Talk:Venus (mythology)

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Planet[edit]

Other references to Venus the planet are; Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli in Aztec, Kukulcan in Mayan,and Sif in Norse mythos.

I moved this from Venus (planet), but I'm not sure it belongs here either. I question the veracity of the information. -- April

"The court of Venus", woodcut in Hypnerotomachia Pamphili, printed in Venice, 1499
A good move. The point of this entry is to distinguish Venus from Greek aphrodite, and to discuss the new meanings of Venus as the generative power that animates the natural world: compare Jean Seznec's book. The woodcut is from Hypnerotomachia Pamphili ("The strife of Love and Death in a dream"), a famous book illustrated with arcane emblems that show a Renaissance "Court of Venus". I stash it here, for this would make a good illustration when the entry gets off the runway. Wetman 23:17, 16 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Venus is the mother of the hero Aeneas. Another son on Venus is Cupid. Cupid is the god of love as is his mother Venus. She possesed all the charms and graces associated with womanhood. She was a child of the greatest god of Rome, Jupiter. Another story says that she rose from the foam of the sea from a shell. Her alter was made of roses. Her son used arrows to make people fall in love. One story says that when Venus walked, flowers sprang from her feet. Even thought all of these stories say different things, they all say that Venus was the goddess of love and beauty. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.18.77.140 (talk) 17:41, 13 November 2006

built in one day?[edit]

"On April 23, 215 BC, a temple was built"?? they built it in one day? Kingturtle 10:13, 1 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Female nude redirects here??[edit]

Female nude redirects here, and I'm not sure why. Theshibboleth 08:38, 2 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Rose as the "Flower of Venus"?[edit]

I think there should be some mention of this and the mythology behind it. --216.165.32.105 03:23, 30 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Begin by finding where the rose begins to be called the "flower of Venus". There is no mythology behind it, you'll find; it's a poetical conceit. --Wetman 07:20, 30 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Iconography of Venus in Italian Art[edit]

The topical catalogue "Iconography of Venus by Italian artists from the Middle Ages to Modern Times" is probably the largest available, discusses the methodology of the compilation and the ordering by topics of sculptures, reliefs, paintings, frescos, drawings, prints and illustrations. The date of creation, artist's name, title(s), type, medium/support and dimension of the artwork, the owner, inventory number and information sources are given. 649 Italian artists are identified and the catalogue lists 1840 entries, ordered by 18 topics and many more subtopics. An index of artists, a directory of owners and an extensive bibliography are included. 156 p. You can read a preview of 12 pages and download the pdf-file (924 kb) at

I also published an article based on this compilation : "A Quantitative Survey of the Iconography of Venus in Italian Art". The size of the sample allowed for a quantitative analysis of topics and distribution of works and artists over the time considered. A tentative analysis and results are presented.


I would be very grateful to receive your comments on both publications and possibly also notification of errors or omissions in the catalogue. homepage Benderk (talk) 17:25, 9 February 2008 (UTC)benderk[reply]

Venus vs. Aphrodite[edit]

As I've read somewhere, somehow, in some mental state (active or tired), Venus was originally not the love/reproductive sex goddess like Aphrodite, but more like a goddess of gardening and growth, and maybe childbearing. Or else I'm wrong, but if anyone knows the differences between Venus vs. Aphrodite, the section Venus in mythology would profit much from an enhancement. Said: Rursus ☻ 15:52, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

References and inline citations[edit]

It's good to have an article to link Venus Victrix, but it's awfully thin on inline citations. Is this page on anyone's watchlist? Haploidavey (talk) 01:15, 3 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Most recent pic[edit]

I fixed the link provided by another poster. Not my favourite painter or painting but no-one cares about that; it's good to have something showing Venus and Mars, even if they're rather lost in the backdrop. Just can it be downsized a tad? Haploidavey (talk) 13:17, 6 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Etymology[edit]

Venus means "love" or "sexual desire"
Cite, please? Sentōkisei (talk) 22:13, 22 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you're challenging this, I agree. Venus (the goddess) does not "mean" love or sexual desire. She personifies them. An etymology is given below: it needs reworking, but meantime we can take the bracketed phrase out of the lede. Haploidavey (talk) 22:56, 22 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

she is so hot LOL —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.114.6.15 (talk) 02:27, 5 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Confused by headers[edit]

