Aphrodite

The birth of Aphrodite was dramatic even by divine standards. When Kronos castrated his father Ouranos and threw the severed parts into the sea, white foam gathered around them. From this foam rose Aphrodite, fully grown and radiantly beautiful, stepping ashore on the island of Cyprus.

Zeus married her to Hephaestus, the lame smith god, to prevent the other gods from fighting over her. But Aphrodite's heart belonged to Ares, and their affair was one of Olympus's worst-kept secrets. She also loved the mortal Adonis, whose death from a boar's tusk she mourned every year.

Aphrodite's most consequential act was her role in starting the Trojan War. When Paris of Troy judged her the fairest goddess, she rewarded him with the love of Helen of Sparta — the most beautiful woman in the world — setting in motion the decade-long conflict that would destroy Troy.