The myth of the love of Venus and Mars. Venus, goddess of love

Venus progenitor. With this goddess (who eventually began to be considered a likeness of the Greek Aphrodite), the Romans had special relationship. Once she was just the patroness of spring and the awakening of the spring forces of nature. But there were other goddesses, for example, Flora, no less popular than Venus. But when the Romans began to derive their genus from Trojan hero Aeneas, the position of Venus became special: after all, Aphrodite-Venus was his mother, and therefore the ancestor of the Roman people. So Venus took a very honorable place among the Roman gods and became known as Venus Genetrix ("Progenitress").

Venus — The goddess of love. As the goddess of awakening nature, she began to patronize any awakening of forces, including the forces of love. Here, according to the Romans, she was helped by her winged son, armed with a bow and arrows - Cupid or Cupid (Greek Eros). The very name of Venus began to be used by the Romans as a replacement for the word "love." The power of Venus, the Romans believed, fills the whole world: without it, not a single living creature is born, it alone makes everyone want to procreate, without it there is no joy and beauty in the world, it pleases people with peaceful peace.

Nicknames for Venus. But if we considered that Venus is only the goddess of love, we would commit big mistake. Venus also helped the Romans during the war, so she was honored as Venus the Victorious; she was also revered as Venus the Bald - such an unusual nickname was a reminder of how, during one of the wars, Roman women cut off their long hair to be woven into ropes for military guns. Venus was also the goddess of luck, in this case being called Venus Felix ("Happy"). This luck was different: it could be received by a politician or a commander in their public affairs, or simple people in their daily affairs and entertainment. For example, dice players believed that Venus Felix brings them winnings. Therefore, the best throw, when sixes fell out on all the bones, was called “Venus” (the worst, when only ones fell out, was called “dog”).

"Father" Mars. Mars roughly corresponds to the Greek Ares, but there are perhaps more differences between them than similarities. Among the Greeks, Ares was considered the most violent and bloodthirsty of the gods; he was feared, honored, but not loved. Mars was not so bloodthirsty, and besides, he was considered the father of Romulus and Remus, the founders of the Eternal City. Therefore, the descendants of Romulus respectfully called him "father."

Spring patron. Once Mars was a completely peaceful god, and the farmers prayed to him that he averted crop failure, hunger, disease, bad weather from them and sent growth to cereals growing in the fields, offspring to livestock, health and prosperity to people. Spring was under the auspices of Mars, and the first month of the year in ancient times, when the year did not yet begin with January, was dedicated to him and bore his name - March. Traces of this beginning have survived to this day. The names of the months September, October, November and December, translated into Russian, mean "seventh", "eighth", "ninth" and "tenth"; it is easy to make sure that their numbers will be like this if they are counted not from January, but from March.

Military defender of Rome. So, Mars was the protector of people and the land on which they lived, from evil natural forces. But the threat lurked not only in natural phenomena, but also in people, in neighbors who constantly encroached on the lands of Rome. Therefore, gradually Mars became the military defender of Rome, and then took under his protection all the wars waged by his descendants, the Romans. The Romans prayed to him for good luck before leaving for the war, and when they returned with another victory, in gratitude for it, they sacrificed part of their booty to him. It is not surprising, therefore, that the main holidays in honor of Mars were in March, the time when military campaigns began, and in October, the time when military activity ceased until the next spring.

Temple of Mars and its weapons. The temple of Mars kept his spear and twelve sacred shields. It was said that during the reign of the second Roman king Numa Pompilius, one such shield fell from the sky right into his hands. The king announced that this weapon had been brought to save the city from the plague that was raging then, and that it must be protected so that it would not fall into the wrong hands. The skillful craftsman Veturius Mamurius made eleven more of the same shields, so that not a single thief could distinguish a real shield from a fake.

"Dancers". The guardians and guardians of these shields were the priests-salias (their name in translation means "dancers"). Once a year, on March 1, the salii, dressed in purple clothes, girded with a copper belt, with a copper helmet on their heads, taking these shields, go around the city along its city limits - the pomerium, performing their dance, which is accompanied by sword strikes on the shields. This dance was simple, in three counts, and symbolized that the Romans were ready for military operations, their military forces woke up from hibernation.