We've a short section on her name (plus origins and etymology), one on her Comparative mythology (plus etymology) linked to Aphrodite, and another on her Roman mythology, which is also linked to Aphrodite. Each section seems to work on its own but together, they're repetitive. Any ideas or preferences on how best to deal with this? I'd do something positive here but am feeling particularly sheepish. Haploidavey (talk) 23:55, 16 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Neptune's Daughter?[edit]

I had heard a theory that Venus was the daughter of Neptune, namely in The Pixie's song 'Mr. Grieves' ("What's that floating in the water? Oh Neptune's, only daughter"). Is there any mythology to back this up? Or is this simply an interpretation of Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus'? (As the clam rises from the sea) And if so, should it be mentioned? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.153.5.93 (talk) 21:18, 9 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I am not sure about Roman myths, but a Greek myth says she rose up from the ocean after the testicles of Uranus (who was castrated by Cronus) fell in it, where the semen mixed with the foam would produce Aphrodite. There's no myth in which she is the daughter of NEPTUNE/Poseidon however, because he wasn't even born when this happened. 2A02:A453:BEC7:1:A8B8:F860:CBD3:CD3F (talk) 20:34, 13 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Vulgivaga and Popularis[edit]

Vulgivaga as a supposed epithet of Venus occurs at Lucretius, De rerum natura 4.1071 (as noted by the OLD), where it's a poetic metaphor for a prostitute. It's Epicurean advice for men to make use of a "streetwalking Venus"[1] to relieve sexual tensions rather than allowing themselves to be tormented by desire. It's definitely not a proper cult title or epithet of Venus, but rather the colloquial usage of venus (usually lowercase) to mean "sexual intercourse". Popularis seems to be a Renaissance Latin translation of Pandemos, specifically in translations of Artemidorus as here. Sometimes Pandemos is translated from Greek as Popularis as a title of Aphrodite, as with Pausanias here. Later allegories do oppose Venus Urania to Venus Popularis, but this would belong in a section on the allegorical tradition (which would be an asset to the article), not in a list of titles under which Venus was cultivated as a deity in ancient Rome. It's possible that Popularis is a legitimate title from antiquity, but we'd need a source. Cynwolfe (talk) 13:22, 17 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

(Six months later) Yes, a section on the allegorical tradition is needed. Not that I'm volunteering to start one; but I'm sure I'd contribute oodles to such a section once I could see what it looked like. Haploidavey (talk) 16:21, 15 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Can some one who knows, sort this out, ASAP?[edit]

it is on the Main Page today:

  • 295 BC – The oldest known temple to Venus (Venus Anadyomene by Titian pictured), the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, was dedicated.

The article give conflicting accounts of the first temple

  1. 253 BC on the Esquiline Hill
  2. 255 BC at the foot of the Aventine Hill, dedicated '19th August

Neither ties up with the Main Page.

Amandajm (talk) 04:36, 15 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The oldest known form of Venus is Venus Obsequens, whose temple was dedicated or founded in 19th August 295, near the base of the Aventine; it's connected to the Vinalia Rustica. That seems to be scholarly consensus among the sources in this article. Not sure where the Esquiline came from for Venus O, but now fixed in this article per source. Can't find 255 or 253 anywhere.

Venus Libitina had an Esquiline temple or shrine, but very little's known about her. Could you point or link me to the relevant Main page thingy? Might this be connected to the Esquiline Venus, the statue found on the Esquiline Hill? As far as I know, there's no attested official or major cult to Venus on the Esquiline (and I've not found sources that connect Libitina to the statue). Private cults to Venus are presumed ubiquitous; so too, of course, would be portraits of mortals as Venus. We need sources on the matter. Interim, I'll remove the reference to Esquiline cult in this article's Felix Venus/Esquiline Venus para. Haploidavey (talk) 08:11, 15 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]


Also--the section mentions moving an image from Sicily near the "end" of the Second Punic War--isn't 217 the beginning? (Second Punic War: 218-201). The only reference I can find to moving an image around this time concerns an image of Cybele moved from Pergamon (modern Turkey).Wm Street 01:25, 19 August 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by William Lockwood (talk • contribs)

Fixed the reversal of time, per sources. The importation of Cybele and others is footnoted. Thanks for catching that - a brain-failure on my part. Haploidavey (talk) 08:02, 19 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Do we need the "History" section?[edit]

