Charites attendants of aphrodite

CHARITES ATTENDANTS OF APHRODITE
The Kharites (Charites), as goddesses of beauty and personal adornment, were naturally described as companions of Aphrodite and the Erotes (Loves).

Homeric Hymn 3 to Pythian Apollo 186 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C.) :
"[Apollon] speeds from earth to Olympos, to the house of Zeus, to join the gathering of the other gods : then straightway the undying gods think only of the lyre and song, and all the Mousai (Muses) together, voice sweetly answering voice, hymn . . . Meanwhile the rich-tressed Kharites (Charites, Graces) and cheerful Horai (Horae) dance with Harmonia (Harmony) and Hebe (Youth) and Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, holding each other by the wrist."

Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite 58 ff :
"She [Aphrodite] went to Kypros (Cyprus), to Paphos, wher her precinct is and fragrant altar, and passed into her sweet-smelling temple. There she went in and put to the glittering doors, and there the Kharites (Charites, Graces) bathed her with heavenly oil such as blooms upon the bodies of the eternal gods--oil divinely sweet, which she had by her, filled with fragrance."

Homeric Hymn 6 to Aphrodite 2 ff :
"Sea-set Kypros (Cyprus) . . . and there the gold-filleted Horai (Horae) [here largely indistinguishable from the Kharites (Charites)] welcomed her [the new-born Aphrodite] joyously. They clothed her with heavenly garments: on her head they put a fine, well-wrought crown of gold, and in her pierced ears they hung ornaments of orichale and precious gold, and adorned her with golden necklaces over her soft neck and snow-white breats, jewels the gold-filleted Horai wear themselves whenever they go to their father's house to join the lovely dances of the gods. And when they had fully decked her, they brought her to the gods, who welcomed her when they saw her."

Sappho, Fragment 194 (from Himerius, Orations) (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric I) (C6th B.C.) :
"[Poetical description of the rites of Aphrodite :] And brings in Aphrodite herself on the Kharites' (Charites, Graces) chariot with her chorus of Erotes (Loves) to join in the fun."

CHARITES ATTENDANTS OF APHRODITE

A dance of love,
Affection and passion,
A warm wind
Of playful attention,
As light as feather,
In each season and weather,
They keep leaving light traces
On emerald grass.
Their young and elegant faces
Won't turn into dust -
They will absorb
The eternal harmony of the woods,
They will stay
Faithful to their roots.