"Mars, wake up." But it was necessary to awaken not only the military power of people, but also Mars itself. Before setting off on a campaign, the commander set in motion the sacred shields and spear hanging on the wall in the temple of Mars, exclaiming: “Mars, wake up!” Everything that happened then in the war was connected with the name of Mars. The gods Pavor (“Horror”) and Pallor (“Fear”) accompanying him made the spirit of the enemy tremble, and Virtus (“Valor”) and Honos (“Honor”) inspired the Romans to exploits. Gloria (“Glory”) circled over their army, and after the battle, the warriors who distinguished themselves in it received awards, as it were, from Mars itself.

Mars field. An undeveloped space in Rome, the Campus de Mars, was dedicated to Mars. It was the only place in a city where it was not forbidden for a person to be armed. Therefore, from ancient times, Roman youths competed here in the ability to wield weapons, military reviews took place here, the army went on a campaign from here, and a ritual of purification of the Roman people was held here every five years. And every year, on the day of the holiday of Equirius (February 28 and March 14), the Romans gathered on the Field of Mars became spectators of horse races. Big sizes The Fields of Mars allowed many competitions to be held simultaneously, so everyone could find a spectacle to their taste there, and it was always full of people.

Diana — patroness of the Latins. The Roman goddess Diana is very similar to the Greek Artemis, with whom she was identified. She was also depicted as a young maiden surrounded by animals and was honored as the patroness of forests, animals, an assistant to women during childbirth, and a healer. Once Diana was the patroness of the union of Latin tribes, and when Rome became the head of this union in Rome, a temple was built for her. Captive Latins often came here, who did not submit to Rome and were turned into slaves. The anniversary of the founding of the temple was considered their holiday, the holiday of the slaves. In the temple of Diana, cow horns of unusual size hung, and the following story was told about them.

Unusual chick. A man from the Sabines tribe neighboring Rome somehow had a heifer unusual appearance and magnitude. The soothsayers told him that the city whose citizen would sacrifice this heifer to Diana would rule over all the tribes. Delighted by such a prophecy, the Sabine drove the heifer to the Roman temple of Diana, placed it in front of the altar, and was ready to perform the sacrifice. Then the Roman priest, who had heard both about the miraculous animal and about the prediction, exclaimed: “How? Are you going to make a sacrifice without bathing in running water? The gods will not accept your sacrifice!" The embarrassed Sabine went to the Tiber to bathe, and the Roman quickly performed a sacrifice, thereby securing dominance for his city. As a memory of this cunning and as a sign of this domination, the horns of an extraordinary heifer hung in the temple.

Three roads, three worlds. The Romans revered Diana at the crossroads of three roads, calling her Trivia ("Three-road"). These three roads symbolized her power over the three worlds, heaven, earth and underworld. But perhaps the most unusual was the veneration of Diana of Aricia, in Aricia near Rome. Here, on the shore of the lake, sacred grove a goddess who served as a refuge for runaway slaves and criminals. A person hiding in a grove could become a priest of Diana of Aric, “king of the forest”, but for this it was necessary to pluck a branch from sacred tree. The difficulty was that the “king of the forest” already existed, and he would not have given this branch so easily. It had to be broken by defeating its predecessor, and then it was painful to wait for a new, stronger newcomer to take away both power in this grove and life from you.

Volcano — master of fire. This god was originally the master of fire, both beneficial for people and destructive, both earthly and heavenly. The fire of the Volcano produces fires during which entire cities burn out, but the same god can also protect against a fire. Therefore, although there were no temples of Vulcan in the city of Rome, an altar was arranged for him on a special site near the forum, which was called Vulcanal. The holiday in honor of the Volcano (Vulcanalia) was celebrated on August 23, and on this day, according to tradition, live fish were sacrificed to the god - creatures associated with water, an element that is opposite to fire and can tame it.

