In Roman mythology, Venus was the goddess of love, sex, beauty, and fertility. She was the Roman counterpart to the Greek goddess Aphrodite. However, Roman Venus had many abilities beyond the Greek Aphrodite; she was a goddess of victory, fertility, and even prostitution. According to Greek mythology, as presented in Hesiod's Theogony, Aphrodite was born of the foam from the sea after Saturn (Cronus) castrated his father Uranus (Ouranos) and his blood fell to the sea. This latter explanation appears to be more a popular theory due to the countless artworks depicting Venus rising from the sea in a clam.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original definition at https://www.worldhistory.org/venus/.
Join the Conversation
- Why do you think Roman leaders wanted Venus on their side?
- Which part of Venus’s story do you find most surprising, and why?
- Why do you think artists kept painting Venus for so many years?
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