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Adonis's name comes from a Canaanite word meaning "lord" and most modern scholars consider the story of Aphrodite and Adonis to be derived from a Levantine version of the earlier Mesopotamian myth of Inanna (Ishtar) and Dumuzid (Tammuz).
The name Adonis is believed to be of Phoenician origin (from ʾadōn, “lord”), Adonis himself being identified with the Babylonian god Tammuz. Shakespeare’s poem Venus and Adonis (1593) is based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses , Book X.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Adonis eventually became the god of beauty and desire in Greek mythology. However, his origins go back farther than ancient Greece. The cult of Adonis began in Phoenicia, which is now modern-day Lebanon. The Phonecians were Semitic people who worshipped Adonis.
It is said that Adonis was born of the illicit union between King Theias of Smyrna and his daughter Myrrha. Urged on by Aphrodite herself, the goddess of beauty, love and sexual desire, who had been offended when King Theias forgot to make a sacrifice for her, Myrrha had made amorous advances towards her father but he was successfully keeping ...
Sep 29, 2023 · The origins of the Greek cult of Adonis most likely lie in Cyprus, and has been traced further back to the Phoenician gods Adon and the Babylonian Dumuzi/Tammuz. Let’s find out more about Adonis’ mythology by answering questions such as “how did Adonis die?”, and “what is the symbol of Adonis?”.
- Male
- Adonis
- Desire, beauty, mortality, seasonal rebirth
- Serious and obedient
Mar 10, 2023 · According to most authorities, the myth of Adonis began when the princess Myrrha (sometimes called Smyrna) offended the goddess Aphrodite. To punish the girl, Aphrodite made her fall in love with her own father, King Cinyras.
Adonis was considered the god of plants, with a cycle of life that involved dying and being reborn. His worship was mainly carried out by women, as seen in archaeological findings on the island of Lesvos. Adonis’ story begins with his incestuous birth, conceived by the king Theias of Smyrna and his daughter Myrrha.
