eos, the [[LightEmUp goddess of dawn]], may originally have had this role, based on similar other indo-european dawn goddesses, and her own promiscuity, though ultimately her functions passed to the deities above. Almost as if lampshading this, [[{{Irony}} she is cursed with lust by Aphrodite in surviving myths]].
166** [[NightAndDayDuo Helios and Selene]] were apparently this, as Pindar writes that men would pray to him and women to her for help in love matters.
167* The East Semitic[[note]]Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian[[/note]] Ishtar -- and her Sumerian predecessor Inanna -- was a goddess of love ''and'' war. Cynics might argue that [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence those aren't all that inappropriate together]], though; and as would Shakespeare and a number of others say, "All's fair in love and war."
168* In Myth/CelticMythology, Aengus Og is a male example, associated with love and sexuality as well as youth and beauty. The Morrighan is primarily a war goddess, but has strong elements of fertility and sexuality, similar to Ishtar.
169* In Voudun/Voodoo, Erzulie Freda is the lwa of love. (There is one God in the Voudun pantheon, and the lwa are intermediaries between him and the mortal world: they have distinct, multifaceted personalities, like the Greek Gods, but are considered more like the equivalent of angels).
170** The related religion Santeria, a blend of Catholicism and the religion of the African Yoruban people, has Oshun (also spelled Oxun). She's the orisha (a divine intermediary similar to lwa) of romantic and sexual love: people concealing Santeria under the guise of Catholicism represent her with a figure of the Virgin Mary.
171%%* Armenian pagan mythology had the goddess Astghik.
172%%* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshun Oshun]] from the Yoruba religion.
173%%* Etruscan mythology has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turan_(mythology) Turan]].
174* Myth/HinduMythology has at least two. First is Kamadeva, who's [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent equivalent]] to Eros. Other is Lakshmi, who's also associate with fortune, wealth and wisdom.
175* UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} has an interesting version: the demon king is named Mara, which means "death," but can also be called Kama or Mara-Kama, with ''kama'' meaning "love." He basically symbolizes everything that can keep someone from enlightenment, and tried to tempt the Buddha from meditation with his three daughters, Taṇhā (Craving), Arati (Boredom), and Raga (Passion). However, the Buddha only saw them as decrepit old hags, and his resilience was enough to earn their praise. Mahayana/Vajrayana forms of Buddhism also have a more straight example in Tara, a female Buddha with many attributes, granting love among them.
176* Myth/AztecMythology has Xochiquetzal for erotic love, Chalchiuhtlicue for chaste love, and Xochipilli for same-sex love.
177[[/folder]]
178
179[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
180* ''TabletopGame/TheDarkEye'' has at least two: Travia for familiar love (and home and hearth), and Rahja for romantic love and lust (passion, wine and horses, too)
181* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
182** A number of "default" deities not specific to any one setting include a number of these:
183*** Ai Ch'hing is the Kara-Turan goddess of love and marriage.
184*** Evening Glory (Libris Mortis) is a lesser goddess of love, beauty and immortality through undeath.
185*** Iallanis is a lesser goddess of good giants, love, forgiveness, mercy and beauty.
186*** Isis (also known as Ishtar) is the Mulhorandi goddess of weather, rivers, agriculture, love, marriage and good magic.
187*** Kiltzi is the Maztican god of health, love, happiness and children.
188*** Lastai, from the ''Book of Exalted Deeds'', is a demigoddess of pleasure, love and passion.
189*** Sehanine is a goddess of illusion, love and the moon.
190*** Sheela Peryroyl is a halfling goddess of nature, agriculture, weather, song, dance, beauty and romantic love.
191*** Sheyanna Flaxenstrand is a gnome goddess of love, beauty and passion.
192*** Wee Jas is the Sune goddess of love, beauty, death, magic and law. The combination of law and love makes her the goddess of PerfectlyArrangedMarriage.
193** ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'': Arawai is the most traditional love goddess, being the Sovereign of Life and Love, patron of fertility. However, just as the Sovereigns and the Dark Six have the [[WarGod Three Faces of War]], they also have the Three Faces of Love: Arawai is the love that brings life, Boldrei (Sovereign of Hall and Hearth) is the love that binds, and The Fury (Dark Sovereign of Rage and Revenge) is the love that ''burns''.
194** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': Sharess is the goddess of lust, love, sensual fulfillment and cats (she apparently used to be Bast, but got hit by wanderlust in the distant past and fell out of the Mulhorandi pantheon and semi-warrior goddess status and into the Faerûnian pantheon).
195%%** ''TabletopGame/ScarredLands'': Idra
196* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has Venus, the Maiden of Serenity. Love is only one of the many things she's goddess of -- she handles health, positive emotions, and pleasure in general -- but it's one of the more focused-on. (Venus also wears blue, which is why brothels in the Exalted setting are associated with blue instead of red.)
197* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'': The "Dungeon Fantasy" sub-line features classic dungeon fantasy-style clerics and holy warriors, and allows for the possibility of them worshiping a range of deities. Gods of Love are an option, and their worshippers tend to become adventurers to promote giving happy endings to good stories, as most tend to be romantics at heart, or to combat evil monsters and undead abominations that their patrons oppose.
198-->''It may be harder to explain why their priests should get involved in dungeon delving. If the god has a desire to preserve communities, their interest in fertility makes them hate any “blight on the land.” Alternatively, priests (or their gods) may well be romantics at heart -- keen to help enact good stories with happy endings -- or tricksters -- amused by anything that makes fools of mortals. More simplistically, such clerics may venture into dungeons because their deities are gods of life and thus opposed to undeath, or gods of beauty and thus enemies of ugly monsters.''
199* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Shelyn is the goddess of love, art and beauty. She was originally purely a deity of art, music and beauty, as the love goddess was her mother, but she inherited control over love after her half-brother Zon-Kuthon murdered their parents. She was originally a flighty, selfish and inconstant deity, but the goddess of love also turned her into an AllLovingHero by giving her understanding of both selfless love and mortals' ability to love anyone and anything, and she now perceives beauty and worth in quite literally everything. She is also very explicitly not a goddess of lust, fertility and physical passion; she draws a strong distinction between love and lust, and while she doesn't object to it as a concept she tends to prioritize emotional intimacy over the physical kind. As a result, her paladins are big on CourtlyLove.
200* ''TabletopGame/{{Ponyfinder}}'': Lashtada is the goddess of love and passion, and perceives all of life through that lens. She is firmly neutral in alignment as a result, as she cares very little for the struggle between good and evil or order and chaos, as love rarely discriminates between one's allies and foes anyway, and likewise only cares about mortal morality and philosophy insofar as it affects the ability for love to thrive -- in a choice between a tyrant who nonetheless allows people to pursue their own romantic lives and a fair ruler who insists on arranged marriages, Lashtada would always support the tyrant.
201* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' have two gods of love: One god of sexual love (eros), and one god of parental love (storge). These gods are named Slaanesh and Nurgle, and with ''Warhammer 40K'' being the CrapsackWorld that it is, both gods are genocidal soul-devouring demon-lords with maximized {{Squick}} factor (Slaanesh is a hermaphroditic incarnation of desire spawned by millennia of depraved hedonism by a psychic species; Nurgle feels love for ''everything'', it's just that germs, bacteria and vermin outnumber sentient species, and they need love too...).
202[[/folder]]
203
204[[folder:Theatre]]
205* ''Theatre/OnceOnThisIsland'' features four main gods, including Erzulie, the goddess of love.
206* ''Theatre/OneTouchOfVenus'' features the Greek goddess of love in LivingStatue form.
207* The goddess Freia, Music/RichardWagner's ''Theatre/DerRingDesNibelungen''.
208[[/folder]]
209
210[[folder:Video Games]]
211* ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'': Olga's Mantra affinity is Lust and she is the only woman among the Seven Deities.
212* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon'': As a reference to Myth/ClassicalMythology, the Venus action card depicts the "goddess of love and beauty".
213* ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}''/''VideoGame/Destiny2'': The Hive's BlueAndOrangeMorality means their WarGod, Xivu Arath, is their god of (platonic) love. Not as in being a god of both love and war, but as in love and war being one and the same concept to them. The love shared between the gods of the Hive meant they [[ResurrectiveImmortality fought and killed each other as often as possible]] so they would [[HadToBeSharp learn to survive]] and live forever, but Xivu Arath was always the most emotional and affectionate of the three, and held her brother Oryx in [[BigBrotherWorship particularly high regard]]. Discovering his true death drove her to extremes of rage and grief, in contrast to her sister, the TricksterGod Savathûn, who had a much more measured and introspective response.
214* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
215** The [[SaintlyChurch Aedric Divines]] pantheon has two, representing different aspects of love. Mara, actually called the Goddess of Love, represents the platonic, marriage, and family aspects of love. Dibella, the Goddess of Beauty, instead represents the carnal and sexual aspects of love.
216** Conversely, while "love" is stretching it, Mephala is a [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] whose sphere is "obscured to mortals", but who is associated with [[ManipulativeBastard manipulation, lies, sex, and secrets]]. As one can probably guess, she represents the darker and manipulative aspects associated with sex, specifically its ability to make mortals betray one another and destroy trust.
217* Aphrodite appears in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII''. Naturally, it includes a sex scene between her and the player character, Kratos.
218-->''Such'' '''power!'''
219* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'': Lilithmon is the sole female member of the Seven Great Demon Lords. She represents the sin of Lust.
220* The good-aligned Erollisi Marr is the Goddess of Love and Hunting in ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' and ''VideoGame/EverQuestII''. There's also Tholuxe Paells, the evil Demi-God of Lust. Not just sexual lust, but bloodlust and any other forms.
221* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': According to Eorzean mythology, Menphina the Lover is the goddess of love and the divine lover of Oschon the Wanderer. Rather than solely representing carnal or romantic love, Menphina presides over love in all its forms. She's said to reward those who give as much love as they receive and her followers beseech her for solace, shelter, and hope. [[spoiler:When she appears in the Euphyrosyne raid, she's overflowing with compassion for everyone, telling the heroes that the Twelve listen to each and every prayer even though they do not have the power to answer them all.]]
222* In ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', Aphrodite is one of the Olympian gods who can offer boons to Zagreus to help him escape. Her boons are focused around applying either the Weak status effect, which reduces damage dealt by enemies, or the Charm effect which makes enemies briefly fight alongside Zagreus. Her boons also offer very high damage boosts to Zagreus' attacks. She is explicitly described as one of the most dangerous of the Olympians, and if Zagreus angers her she will bombard him with very accurate and persistent projectiles.
223* In ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana'', the Goddess of Mana is often said to be this, or sometimes even [[AnthropomorphicPersonification stated to be love itself]]. [[spoiler:And as the game will show you through its story, [[LoveMakesYouEvil this is NOT a good thing]].]]
224* ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'' introduces the FertilityGod Enamorus, who [[TheSmurfettePrinciple alongside her Weather Trio brothers]] cultivates the land. While Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus enrich the soil, her love is said to seed it with new life. Additionally, her tail is covered in heart patterns and her signature move Springtide Storm is said to attack enemies with "fierce winds brimming with love and hate".
225* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'': Love is part of Seren's ambit as goddess of [[GodOfLight light]], harmony, and peace, and the mutual love between [[PatronGod her and her elves]] is a defining element of their relationship. However, her presence ''compels'' people to love her, and she admits that that can be every bit as intrusive and painful as the forced loyalty her brother Zaros inflicts.
226%%* As you might expect, a number of these appear in ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei''. In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', you actually look one up to get a friend of yours some romantic advice. -- Zero-context example
227* ''VideoGame/{{Smite}}'':
228** Both Aphrodite and Cupid (the Roman god of love, not simply the more popular name for the Greek god Eros) are playable deities. Aphrodite being a Support Mage whose gameplay revolves around forming and breaking soulmate bonds with a teammate as her 'lover', while Cupid is a marksman/ADC with love-based themes and can toss out life-restoring hearts to help his allies.
229** The game also features Freya, Vanir goddess of love and beauty, but her Love Goddess aspect is downplayed in favor of her status as Queen of the Valkyries.
230* Aphrodite, Freya, and Hathor are all minor deities in ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology''.
231* ''VideoGame/NexusClash'' has Alonai, the EarthMother personification of love, innocence and life. While she initially seems too kindly and naïve for the [[EverythingTryingToKillYou setting]], she's sometimes portrayed in roleplay in more depth as codependent, violently [[GaiasVengeance protective]] of those she values, and willing to use MoreThanMindControl to keep their allegiance.
232* The ''VideoGame/WildArms'' series has Raftina, the Guardian of Love and one of the Guardian Lords [[FantasyPantheon that rule over the other Guardians]].
233[[/folder]]
234
235[[folder:Web Original]]
236* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', Hivena is the Goddess of Love and Fertility. She is quite amoral, willing to use mortals as pawns for her own sinister ends.
237* [[AlphaBitch Aphrodite]] and her eternally adolescent son [[{{Bishonen}} Eros]] in ''Literature/ThaliasMusings''. Aphrodite's preferred lover and one of Eros' possible fathers is, of course, [[WarGod Ares]].
238* Aphrodite shows up in ''Literature/ChronoHustle''.
239* ''WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared'' has Malcolm, a gigantic gravel-munching stone head who's worshipped by a talking butterfly and his band of deranged love cultists. It makes about as much sense as it sounds.
240[[/folder]]
241
242[[folder:Western Animation]]
243* In ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'', Aphrodite appears as a secondary character once in a while. Her main trait is her ThemeTune.
244* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Princess Cadence has the unique power to spread love to those around her. Her introductory episode shows a flashback where she patched a bickering couple's relationship.
245* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'', Cupid appears more as a cherub who spreads love than a true god of love.
246* A music artist called The Love God appears in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' as a headliner act at a music festival. Turns out, he's actually the Love God, and Mabel stealing one of his love potions is what kick-starts that episode's plot.
247[[/folder]]

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