GREEK MYTH Aphrodite is the goddess of love, desire and beauty. In addition to her natural gifts she has a magical girdle that compels anyone she wishes to desire her. There are two accounts of her birth.
One says she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione.
The other goes back to when Cronus castrated Uranus and tossed his severed genitles into the sea. Aphrodite then arose from the sea foam on a giant scallop and walked to shore in Cyprus.
She is the wife of Hephaestus. The myrtle is her tree. The dove, the swann, and the sparrow her birds. Her favorite lover is the god of war, Ares. She represented sex, affection, and the attraction that binds people together.
SHOW MYTH
She was the Goddess of Love only, but desire and beauty could also fit her as Aprhodite on the show was very beautiful and portrayed as all men desiring her. There was no mention of any magical girdle.
On the show, she was the daughter of Zeus and Dione.
The third could be true, as she was seen with a giant seashell, but no mention if that had anything to do with her birth. Although, it's a pretty good nod to that part of Aphrodite's myth.
On Xena, she was married to Hephaestus, but no mention of the myrtle tree or doves, swann's or sparrow's. And on the show, her and Ares were never shown to be lovers, but they were also brother and sister on the show. On the show, Cupid was her son just like in mythology, Ares is his father.
So, all in all the show pretty much depicted Aphrodite the same as she was in the Greek Myth.