When the first Greeks reached Palaepaphos, Homer's"sacred precinct and altar fragrant with incense" must have been already an old-established religious centre. It remains uncertain whether the construction of the first monumental sanctuary of Aphrodite was connected with the coming of Aegean settlers to Palaepaphos. Yet there is no doubt that the arrival of Greeks in , the later 12th or early 11th century was an event of crucial importance in the history of the the city. The archaeological evidence shows that the two apparently conflicting literary traditions about the foundation of town and sanctuary do not exclude each other, but are in fact complementary. According to Pausanias, Aphrodite's temple was build by Agapenot the Arcadian king of Tegea and hero of the Trojan war. Another legend assigns the foundation of the sanctuary to the indigenous king Kinyras, to whom the royal house of Paphos traced their descent. Both versions contain a nucleus of historical truth: the existence of a large pre-Greek Cypriot settlement with an autochtonous fertility cult, and the later arrival of Greek settlers who made Hellenism a decisive factor in the further history of the city.

[INLINE] Roman coin depicting the Paphian shrine of Aphrodite

During the Geometric, Archaic, and Classical periods (c. 1025-325 B.C.) Paphos retained its prominent role in the West of the island. Again, this was in no small measure due to Aphrodite's temple: in the city of the priest-kings of the Kinyrad dynasty the sanctuary must have been at least as important as the royal palace. The Archaic and Classical periods are, however, the least known in the history of the Paphian shrine, as a thorough Roman remodelling obliterated all traces of earlier buildings save for part of the Late Bronze Age Sanctuary.Yet there is rich evidence for the unbroken life of the sanctuary. both in ancient literature and in finds from the site itself. Most notable are several thousand fragments of Archaic and Classical votive terracottas - small "showman technique" figurines as well as competently executed larger statues. The image of the "goddess with uplifted arms" dominates amongst these votive gifts-evidence of strong Aegean influence upon the original fertility cult. Yet a number of votives also exhibit distinctive Phoenician traits, reflecting the impact of Astarte on the worship of Aphrodite. In the Late Classical period, finally, the Paphian goddess is depicted by types common in the representation of Aphrodite in Greece.

The beginning of the Hellenistic period marked a major change in the history of the city. Around 320 BC the harbour town of Nea Paphos was founded, and part of the population was transferred to this new administrative and economic centre. The Sanctuary of the Paphian Aphrodite remained, however, one of the celebrated shrines of the Mediterranean world, and this most probably saved the old city from a relapse into village existence. In Hellenistic and Roman times. Palaepaphos (as it was now called) was still a town of some wealth and consequence, whose sanctuary attracted visitors from all over the Empire.

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