Aphrodite's Rock (Petra tou Romiou)

Petra tou Romiou (Aphrodite's Rock), Cyprus

Panoramic view of Aphrodite's birthplace. Photo trof.

Aphrodite's Rock. Photo Colin Moss.

Botticell's Birth of Venus.

Mural of Aphrodite's birth at Pompeii. Public domain.

Photo hadae.

Photo John Thurm.

Beach at Aphrodite's Rock. Photo Steve Wood.

Petra tou Romiou, a rock off the shore along the main road from Paphos to Limassol, has been regarded since ancient times as the birthplace of Aphrodite, goddes of love and fertility.

According to ancient tradition, Aphrodite was born from the waves on the site off the coast of Cyprus. In his Theogony (178-206), Hesiod provides the following dramatic account of the event:

"Chronos took the great long jagged sickle; eagerly he harvested his father's (Zeus') genitals and threw them all off behind.... The genitals...were carried for a long time on the waves. White foam surrounded the immortal flesh, and in it grew a girl...
her name is Aphrodite among men and gods, because she grew up in the foam (aphrizo).

Aphrodite was then escorted ashore on a shell by the soft breezes of the Zephyrs at the rocks known as Petra tou Romiou.

This myth is, of course, most memorably depicted in Botticelli's Birth of Venus (on display in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence). A much older rendering of the event can be seen in a fine mural at Pompeii.

Homer's account of Aphrodite's birth is less dramatic. He said she was the daughter of Zeus and the fresh water nymph Dione, at whose bosom she would sometimes seek solace (Iliad 5.370-417).

Petra tou Romiou means "the Rock of the Greek" and does not refer to Aphrodite but to another myth, that of the Byzantine hero Dighenis who threw the rocks at pirates to protect his lady.

It is said that in certain weather conditions, the waves rise, break and form a column of water that dissolves into a pillar of foam. With imagination, this looks for just a moment like an ephemeral, evanescent human shape.

There is a long narrow pebbly beach at Petra tou Romiou that extends to either side of the largest rock and its satellites.

Getting There

You can park on the old B6 on the uphill side of the road. Pedestrian access to the beach is via an underpass.

Quick Facts

Names:	Petra tou Romiou, Rock of the Greek, Rock of Romios, Aphrodite's Rock
Type of site:	Ancient Greek shrine
Location:	25 km east of Paphos, 9km east of Kouklia, off the coast along the main road to Limassol, Cyprus
Phone:	No phone
Hours:	Always open
Cost:	Free
Eating:	During the holiday season, a kiosk sells soft drinks. The snacks in the cafe in the souvenir pavilion just inland are described by the Rough Guide as "almost inedible."

Location Map

Below is a location map and aerial view of Aphrodite's Rock. Using the buttons on the left, zoom in for a closer look or zoom out to get your bearings. Click and drag the map to move around. For a larger view, see our Cyprus Map or get our free Google Earth download.

Sources

Bernard McDonagh and Ian Robertson, Blue Guide Cyprus, 4th ed. (1998), 103-04, 107-08.
Marc Dubin, The Rough Guide to Cyprus, 5th ed. (2005), 157-58.

More Information

Aphrodite: Her Power and Her Art - Anne Lombardi, Sweet Briar College
Anne Baring and Jules Cashford, The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image (1993).
Edward E. Barthell Jr., Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece (1971).
Walter Burkert, Greek Religion (1985).
Richard S. Caldwell, ed., Hesiod's Theogony (1987).
Fritz Graf, Greek Mythology: An Introduction (1993).