Greek mythology is a real storehouse of information about the world, its laws and phenomena. This is not only an attempt to explain everything around a person. This is a whole system in which there are heroes, joy and tragedies. This is the story of the goddess of love and Adonis: the beloved of Aphrodite died tragically ahead of time, which greatly upset the beautiful Cyprus.
A bit about the immortal goddess
Before telling about who was the beloved of Aphrodite, we will pay attention to the goddess herself. She was the daughter of Zeus (according to the most common theory) or she appeared from sea foam. The birthplace of the forever young and amazingly beautiful goddess is the island of Cyprus. Today, on this amazing piece of land in the Mediterranean Sea, they will show you the beach and the lagoon, where, according to legend, Love herself first went ashore. There is also a bathhouse, where the beloved Aphrodite Adonis and herself loved to spend their time.
The goddess entered the pantheon of the 12 gods who inhabited Olympus. From this fact we can conclude that love played a very important role in the life of the ancient Greeks. Nobody could resist the charms and power of Aphrodite (or Venus) - neither mortal nor god. But she herself was an object of desire, a character in many love stories that have come down to us from the past.
Beloved Aphrodite
Who was honored to be considered such? Hephaestus was considered the legal spouse of Cyprides - the blacksmith god who spent more time in his forge than in the bedchamber of his wife. It is not surprising that the most beautiful of the most beautiful was bored and sought solace on the side. Venus (the goddess of love among the Romans) made friends with Ares, the god of war, and bore him five children. But the husband found out about the betrayal and created a golden net to catch the infidels red handed. After the exposure, Aphrodite left Hephaestus. She had a relationship with Hermes, Dionysus, as well as with mortal men. The latter include Anchise, the father of Aeneas, and Adonis. But neither the immortal nor the mortal lovers of Aphrodite could make her absolutely happy. With Ares she had an eternal confrontation, for war and love are elements that go hand in hand, but contradict each other. Hermes and Dionysus were puzzled by their own concerns, and mortal men, alas, had a very short century.
Adonis and his death
Adonis is a wonderful young man, the beloved of Aphrodite, who was the son of the Cypriot king Kineer. Venus completely surrendered to passion, forgetting about everything in the world. She spent days and nights with her beloved in bathing, games and hunting. More than once or twice, she asked the young man to be careful and worried about him when she needed to leave.
But not only was the young man passionate in love. Beloved Aphrodite adored hunting and spent a lot of time in the forest with her dogs. Once, when Venus was forced to leave him alone, he climbed into the thicket, hoping for prey. Suddenly an angry boar jumped at him (according to one version, they could be Ares, who was burned with jealousy). The beast rushed at the man and with his fangs tore the tender body of Adonis.
Mount of Venus
Upon learning of the death of a loved one, Aphrodite rushed into the forest. Knocking her delicate legs against sharp stones, wading through blackthorn and other shrubs, she sought Adonis' body. The goddess did not feel the blood flowing from the wounds, but in the place where she fell, scarlet roses of wonderful beauty grew. Probably, since then they have become a symbol of hot and passionate love.
When the goddess finally found the place where the lifeless Adonis lay, bitter tears poured from her eyes. From the youth’s blood she grew a flower that was of rare beauty. So the beloved of Aphrodite turned into a plant, which began to be called by his name, i.e., adonis.
Zeus was touched by her daughter's grief, and he decided to help her. The Thunderer made a personal request to his brother Aid, so that he would at least briefly release Adonis into the world of the living. The gloomy lord of the underworld agreed. Since then, every year the young man is allowed to go upstairs, directly into the arms of Aphrodite. And then everything blooms on the earth, summer reigns. In this part, the myth of Adonis and the goddess of love echoes another antique story that tells of Demeter and Persephone. According to her, the change of seasons occurs because the daughter of the fertility goddess goes to her husband, Hades. Demeter misses her very much, because on earth everything freezes. And when a girl comes to her mother, nature triumphs and comes to life.