Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, was the daughter of
Jupiter and Dione. Others say that Venus sprang from the
foam of the sea. The zephyr wafted her along the waves to
the Isle of Cyprus, where she was received and attired by
the Seasons, and then led to the assembly of the gods. All
were charmed with her beauty, and each one demanded her
for his wife. Jupiter gave her to Vulcan, in gratitude for
the service he had rendered in forging thunderbolts. So
the most beautiful of the goddesses became the wife of the
most ill-favoured of gods.