God of blacksmiths. Over time, when craft began to develop in Rome, Vulcan became the god of blacksmiths and became like the Greek Hephaestus. His images also became similar to the images of Hephaestus - a bearded man in the clothes of an artisan, with a hammer, anvil and tongs. The forge of Vulcan, as the Romans believed, is underground, and if fire and smoke break out from the top of the mountain, it means that God is working in it. Therefore, all fire-breathing mountains began to be called the name of this god - volcanoes, and their eruptions were also attributed to his activity.

God Mercury

God Mercury. The name of this god comes from Latin word"Merx" is a commodity. From this alone it is clear that we are talking about a deity associated with trade. Indeed, the Roman Mercury (identified with the Greek Hermes) was primarily the god of trade and merchants. Mercury gave merchants profit, he took care of their safety, he could point out treasures buried in the ground. The symbol of this side of Mercury's activity was the purse, with which he was often depicted. In gratitude for all this, the merchants gave a tenth of their income to the temple of Mercury, and with this money a public meal was arranged in August.

Holidays of Mercury. Especially revered among the merchants was a holiday in honor of Mercury, celebrated on May 15th. On this day, they scooped up water in the source of Mercury near the Kapensky Gate, and then, dipping a palm branch into this water, sprinkled their goods, turning to Mercury with such a prayer: “Wash away my former treachery, wash away the false speeches that I spoke! If I falsely swore, hoping that the great gods would not hear my lies, let the swift winds blow away all my lies! May the door be opened wide today to my tricks, and may the gods not care about my oaths! Give me a good profit and help me to deceive the buyer well!”

In addition to trade, Mercury patronized secret knowledge and was considered the founder and patron of the secret science of alchemy, with the help of which they tried to turn various substances into gold. Such Mercury was honored with the epithets "knowing", "wise". The Roman Mercury borrowed some of the functions from the Greek Hermes, like which he began to be considered the messenger of the gods and the guide of the souls of the dead to the underworld.

God Neptune. It is generally believed that the Roman Neptune, like the Greek Poseidon, is the god of the seas. It is both so and not so. So - because after identification with the Greek god, Neptune really received the seas into his knowledge; not so - because initially it was not connected with the sea. This is understandable: among the Greek sailors, Poseidon was the brother of Zeus himself, as powerful as the Father of gods and people, and very revered, since it depended on him whether the voyage would be successful.

But the Romans were a land people! Sea expanses they were very little interested, but the patron god of all moisture and the protector from drought was important. That god was Neptune. He especially patronized springs and other flowing water, which nourishes fields, animals, and people themselves. Neptunalia, Neptune's holiday, was celebrated on July 23, when the summer heat is especially strong, the streams dry up, the fields wither away without moisture. On this day, they prayed to God to send saving water, to revive drying plants.

As the god of the seas, Neptune is formidable and indomitable. It is in his power to send a storm, he can stop it; the winds raging on the sea immediately calm down when they hear his formidable cry: “Here I am!”

Fons and Fontanalia. Many other gods were associated with Neptune, one way or another related to moisture. So, the goddesses of the springs were stones, and all the springs were in charge of the god Fons, in honor of whom on October 13, when the springs began to revive again after the summer heat, the Fontanalia festival was celebrated. The goddess Salacia, whose name can be translated as "Movement of the Sea", was considered the wife of Neptune, the god Portun was in charge of all ports, both river and sea, and each river had its own separate god.

However, Neptune was not only the god of moisture. Like the Greek Poseidon, he was considered the patron saint of horses, whence his epithet "equestrian" comes from. Equestrian Neptune was considered the patron saint of horsemen, and races were held in his honor in Rome. They were first introduced by Romulus, and it was during this holiday that the famous kidnapping sabine women.

The kind and courteous goddess Venus was a symbol of fertility, sacred unions and, most importantly, love. Her life was full of upheavals and gloomy events, but this did not stop her from giving birth to a beautiful son, whose descendants were the founders famous city Rome.

Goddess Venus - who is she?

