veenuussss...aphrodditeeeee

Venus, Goddess of Love and Beauty Venus is the Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty. Known to the Greeks as Aphrodite, that nation was not the first to name such a Goddess. Her origins can be traced to similar deities of other ancient civilizations and may have developed from Ishtar Astarte, the old Semitic Goddess of Love, brought from Phoenecia to Greece by way of Cyprus. The birth of Venus comes complete with two versions. In the first, Venus sprung from Uranus, who refused to allow his children to emerge into the light and perpetually embraced the Earth, otherwise known as Gaia. Cronos, the son of Uranus, castrated his father and then tossed the dismembered body parts into the sea, where a white foam formed around them from the immortal flesh and Venus sprang forth, fully-formed, near the Island of Cythera. From there, Zephyrus, the West Wind, carried her gently upon a shell to Cyprus, where she was met by the Hours who clothed her and escorted her to Mount Olympus. This story of Venus' creation is known as Aphrodite Urania or Celestial Aphrodite, and she was a Goddess of pure and spiritual love. This particular version associates the Goddess with the creation of the world and establishes her as one of the most ancient divinities. Since she was born from the act which separated Heaven and Earth, she created the world in between and is present from the very beginning of time. The second version of the birth of Venus depicts her as one of the younger divinities and is more closely connected with her later reputation as a minor goddess. According to Homer's Iliad, the Goddess of Love was born from the union of Jupiter (or Zeus as he was known to the Greeks) and the Titan Goddess named Dione. This incarnation is referred to as Aphrodite Pandemos or Common Aphrodite and, being a more base goddess, is associated with physical satisfaction.

In Roman mythology, Venus was married to Vulcan, the ugly and lame Blacksmith God of the Forge who built her a magnificent palace on Cyprus, but she was hardly the faithful wife, indulging in numerous extramarital liaisons with many gods and mortals. She was instrumental in the initiation of the Trojan War by giving Helen of Sparta to Paris, Prince of Troy. In return for this gift, Paris judged Venus to be the most beautiful of the Goddesses.

Venus was sometimes referred to as the "Dark One" because of the tragedies which resulted from the passions she inspired. One ascetic named Hippolytus offended Venus by declaring that he would remain celibate. She punished him by making his stepmother fall in love with him, for which he was killed by his father's curse. In another tale, when two mortal lovers failed to pay her homage after she had made it possible for them to marry, Venus caused them to vex the Earth Goddess, Cybele. The unforgiving Cybele turned the newlyweds into a lion and lioness, fated forever to draw her chariot. However, perhaps the most renowned myth of this woeful genre is that of Venus' rivalry with Proserpine, Queen of the UnderWorld, for the love of the beautiful Greek youth named Adonis. Hearing that Venus preferred the handsome mortal to himself, the jealous Mars transformed himself into a wild boar and gored the young Greek to death. In her grief, the Goddess changed his blood into a flower known as the anemone. Prosperine, however, agreed to restore Adonis to life on the condition that he spend six months of every year with her in the Lower World. The other six, he was free to spend in the arms of the Goddess of Love.

Venus was the mother of Cupid, winged God of Sensual Love (sired by Jupiter) and Anteros (sired by Mars), punisher of those who failed to return the love of others. By Mars, she also bore the twins Phobus (Panic) and Deimos (Fear), who always accompanied their father on the battlefield. By Mercury, the Messenger God, Venus was the mother of Hermaphroditus, who was welded with the bestotted fountain nymph, Salmacis, into a single body which possessed both male and female sexual organs. By Bacchus, Roman God of Wine and Revelry, Venus had two sons, Hymen (God of Marriage) and Priapus, an ugly monstrosity who represented human lust. The most prominent of Venus' mortal children was Aeneas, her son by the shepherd Anchises. A great Trojan hero, Aeneas survived the fall of Troy and lived to become the founder of the nation of Italy and the mythical ancestor of the Roman people. Many Romans also believed Aeneas to be descended from Romulus and so worshiped Venus as the mother of their race.

By and large, Venus was considered to be a great friend to lovers and often helped them with their problems. She was even known on occasion to lend them her magical girdle, or sash, which had the power to make its wearer irresistible. Although worshiped chiefly as the Goddess of Human Love, Venus was also widely venerated as a nature goddess and, because she originated from the sea, sailors would pray to her in order that the winds might be calmed and the waves quelled. This goddess has been the subject of both ancient and modern artists and artisans. She is often pictured sitting or riding upon a variety of animals...particularly birds such as swans or geese. There have also been many statues created in honor of Venus. The most celebrated was carved by Praxiteles at Cnidos on the coast of Asia Minor, but this ancient statue has yet to be unearthed by archaeologists. The most famous carving is the Aphrodite of Melos. Made of magnificent marble, it is better known as the Venus de Milo. Although its creator and the exact date it was carved is unknown, it is believed that the Venus de Milo was probably made during the First or Second Century B.C. Presented to the Louvre by King Louis XVIII of France, it is one of the great treasures on display at this Paris museum.