In Roman mythology, Venus represents the goddess associated with love, beauty, sex, and fertility. She parallels the Greek goddess Aphrodite, yet encompasses more attributes, serving as a goddess of victory, fertility, and even prostitution. The origins of Aphrodite, as described in Hesiod’s Theogony, detail her emergence from the sea foam, following the bloody castration of Uranus by his son Cronus. This narrative has inspired numerous artworks portraying Venus’s emergence in a shell.
Divine Connections
Venus had prominent divine lovers, including her husband Vulcan and the war god Mars. Their relationship, marked by deceit and entrapment, is illustrated in a tale where Vulcan ensnares them in a net while they are in bed together. Although Venus and Vulcan shared a marriage void of affection, she was far from childless; she bore several offspring with various deities. With Mars, she became the mother of Phobos (fear) and Deimos (terror), who both followed Mars into battles. Additionally, she gave birth to Concordia (harmony) and a multitude of winged love gods known as Cupids (Erotes), each representing different facets of love.
In the writings of the Roman poet Ovid, we learn that Venus’s union with Hermes resulted in Hermaphroditos, an embodiment of androgyny. She was also linked to Fortuna (Tyche), representing luck and fate, through relationships with either Hermes or Zeus. By Bacchus, she bore Priapus, a fertility deity noted for his exaggerated anatomy. Though it is often claimed that the Graces are her progeny with Bacchus, they are frequently attributed to Jupiter and Eurynome. Regardless, the Graces, alongside the Cupids and Suadela (goddess of persuasion in romance), formed a part of Venus’s entourage.
Mortal Affairs
Venus also had several mortal relationships, the most notable being with Anchises and Adonis. Aside from them, she had relationships with the Sicilian king Butes, producing Eryx, and with Phaethon, resulting in a son named Astynous. The Metamorphoses by Ovid details Venus’s affection for the handsome mortal Adonis—an attraction either fueled by his beauty or Cupid’s arrow. She entrusted him to Proserpina’s care, leading to a rivalry between the two goddesses over his affections. Zeus ultimately decreed that Adonis would alternate his time between them, but his fate with Venus led to his tragic death at the hands of a wild boar.
The Prince of Dardania
In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, Venus seduces Anchises, a prince of Dardania and ally of Troy, by disguising herself as a Phrygian princess. Upon revealing her true nature, she bore him a son, Aeneas, warning Anchises to keep their affair a secret for fear of divine retribution. Despite the warning, Anchises boasted, resulting in Jupiter’s retribution that left him crippled. Aeneas eventually fulfilled his fate as detailed in Virgil’s Aeneid, which states his destiny was to establish Rome, with the heroic lineage feeding into the legendary founders Romulus and Remus.
Temples and Worship
Venus’s veneration in ancient Rome began with the establishment of her first temple in 295 BCE on the Aventine Hill, known as Venus Obsequens. This temple incorporated Greek elements from Aphrodite’s worship. During the Second Punic War, Rome sought to gain Venus Erycina’s favor, resulting in her temple being built following a siege of Eryx. This foreign representation evolved into Rome’s Venus Genetrix, revered on the Capitoline Hill, although she was primarily worshipped by the upper class. In subsequent years, temples dedicated to Venus Erycina and Venus Verticordia, aimed at the plebeian class, arose in 181 BCE and 114 BCE, respectively.
April, marking the arrival of spring, was Venus’s month, filled with various festivals. Veneralia, celebrating Venus Verticordia, was held on April 1st. The wine festival Vinalia Urbana occurred on the 23rd, along with Vinalia Rusticia on August 10, which related to Venus Obsequens. Additionally, September 26 was designated for the celebration of Venus Genetrix as Rome’s protective mother.
Political Significance
As the Roman Republic waned, prominent figures, like Sulla and Pompey, sought to secure Venus’s favor for political gain. Sulla, adopting the moniker Felix, attributed his luck to Venus, while Pompey built a temple for Venus Victrix, the goddess of victory. Julius Caesar, too, associated himself with Venus Victrix and Genetrix, alongside Hadrian, who established a temple devoted to Venus and Roma Aeterna in 139 CE, framing Venus as a guardian of the Roman state.
Venus as the Evening Star
In the Aeneid, Virgil depicts Venus guiding her son Aeneas to Latium in her celestial form as the evening star—a moniker for the planet Venus, renowned for its luminosity in the night sky. This celestial imagery is paralleled in the text where Virgil recounts Caesar’s ascent to the heavens, underscoring her astronomical significance.
Artistic Legacy
The portrayal of Venus has evolved throughout history, inspiring various artistic representations from sculptures to mosaics and frescoes. Frequently depicted in the nude, Venus’s likeness often drew inspiration from Aphrodite of Cnidus and the Venus de Milo. Numerous exquisite frescoes from Pompeii also showcase her in diverse forms. The goddess remained a cherished subject among artists across antiquity, the Renaissance, and into modern art.