According to legend, the goddess Venus (in Greek mythology Aphrodite) personified beauty, love, carnal desires and fertility. She was present at every wedding and kept the family happiness of those already married. She helped to restrain resentment and grief, taught patience and gave many children. It was believed that outer beauty of a person is the appeal to him of her gaze of a good goddess. In addition, Venus, the goddess of love, was a conductor between the worlds of gods and people, and her additional destinations were:

1. Support of the right Romans in wars and battles.
2. Help slutty girls to find their happiness.
3. Directing people to build temples to appeal to the gods.

What does the goddess Venus look like?

The Roman people knew exactly what Venus looked like and the beauty. Her appearance is depicted in many scriptures and architectural structures, sculptures with its outlines were found. A young beauty with long and voluminous hair, pale skin and a round face. Her constant companions were a hare and a dove - symbols of spring and peace. Most famous work painting - Botticelli's painting "The Birth of Venus". great artist offers his vision of the goddess of beauty, love and fertility.

Husband of the goddess Venus

The peace-loving goddess Venus gave birth to her only son from a patron in warlike affairs and his name was Mars. He was the complete opposite of a beautiful girl. Outwardly, Venus' lover was not very handsome, unlike her other admirers, but this did not stop them from starting a family and giving the Romans a wonderful archer, Eros. The playful and coquettish beauty easily subdued the wild ardor of her husband, and even living with such a destiny, he was affectionate and gentle with his beloved.

Children of Venus

In her fate there was one only child Eros. He was excellent with arrows and bows and became the founder of the great city of Rome. Therefore, many peoples consider her the progenitor of the city's population. The son of Venus was able to be remembered by the ancestors by the following actions:

• sailing from Troy to Italy;
• the founder of dozens of temples dedicated to the name of his mother;
• birth of Julius Caesar.

He was a kind and peaceful child. He spent all his childhood and youth next to his mother and it was very difficult for them to leave when the boy decided to go to people. Mars was even jealous of his beloved, as he took away from him the time that he could spend with his wife. There is even a painted picture on this topic, which depicts the whole family. The look of the husband is very sad there, because the wife was engaged only in the child, forgetting about her duties as a wife.

What talents does the goddess Venus give?

The Romans were well aware of the talents that the goddess Venus gives her daughters. Each girl was talking about her patronage, because in return she could get a love of art, artistic abilities, the ability to draw beautifully. She could bestow the talent of gentle management of people, eloquence and coquettishness. It was believed that if the girl's patroness became Venus, then she would definitely have many admirers and proposals and an alliance.

Goddess of love and beauty Venus - myths

The myth of the birth of the goddess was the most beloved among the inhabitants of Rome, and they were happy to tell it to their children and grandchildren. It was believed that the goddess was born from sea foam and was so fragile and tender that the ocean nymphs liked it. They took her to their coral reef caves and raised her there as own daughter. When the ancient Greek Venus grew up and learned to take care of herself, the nymphs decided to hand her over to the gods.

Raising her to the surface of the sea, they entrusted her care to Zephyr, a light south wind, to carry her to the island of Cyprus. There she was met by four Horas, the daughter of Jupiter and the goddess of justice. Everyone who saw her rather wanted to bow their heads before the beauty of Venus and accompany her to Olympus. Her own throne was waiting for her there, and when he sat in it, the other gods could not hide their admiration. All the gods offered her their hand and heart, but she rejected them, wanting to be free and live for herself.

"Cupid unties the belt of Venus".

Gods and people are subject to the love power of Venus. Only the virgin goddesses are not subject to her: Athena, Artemis and Vesta (the goddess hearth). Venus patronizes those who love and persecutes those who reject love.

In many myths, Venus was sung as the goddess of fertility, giving life to the plant and animal world. A rose, an apple, a dolphin, a dove were dedicated to her.

There are several legends about the birth of Venus. The most common one calls Venus the daughter of Zeus and the oceanides Dione. Another says that the goddess comes from Uranus and was born from sea foam. Due to the fact that mythology associates Venus with the sea, in many areas of Ancient Greece, especially on the islands, she was revered as the patroness of navigation and was called the "sea" or "calming sea." The main centers of the cult of the goddess were the islands of Cyprus and Cythera, near which Venus emerged from the sea foam. Hence the frequently encountered nicknames of Cyprida and Kythera.

