Love has always had a special place in human life and that is why we have selected for you the most interesting facts about the mythical Roman goddess Venus, also known as Aphrodite in Greek mythology, which symbolizes love, beauty, and fertility.
1. As depicted in Sandro Botticelli’s famous painting The Birth of Venus, the goddess rose from the foam of the sea, but few know that there is also a second version of the myth in which Venus hatched from an egg.
2. Aphrodite’s name is the origin of the word aphrodisiac. Her Roman name Venus is the origin of the word venereal.
3. The planet Venus, the second closest to the sun, was named after the goddess. Known as the "Evening Star" or "Morning Star," it symbolizes love and beauty, just like Venus herself.
4. Venus is the mother of Eros, who is also known as Cupid. Cupid’s father, according to Roman mythology, is Mercury, the winged messenger of the gods.
5. Aphrodite is also referred to as the Lady of Cyprus. She was also called Acidalia, Cytherea, and Cerigo.
6. One of her most common symbols was a mirror, which represented vanity and beauty. This mirror was often used in depictions of Venus, emphasizing her role as the goddess of love and beauty.
Venus in a chariot drawn by swans.
8. Venus didn’t take rejection very well. If any god or men that she wanted resisted her allure, didn’t meet delighted ending.
9. Aphrodite had many male partners including Phaeton, Phaon, Butes, Anchises, Nerites, Ares, Dionysus, Hermes, Poseidon, and Adonis.
10. Aphrodite was married to the god of war Ares, also known as Mars. This union symbolized the chaotic and conflicted human passions.
11. Venus de Milo, an ancient statue that represents Aphrodite, now in Paris at the Louvre Museum. It was carved from marble by Alexandros, a sculptor of Antioch on the Maeander River about 150 BCE.
12. Aphrodite’s children included Eros (cupid), Aeneas, Phobos, Priapus, Deimos, Eunomia, Harmonia, Eryx, Pothos, Rhode, Anteros, Hermaphroditos, and Himeros.
13. Aphrodite owned a girdle that contained her enchantments and was capable of making others fall in love with whoever wore it. Hera borrowed it once to seduce Zeus in order to distract him from the Trojan War. An atmospheric phenomenon visible shortly before sunrise or after sunset, during civil twilight is named after this artifact The Belt of Venus.
An atmospheric phenomenon The Belt of Venus (also called Venus’s Girdle).
15. Some historians described Aphrodite as ill-tempered and easily offended, even though she was a great beauty unlike any other Olympian goddess, she had a rather damaged personality. In some ancient texts and myths, Aphrodite is described to be frightened and weak.
16. Venus was very important to new brides. They made offerings to her before they got married, sometimes they gave their childhood toys to her when they left home to get married.
17. The Roman festival “Veneralia” was held in Venus’s honor. Every April 1st, the Romans celebrated a festival called Veneralia, dedicated to Venus. During this time, rituals were performed to honor her, and women prayed for her favor in matters of love and beauty.
18. Near Old Paphos, Cyprus, where Aphrodite once emerged from the sea, for a long time people believed that a girl who enters into an intimate relationship with the first man she meets, will receive Aphrodite blessing for life.
