Venus (mythology)
Venus is the goddess of love, beauty and seduction in Roman mythology. She is the most desired goddess of all the gods. Her equivalent in Greek mythology is Aphrodite. Venus is named Inanna among the Sumerians, while to the Babylonians and Akkadians she is called Ishtar.
Attributes[change | change source]
Venus has many attributes. Her symbols are the shell, the rose, the dove, the mirror, and the myrtle. The acceptable offerings to her were roses, apples, honey, wine, incense, milk, and myrtle.
Venus is often used as a symbol herself for feminine beauty, sexuality, and love.
Family[change | change source]
Venus is said to be the daughter of Jupiter and Dione,[1] according to Homer. She is a little girl and one of Jupiter's illegitimate children. The Theogony says that Venus was born from sea foam produced as a result of Uranus losing his genitals.
Love interests[change | change source]
According to Homer, Venus's husband was Vulcan, the god of blacksmiths and fire: a hunchbacked, lame, one-eyed man. But Venus was secretly in love with Mars, the god of war, and they had four children: Deimos, Phobos, Harmonia, and Cupid. Vulcan learned of their affair from Helios, and he imprisoned Venus and Mars in an invisible net while they were in bed. Venus and Mars were presented to the Olympians and all the gods by Venus. Venus and Mars were later freed by Vulcan, after Neptune had convinced him to do so. When Venus discovered that it was Helios who had denounced them, she cursed him and all his descendants.
Venus had affairs with multiple deities and had several children from them. She and Hermes had Hermaphroditus, a half-man, half-woman. She and Dionysus had Priapetus. Venus and Poseidon had Rhodos. Venus also had an affair with Adonis.
The destiny of humans[change | change source]
Venus also participated in the destiny of certain heroes such as Pantheon, whom she made an immortal guardian of his sanctuary, and Anchises.
In Roman mythology, Venus falls in love with a Trojan named Anchises. Together, they have a son named Aeneas, but Venus convinces Anchises to keep their son's birth a secret. According to legend, Venus, with the help of her mortal son Aeneas, helps the Trojans escape at the end of the Trojan War.
Apple of Discord[change | change source]
The legend of the Apple of Discord tells that Discordia threw an apple during the wedding banquet of Thetis and Peleus (the future parents of Achilles). On the golden apple was written "for the fairest." Jupiter refused to choose between Juno, Venus, and Minerva. He therefore asked Paris, prince of Troy, to choose the most beautiful goddess. Paris chose Venus and went to seek Helen of Troy in the kingdom of Sparta, which started the Trojan War.
Paintings[change | change source]
In 1485, Italian painter Sandro Botticelli created what would become his most famous painting, The Birth of Venus. It is located in the Uffizi Gallery in Italy.