At the rate wonderful artist and eminent art historian A.N. Benoit , from three works D. Reynolds in the collection of the Hermitage, the painting "Cupid unties the belt of Venus" is "the most elegant". Indeed, this work of the president of the Royal Academy of Arts attracts with its intimacy and lyricism. The goddess of beauty and love, Venus coquettishly covers her face with her hand from immodest glances. Cupid, a playful baby, pulls the ends of a blue silk belt, carefully watching his mother.
Reynolds' classicism appears here in all its originality. An artist rethinks heritage ancient culture not through direct study of the antiques, but through the experience of the great masters of the past, especially the Flemings and Rembrandt. Reynolds attached decisive importance to color, believing that, first of all, color, namely warm colors, creates the emotional structure of the work. Cool colors (in this case, blue ribbons) are used to enhance or contrast with warm tones. It is possible that the prototype for the image of Venus was famous beauty Emma Hamilton.

Aphrodite in philosophy

Stung Cupid ("Cupid Stung by a Bee" by Benjamin West, 1802)

In Parmenides' poem, Aphrodite appears as the mother of Eros.

Empedocles repeatedly refers to his cosmic power as Aphrodite. Aphrodite creates eidoses of things.
Pausanias in his speech in Plato's dialogue "Feast" sets out the theory of two Aphrodites: "popular", or "vulgar", and "heavenly". The question of the extent to which Pausanias' speech reflects the views of Plato himself is debatable. However, the mention of the heavenly and popular Aphrodite is also contained in the speech of Socrates in the "Feast" of Xenophon, which shows the presence of this concept in Socrates himself.

Venus- Roman goddess of love and beauty, equivalent to the Greek Aphrodite. She played a significant role in ancient Roman religious festivals and myths.

Venus was a symbol of love and sexual desire. So the Swedish scientist G. Saloman suggested that Venus was the embodiment of voluptuousness, a goddess who led someone astray. Although she is considered, first of all, the goddess of love, beauty, female morality and chastity, some authors point out that Venus, like Aphrodite in ancient Rome, was still the personification " free love", passionate sexuality. After all, it is not for nothing that she is compared precisely with the Greek Aphrodite (they even put equality) - the great whore. Aphrodite's countless love affairs with gods such as Adonis or Ares became a legend. Even being married to Hephaestus, Aphrodite constantly cheated lame-footed spouse. love stories and the adventures of Aphrodite.

And what about the belt? Perhaps the answer lies in the description of the goddess.

The German art critic G. Müller wrote about Venus this way:« She is the most beautiful of all goddesses, eternally young and captivating. Her beautiful eyes promise one bliss, she has a magic belt, which contains all the charms of love. And even the proud Juno, wanting to return the love of Jupiter, asks Venus to lend her this belt. The golden jewelry of the goddess burns brighter than fire, and her beautiful hair crowned with a golden wreath is fragrant.". The Hermitage also houses famous work D. Reynolds - painting "Cupid unties the belt of Venus". The goddess of love coquettishly covers her face with her hand from the immodest glances of Cupid, playfully pulling the ends of a silk belt.

The first mention of a chastity belt is found in« Odyssey» Homer. In this poem, the patron god of blacksmithing, Hephaestus, forged a chastity belt for Venus to save her from debauchery. IN ancient world chastity belts were usually made of thick leather and decorated with patterns. But the goal was different - women wore belts to attract the attention of men, the fact is that in Greece only prostitutes wore a chastity belt. The key to the belt was in the hands of the owner of the brothel, who did not want the coins to pass by his purse. In Rome, slave prostitutes were dressed in special devices so that no one could take possession of the "most desired". After paying for the services, the owner of the prostitutes removed the belts for the agreed time.

Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty

Joke: .

Belt of Venus

1. Belt of Venus, in the form of one continuous line - increased curiosity and sensitivity. Emotionally sensitive person.

