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Sep 23, 2024 · The myth of Aphrodite and Adonis stands as one of the most poignant tales in Greek mythology, encapsulating the themes of love, loss, and transformation. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, and Adonis, a mortal of extraordinary beauty, share a love that transcends the ordinary, yet is fraught with tragedy.
Adonis, in Greek mythology, a youth of remarkable beauty, the favorite of the goddess Aphrodite (identified with Venus by the Romans). Traditionally, he was the product of the incestuous love Smyrna (Myrrha) entertained for her own father, the Syrian king Theias.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The cult of Adonis comprised of women, as it is evident from the 2,600-year-old remains found on the island of Lesvos. The Athenian women planted the "gardens of Adonis" where the seeds would spring to life and then die to be reborn a few months later.
- The Background
- Aphrodite and Persephone
- Adonis and Aphrodite
- Adonis and Aphrodite Sources
Cenchreis
Sometime before the birth of Adonis, his grandmother Cenchreis had made the fatal mistake of boasting that her daughter Myrrha was more beautiful than Aphrodite. The goddess didn’t like that one bit, so she punished Cenchreis in the most horrible way: she made her daughter fall in love with her husband, the Assyrian king Theias (although, others say that it was Cinyras, the king of Cyprus). Even though a goddess, Aphrodite couldn’t know back then that this sentence would set in motion a chain...
Myrrha
One day, urged by consuming passion and with the help of her nurse, Myrrha sneaked into her father’s bed and made love to him in the dark. This went on for a couple of nights until Theiasfinally brought in a lamp to the room so that he might learn the identity of the young girl so desperately in love with him. Horrified by the discovery that she is none other than his daughter, Theias immediately raised his sword and tried to kill Myrrha, but she managed to escape at the last moment. She fled...
The Birth of Adonis
The gods heard Myrrha’s prayers and found a creative way to grant them: they transformed her into a myrrh tree, and her tears momentarily turned into drops of myrrh. Just a few days later, a wild boar passed by the myrrh tree and ominously pierced its trunk with one of its tusks. Miraculously, this caused the tree to crack open, and Myrrha’s unborn baby fell down as a result; this baby-boy was none other than Adonis. The Naiads rushed forth to protect it; they laid him down on the soft leaves...
Loved by Two Goddesses
As irony would have it, Aphrodite happened to walk by this myrrh tree at this exact moment. Noticing the absence of a mother and the beautiful face of the baby boy, she decided to take it with herself. She secretly hid it in a chest and entrusted the chest to Persephone. Years passed, and Adonis grew into a handsome youth, more beautiful than any mortal ever beheld by human or divine eyes. And when the time came for Persephoneto give Adonis back to Aphrodite – who was, by this moment, head ov...
Zeus’ Verdict
The two goddesses took their disagreement to Zeus. Not wishing to cause himself any problems, Zeus referred the dispute to Calliope, one of the Muses. Following her advice, Zeus decreed that Adonis should spend four months of the year in the Underworld, and four months with Aphrodite; the final four months of the year were left to his own decision. Wanting Adonis only for himself, Aphrodite was only partially happy with this verdict – as Calliope soon found out; namely, in the act of retribut...
The Succession of the Seasons
Adonis loved Aphrodite almost as much as she loved him; unsurprisingly, every year he chose to spend his own four months with her. While the two lovers were together, the sunshone brightly and the soil was kind to the people, flowers bloomed and fruits ripened. Adonis’ disappearance could only mean that the time for the harvest of the crops had come; because, during the next four months, while the mortal slept in the embrace of Persephone, winter ruled the world and everything was dead and qu...
Aphrodite, the Hunter
For two-thirds of the year, Adonis and Aphrodite were all but inseparable. Aphrodite was so smitten with this handsome mortal that she started neglecting not only Olympus and the heavens but also the care for her own sweet beauty. She became Adonis’ constant companion, roaming through the woods with him and cheering the hounds, her skirt kilted up to her knees in the manner of Artemis. However, as much as she learned to enjoy hunting harmless animals such as the hare or the deer, she kept awa...
The Wild Boar
Unfortunately, Adonis didn’t take Aphrodite’s advice seriously. And one day, after his dogs had aroused a wild boar from its hiding place, Adonis pierced it with his spear. However, the boar countered fiercely: it raced after Adonis and sank its deadly tusk in the youth’s groin, stretching him dying on the yellow sand beneath his feet. Now, some say that, in order not to scare him, Aphrodite omitted one crucial detail while warning Adonis: namely, that her lover Ares could transform himself i...
The Red Rose and the Anemone
Aphrodite heard Adonis’ groans and rushed to her lover; but, unfortunately, she arrived just a tad too late. While running, she pricked her foot on a white rose and stained the flower with her blood; the rose turned red. It is said that this was the first red rose ever to appear on the earth; it stands for passionate love ever since then. The other flower associated with this story has somewhat darker symbolism. After blaming the merciless Fate for taking Adonis away from her, Aphrodite sprin...
The most famous retelling of the story of Adonis and Aphrodite can be found in the tenth book of The Metamorphoses; however, Ovid’s version doesn’t include the deal between Persephone and Aphrodite; you can read about it in Apollodorus’ Library. See Also: Theias, Myrrha, Adonis, Aphrodite, Persephone, Cinyras
Feb 21, 2016 · Adonis was a very beautiful young man in Greek mythology, who was a lover of the goddess Aphrodite. He was the object of a fight between Aphrodite and Persephone and ended up spending four months with Persephone in the underworld and eight months with Aphrodite on earth, symbolizing the seasons.
Oct 26, 2024 · How did the myth of Adonis evolve in later cultural works? The myth of Adonis persisted into the modern era, inspiring various cultural works. For example, the Italian poet Giambattista Marino wrote L’Adone in 1623, which became widely popular.
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Sep 25, 2020 · Adonis: The Greek God of Beauty and Desire. The name “Adonis” has long been associated with the idea of beauty and with Classical myth. His legend, however, starts long before our present conceptions of the ancient world. Phoenicia, a land roughly equivalent to modern-day Lebanon, was a farming community.
