Venus (mythology)

Venus
Goddess of love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, prostitution, and victory
Member of Dii Consentes
Venus rising from the sea, alluding to the birth-myth of Greek Aphrodite.[1] From a garden wall at the Casa della Venere in conchiglia, Pompeii. Before AD 79
PlanetVenus
SymbolsRose, common myrtle
DayFriday (dies Veneris)
FestivalsVeneralia
Vinalia Rustica
Vinalia Urbana
Genealogy
ParentsCaelus
ConsortMars and Vulcan
ChildrenCupid (in later tradition); Aeneas (fathered by Anchises in Virgil's Aeneid)
Equivalents
GreekAphrodite
AlbanianPrende[2]

Venus (/ˈvnəs/)[a] is a Roman goddess whose functions encompass love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. In Roman mythology, she was the ancestor of the Roman people through her son, Aeneas, who survived the fall of Troy and fled to Italy. Julius Caesar claimed her as his ancestor. Venus was central to many religious festivals, and was revered in Roman religion under numerous cult titles.

The Romans adapted the myths and iconography of her Greek counterpart Aphrodite for Roman art and Latin literature. In the later classical tradition of the West, Venus became one of the most widely referenced deities of Greco-Roman mythology as the embodiment of love and sexuality. As such, she is usually depicted nude.

  1. ^ Beard, M., Price, S., North, J., Religions of Rome: Volume 2, a Sourcebook, illustrated, Cambridge University Press, 1998, 2.1a, p. 27
  2. ^ Elsie, Robert (2001). A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology and Folk Culture. London: Hurst & Company. p. 251. ISBN 1-85065-570-7.


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