Belt of Venus
- this is a semicircle between the line of the heart and the fingers, connecting the gaps between the index and middle fingers on the one hand, and the ring and little fingers on the other.
She is the road of Lilith, the ring of Venus, the line of Pluto, the line of the Mirage.

The presence of this line often complicates life, as it indicates the sensuality and emotionality of nature. Everything that happens is perceived by such people more sharply, more emotionally, which makes life very difficult. But the famous palmist Desbarroll believed that the belt of Venus, on both hands, is a sign of excessive irritability, and sometimes extreme hysteria.

Some books write that the belt of Venus does not indicate excessive sexuality or promiscuity. love affairs. These authors are both right and wrong. The thing is that the belts, very often, are not on hand.« sex giants" or " lustful stallions», constituting their list of mistresses, and in the hands of courteous, refined, sometimes somewhat unsure of their abilities people. To such people quality is more important, and not the quantity, so there is no need to talk about the randomness of the connections. But one can argue about sexuality, since such people are very passionate and are not averse to experimenting in sex.

And if, in general: the belt of Venus, as a rule, reflects the degree of susceptibility, speaks of a rich imagination and creativity, about the love of luxury and sensual excesses. Such people often live in their idealistic dreams, memories and illusions rather than reality. The belt of Venus is often found in creative people.

This is often: actors, screenwriters, esoteric lovers, artists, researchers, writers, musicians, scientists, inventors.

Poems about the belt of Venus on the hand:

Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty

Coming down from heaven, she put it gently in her hand -
The height of fantasies and dreams
Running from Jupiter ... in a circle.

This belt is a sign of the subtlety of the soul,
Sensitivity of heightened desires,
From strong passion intertwined in a line
The magical world and the brightness of its facets...

The breath of love shows us
And the heart beats rebelliously from ecstasy,
You secretly long for this belt,
Not everyone gets this gift...

Joke: Did Eve cheat on Adam? It is difficult to answer, but why then do scientists claim that man descended from a monkey .

Venus (among the Greeks Aphrodite) - "foam-born", in Roman and Greek mythology, the goddess of beauty and love, penetrating the whole world. According to one version, the goddess was born from the blood of Uranus, castrated by the titan Kronos: the blood fell into the sea, forming foam (in Greek - afros). Aphrodite was not only the patroness of love, as reported by the author of the poem "On the Nature of Things" Titus Lucretius Kar, but also the goddess of fertility, eternal spring and life. According to the legend, she usually appeared surrounded by her usual companions - nymphs, ores and charites. In myths, Aphrodite was the goddess of marriage and childbirth.
Thanks to oriental origin Aphrodite was often identified with the Phoenician fertility goddess Astarte, the Egyptian Isis and the Assyrian Ishtar.
Despite the fact that the service of the goddess contained a certain shade of sensuality (hetaera called her "their goddess"), over the centuries, the archaic goddess from sexual and licentious turned into a beautiful Aphrodite, who was able to take a place of honor on Olympus. The fact of its possible origin from the blood of Uranus was forgotten.
Venus, Cupid and partridge (Titian, c. 1550)

Seeing the beautiful goddess on Olympus, all the gods fell in love with her, but Aphrodite became the wife of Hephaestus, the most skillful and most ugly of all the gods, although later she gave birth to children from other gods, including Dionysus and Ares. IN ancient literature you can also find references to the fact that Aphrodite was married to Ares, sometimes even the children who were born from this marriage are called: Eros (or Eros), Anteros (hatred), Harmony, Phobos (fear), Deimos (horror) .
Perhaps the most big love Aphrodite was the beautiful Adonis, the son of the beautiful Mirra, turned by the gods into a myrrh tree, giving a beneficial resin - myrrh. Soon Adonis died hunting from a wound inflicted by a wild boar. From the drops of the young man's blood, roses blossomed, and from the tears of Aphrodite, anemones. According to another version, the cause of the death of Adonis was the anger of Ares, who was jealous of Aphrodite.
Aphrodite was one of three goddesses who argued about their beauty. Having promised Paris, the son of the Trojan king, the most beautiful woman on earth, Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus, she won the argument, and the abduction of Helen by Paris gave rise to the Trojan War.
The ancient Greeks believed that Aphrodite provided patronage to the heroes, but her help extended only to the sphere of feelings, as was the case with Paris.
A vestige of the archaic past of the goddess was her belt, in which, according to legend, love, desire, words of seduction were enclosed. It was this belt that Aphrodite gave to Hera in order to help her divert the attention of Zeus.
Numerous sanctuaries of the goddess were located in many areas of Greece - in Corinth, Messenia, Cyprus and Sicily. IN Ancient Rome Aphrodite was identified with Venus and was considered the progenitor of the Romans thanks to her son Aeneas, the ancestor of the Julius family, to which, according to legend, Julius Caesar also belonged.

