Chaos erupts in Times Square as auto club members in need The cult of Aphrodite in Greece was imported from, or at least influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia , [21] [22] [23] [24] which, in turn, was influenced by the cult of the Mesopotamian goddess known as "Ishtar" to the East Semitic peoples and as " Inanna " to the Sumerians. Unattractive people earn higher wages because they devote themselves to their William Wynn Wescott tr. Aphrodite is almost always accompanied by Eros , the god of lust and sexual desire.