Having spent yonks writing it, I now think it's redundant. It just repeats... everything in the other sections. Twice is bad enough (what with the list of epithets - perhaps that should be hived off as a List article?) but three times is ridiculous. Unless anyone objects, I'll distribute "History" contents as appropriate throughout the other sections. Heigh ho. Haploidavey (talk) 19:09, 15 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Done. The header's rather odd, and the section doesn't read too well, but there's less repetition. A bit less, anyhow. Suggestions for further distillations welcome; viz. how should this article be organised? Haploidavey (talk) 20:42, 15 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I wish I knew. The main thing I would change, though, is to move the festivals down. There's no "Temples" section, or I would say "Festivals" should follow temples, since festivals often mark temple foundings. I'm not sure about putting "festivals" under "Names and attributes". I think general readers are looking for attributes and functions, so I would put those before the stuff that pertains mainly to Roman cultus per se. I don't know what to place "Epithets": some of this will be integral to festivals and temples. If the list of epithets gets too long, it could be a list article, and several of these could make little independent articles eventually. Cynwolfe (talk) 17:25, 16 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]
That's very helpful, thank you.Haploidavey (talk) 09:43, 17 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I like your excellent solution with the section combining "Cult history and temples", and am looking forward to trying that for the Roman deity whose article I'd like to tackle. Cynwolfe (talk) 13:42, 18 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Your opinion counts for a lot with me; so thanks again, both for the productive suggestions and positive feedback. It's all too easy to lose sight of the goal when trapped in conventions. Which deity, btw? Haploidavey (talk) 14:02, 18 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Removal of pictures[edit]

Venus looking in the mirror, with Cupid attending, by Peter Paul Rubens is not a modernish picture. It is a from painting ca. 1650 - 1700, ant the other one is a fine painting, and not very modern but classical. Why should this article have only old pictures? Hafspajen (talk) 21:25, 23 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Acidalia"?[edit]

The term "Acidalia" redirects here, but it is not mentioned in the article as one of the epithets of Venus. From a cursory web search I'm not sure it was an epithet of Venus per se as opposed to Aphrodite, but I'll let the Classical scholars fix the appropriate page or redirect or both. Jim Henry (talk) 02:19, 5 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

A couple or more years back, I removed "Acidalia" from the list of Venus' cult titles and epithets because it seems to have started out as no more than a poetic invention of Vergil (in his Aeneid), later subjected to speculative etymology/commentary by Servius, who connected it to a bitter-tasting water or spring Venus-Aphrodite's cult - somewhere in Boetia, iirc. As far as I know, there's no firm evidence for such cult to either Venus or Aphrodite, and Vergil's "venus acidalia mater" refers simply to venus' "bitter pangs" - love as a cruel mistress. That said, "Venus Acidalia" pops up all over the net, (though not in any reliable source I've come across) as an epithet/cult title for Venus-Aphrodite. So maybe there's more to it, and maybe not - on balance, probably not.

If we develop a section on Venus in literary context, "acidalia" could (or rather, should) be included there.Haploidavey (talk) 13:59, 14 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Well-meaning folks keep adding "acidalia" because they've seen it claimed as a cultic title or epithet (see above). It almost certainly isn't cultic - mater acidalia - as a term for Venus - is only in Vergil (and Servius's speculations on the same; cf fons acidalia and acidalia = "cares and pangs", in Ovid and a very small number of others. But rather than run against the tide, and rather than keep referring to this talk-page, I've included it under "Epithets", with scholarly source and explanation. Haploidavey (talk) 13:12, 18 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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Heliopolitan Venus?[edit]

According to Fergus Millar, there's no evidence for a Heliopolitan Triad; likewise, Kropp; and a syncretised "Heliopolitan Venus" is not secure (am copying this to both article talk pages). Unless a sound, reasonably up-to-date scholarly source can be found to support the paragraph, I'll remove it. Haploidavey (talk) 20:39, 15 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

A figment, but sourced, re-written with explanation(s) Haploidavey (talk) 08:05, 21 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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Wiki Education assignment: Pompeii and the Cities of Vesuvius[edit]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 18 January 2022 and 12 May 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): JNRM Student (article contribs).

New edits about Pompeii[edit]

Hello, I am a student editor and I plan on adding some information and sources about Venus in Pompeii. I will add a bit about the physical representations on 'Venus Pompeiana' and 'Venus Pescatrice' and of Venus as the city's protector goddess. JNRM Student (talk) 22:29, 23 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

What is the characteristic of Venus?[edit]

Pls add more info about this. 136.158.17.15 (talk) 02:27, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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