"Birth of Venus" 1482-1486. Sandro Botticelli

Venus, in Roman mythology, the goddess of gardens, beauty and love.
In ancient Roman literature, the name Venus was often used as a synonym for fruits. Some scientists name goddesses translated as "grace of the gods."
After the widely spread legend about Aeneas, Venus, revered in some cities of Italy as Frutis, was identified with Aphrodite, the mother of Aeneas. Now she has become not only the goddess of beauty and love, but also the patroness of the descendants of Aeneas and all the Romans. The Sicilian temple built in her honor had a considerable influence on the spread of the cult of Venus in Rome.
The cult of Venus reached its apotheosis of popularity in the 1st century BC. e., when the famous senator Sulla, who believed that the goddess brings him happiness, and Gaius Pompey, who built a temple and dedicated it to Venus the victorious, began to count on her patronage. Gaius Julius Caesar especially revered this goddess, considering her son, Aeneas, the ancestor of the Julius family.
Venus was awarded such epithets as merciful, cleansing, shorn, in memory of the courageous Roman women who, during the war with the Gauls, cut their hair in order to weave ropes out of them.
IN literary works Venus acted as the goddess of love and passion. One of the planets in the solar system was named after Venus.

APHRODITE (VENUS)

The goddess of love, as her name testifies (Born from foam), appeared naked from sea foam; in the shell she reached the shore. True, other versions of her birth were also expressed. It was clarified that the foam was not simple, but resulting from the fact that Cronus, having castrated Uranus, threw his genitals into the sea.

Her appearance in Greece from the sea is one of the evidence that this goddess is of overseas origin. She has another name - Cyprida, indicating that she was highly honored on this island.

According to the myths, she is one of the ancient gods. In any case, she is older than Zeus and the Olympians. The appearance of Aphrodite brought to the ancient quite dark world love and beauty. According to one of the later versions, she is the daughter of Zeus and the oceanides Dione, but in this case it will be necessary to admit that before that there was no true love on earth, but only, as they say now, sex.

Although she came to land, according to myths, on the islands of Cythera and Cyprus, her image is borrowed, according to experts, from the Middle Eastern tribes (Phoenician Astarte and more ancient goddesses: Egyptian Isis and Assyrian Ishtar). However, such borrowings explain little of the essence of the matter. After all, Zeus brought beautiful Europe from Asia Minor, but this does not mean that European culture borrowed from there. With the development of civilization, the Greeks began to bow before female beauty and idolize love; this was the "foam" from which the image of the beautiful loving goddess arose.

2.6 millennia ago, the Greek lyricist Mimnerm (born, by the way, in Asia Minor) wrote: “Without the golden Aphrodite, what kind of life or joy do we have. I would like to die, since secret meetings, and hugs, and a passionate bed will no longer beckon me.

And five hundred years later, already in Rome, the poet-philosopher Titus Lucretius Car began his poem “On the Nature of Things” with the glorification of Venus (Aphrodite), for love inspires people:

Kind of Eneev mother, people and immortal delight,

Oh good Venus

Under a sky of moving constellations

You fill with life the whole ship-bearing sea

And fertile lands, by you all living creatures

They begin to live and the light, born, see the sun ...

