Aphrodite

Two accounts clash over the birth of Aphrodite. Homer makes her the daughter of Zeus and Dione. But the most famous version — that of Hesiod — has her born from the sea foam, arising where the severed parts of Uranus fell into the waves. From this white, shimmering foam emerged the most beautiful of all divinities: hence her epithet Anadyomene — "she who rises from the sea".

Carried by the wind Zephyr, she drifted to the island of Cyprus, where the Horae — goddesses of the seasons — welcomed her, taught her the arts of seduction, and gifted her a golden girdle of absolute power: whoever wore it became irresistible to every living being.

On Olympus, her beauty captivates every god. Zeus gave her Hephaestus — the lame smith of the gods — as her husband, but Aphrodite immediately began an affair with Ares, god of war. Helios discovered their liaison and reported it. Hephaestus, furious, forged an invisible steel net and trapped the lovers in his forge, summoning all the Olympians to witness their humiliation.

Her loves were many, divine and mortal alike. From her union with Hermes was born Hermaphroditus — a being of such perfect beauty that a nymph begged the gods never to be separated from him, and the two fused into a single body. From Anchises, a Trojan prince, came the hero Aeneas — the legendary founder of Rome.

Aphrodite triggered the greatest war of Antiquity. At a divine banquet, Eris — goddess of discord — threw a golden apple inscribed "to the fairest". Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera all claimed the prize, and entrusted their fate to the judgment of Paris, prince of Troy.

Each goddess tried to bribe him: Hera offered power, Athena wisdom. Aphrodite promised him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world — Helen, wife of the king of Sparta. Paris chose Aphrodite. The abduction of Helen that followed ignited the Trojan War — ten years of bloody conflict that ravaged two civilizations.

The Pisces Gold Saint bears the name Aphrodite as a direct tribute to the goddess. An ambiguous and fascinating character, he embodies the fundamental duality of the myth: absolute beauty paired with merciless cruelty. His roses — Piranha Roses, Bloody Rose, Gauntlet Roses — are his weapons, transforming the universal symbol of love into an instrument of death.

The choice of name echoes the myth of Hermaphroditus, son of Aphrodite celebrated for his androgynous beauty — a reference Kurumada weaves into the character's design, whose appearance blurs the boundaries between feminine and masculine.

Aphrodite of Pisces guards the 12th House of the Sanctuary — the last before Athena. His constellation, Pisces, is mythologically linked to the goddess: according to some accounts, Aphrodite and Eros transformed into fish to escape the monster Typhon.