Everywhere introducing delightfully sweet love in the heart,

You excite in everyone the desire to procreate

For you alone hold the helm of nature in your hands,

And nothing will be born into the divine light without you.

There is no joy without you and there is no charm in the world.

Be an accomplice to me in the creation of this poem ...

It is believed that she has the power to subdue wild animals and that she is always surrounded by flowers, as if in spring. She is playful, flirtatious, frivolous. Her husband, the ugliest of the gods, but a skilled craftsman Hephaestus, is constantly busy in his forge. This allows Aphrodite to endow some gods and people with her love. She possessed a magical belt that made everyone in love with his mistress.

Her longest relationship was with the quick-tempered, violent, pugnacious and often drunken war god Ares. They dated for so long that they had three children.

Hephaestus, having learned about his wife's infidelities, made a thin and strong metal net, which he imperceptibly attached to the foot of the bed, lowering it from the ceiling. After that, he, having said goodbye to his wife, departed for the island of Lemnos to his forge. Aphrodite, having called Ares, lay down with him on the bed of love. Indulging in passion, they later noticed that they had fallen into the strong network of Hephaestus. So they lay naked when the inventive husband returned, taking the gods as witnesses of his marital dishonor. They were forced - not without interest in the charms of Aphrodite - to ascertain adultery. Apollo nudged Hermes and remarked with a grin: "I think you yourself would not mind being in the place of Ares." Hermes didn't mind and they both laughed.

However, things took a serious turn. Hephaestus demanded from the adoptive father of Aphrodite, Zeus, the return of all rich wedding gifts. However, Zeus became angry and declared that Hephaestus was foolish by exposing his wife's infidelity. And although the family conflict was settled, Aphrodite had new passionate admirers: Hermes and Poseidon. From the first, Hermaphrodite was born to her, with whom the nymph Salmakida fell in love and, not having achieved reciprocity, begged the gods to merge her with a beautiful young man; this is how the first bisexual creature appeared. From Poseidon, Aphrodite, according to some reports, had two children.

Here are the words of A. A. Taho-Godi: “The goddess retains a sweet disposition even in the most unpleasant moments, for example, when she is caught by her husband and other gods on a love date with Ares. Coquetry does not leave Aphrodite even when, wounded by Diomedes, she cries, buried in the knees of her dear mother Dione. Truly, as Hera says, the goddess Aphrodite conquers people and gods with the power of love and alluring charm.

Aphrodite's love affairs are numerous, and she has many children. It is possible that many of them were “composed” relatively late in order to belittle the authority of this goddess. The fact is that she was revered primarily on the islands and in Asia Minor; not by chance in Trojan War she, along with Apollo, Ares, Artemis, opposes the Achaeans on the side of the Trojans.

There is an assumption that the network in which she fell with Ares was, in older myths, her attribute as a goddess associated with the sea. Her shame, in this case, was a kind of revenge of the Greeks, a decrease in the greatness of her image. As A.F. Losev noted, Aphrodite was even considered the goddess of hetaera, she herself was called a hetero and a harlot. Such a humiliating position great philosopher Plato defined "Aphrodite Pandemos" (People's), accessible to everyone, distinguishing "Aphrodite Urania" (Heavenly), accessible to a few; it is she who elevates the soul of lovers, inspires poets and thinkers.

In Roman mythology, Venus was originally the goddess of gardens and fruits. In connection with the veneration of the hero Aeneas, the son of Anchises and Aphrodite, the qualities of the latter passed to Venus. Her cult reached its climax about two thousand years ago, when she was considered the goddess of fortune and victory by such famous Romans as Sulla, Pompeii and Caesar. With the spread of Eastern cults in the Roman Empire, Venus began to be identified with the goddesses Isis, Astarte. The mythological circle is closed.

Aphrodite In the beginning, Chaos was and clothed the luminaries; Spaces and ages raced without measure in it; Then the earth, the good mother, gave the titans a drink with abundant milk. The titans have fallen. Styx accepted them like a grave. And never spring under the incessant thunder Did not light the suns shining