Since ancient times, people have revered the deity that is always reborn after the winter cold. The first example is the god of the Sumerians, Tammuz. After the Akkadians took their place in Mesopotamia, they appropriated all the religious ideas of the Sumerians. They also met with weeping and groaning the death of the shepherd Tammuz, who was the groom and lover of the goddess Inanna, and later Astarte. Then the cult of fertility fell into the mythology of the Egyptians and through Crete to the Hellenes. They replaced Astarte with Aphrodite.
Birth of Adonis
The birth of a lovely baby was associated with a scandalous story. Cyprus was ruled by the wise and just King Kinir. His wife boastfully declared that their daughter was more beautiful than Aphrodite. The girl Mirra did not want to read Aphrodite. The goddess figured out how viciously you can take revenge on the scoundrel: she inspired her passion for her own father. At night, the nurse brought Mirra into the royal chambers. Under the cover of darkness, King Kiner, drunk with wine, did not recognize his daughter, and she conceived a son from him. In the morning, seeing with whom he spent the night full ofpassion, the king became angry and, cursing, decided to kill her. But the gods were merciful this time. Aphrodite repented and allowed Mirra to escape. She turned the maiden into a myrrh tree. In it, under the crown in the trunk, a baby grew up. The father, in a rage, cut the trunk with a sword, and a baby fell out of it.
So Adonis was born. From infancy, he was beautiful. Aphrodite put it in a casket and handed it over to the mistress of the underworld, Persephone. This is where the question arises: is Adonis a god or not a god? Judging by his background, he was just a man. Persephone raised and raised the boy. A beautiful young man became her secret lover.
Cult of Adonis
The Greeks borrowed the myth of Adonis from the Phoenicians and Egyptians. His name translates as "lord" or "master". In Asia Minor and Egypt, Adonis is the god of dying and resurrecting nature. In Hellas, in honor of a beautiful young man who was not a god, holidays were held for three days in the summer. Having perished and then revived, he resurrected nature. For the Hellenes, the flowering of all life on earth was a great celebration, and for them Adonis is the god of the best season of the year. The cult of the demigod was especially celebrated in Athens and Alexandria. In Byblos on the first day in mourning clothes, everyone mourned his death and the death of all plants. Then, with hymns and joyful songs, they met his return to earth. In Athens and Alexandria, the order would be exactly the opposite: on the first day, the wedding of Adonis and Aphrodite was celebrated - a symbol of the flourishing of life. The next day was mourning. Pots and bowls with pre-grownwheat, lettuce, anise, and they were thrown into the water, where they died. In Egypt, in Alexandria, the celebrations took place most magnificently. The statues of Aphrodite and Adonis were placed on purple beds and surrounded by "gardens of Adonis", arbors entwined with greenery, fruits, amphoras with honey and oil, pies, images of animals. Singers and singers sang hymns asking for the return of Adonis next year. The next day, the women, with their hair down from grief, mourned the loss and hoped for his return. So grief and hope were connected, and the fate of Adonis became a symbol of the immortality of the soul. Such was Adonis in ancient Greek mythology.
Aphrodite
The most beautiful of beautiful goddesses was born near the island of Cythera from a drop of blood from Uranus, which formed a snow-white foam.
Aphrodite came out of her, and the wind brought her to Cyprus. On it, she appeared from the blue waves of the sea, and she was met by Ores, the goddess of the seasons. The beauty became the wife of Hephaestus. The jack of all trades made a magical belt for his wife. The husband imprisoned all sorts of seductions in it: desire, love, words of temptation and seduction, blindness and self-deception. Gods and mere mortals fell in love with her. With Hephaestus, whom Aphrodite cheated on right and left, the gods divorced her, and she became the wife of Ares. But this did not prevent the ardent passion that Aphrodite experienced for the beautiful young man.
The return of the young man to the surface of the earth
Time passed, and Aphrodite descended into the underworld to find out from Persephone where her casket was. Queen Hades called the young man. His unearthly, divinebeauty kindled love at first sight and crazy passion in the heart of the goddess of beauty. She began to insist that Adonis, the god of beauty, as she saw it, return to her. Persephone refused.
Then Aphrodite, all in tears, rushed to complain to Zeus. He, the supreme judge in all controversial issues, did not want to interfere in women's squabbles and referred the controversial case to the court, where the muse Calliope, the patroness of eloquence and heroic poetry, was the chairman. She was wise and wore a crown, which showed her supremacy over all other muses. She knew how to awaken the overcoming of selfishness and cause sacrifice. At the trial, it was decided that Aphrodite and Persephone had equal rights to the young man. Nobody asked him himself. Calliope divided the year into three parts. A third belonged to Persephone, a third to Aphrodite, and the last part to Adonis himself, so that he could enjoy himself as he pleased. It was a fair decision.
The life of Adonis on earth
Delicate, eternally young, blue-eyed, with long wavy golden hair and a wreath of fragrant flowers, with skin shimmering with mother-of-pearl, surrounded by Horas and Charites - such was the goddess of sky, sea, love, beauty and fertility.
She spent all her time on Olympus, occasionally descending to the ground. There she was accompanied by lovely songbirds, and wild animals caressed her, and strange flowers grew with each step she took.
To bind the young man who was more beautiful than many gods, the celestial neverDon't forget to put on your belt. Adonis and Aphrodite spent all their time on earth together. The tender girl, forgetting about the scorching sun, took part in the hunt, which the young handsome man ardently loved to have fun with.
The beloved of the god Adonis begged him not to hunt huge wild boars, bears and lions that can kill a person, but to amuse themselves with the prey of ducks, hares, roe deer. In flowering bushes on earth, Persephone was forgotten. There was only Aphrodite - that's who the god Adonis loved.
Death of a young man
The gods who coveted Aphrodite, but were rejected by her, looked at this love with envy and told her husband Ares about everything. He became furious and decided to take revenge. Once Adonis went hunting alone. His dogs raised from the lair of a huge powerful boar, which weighed approximately 200 kg.
Perhaps Ares himself turned into a formidable boar or Persephone forgotten by all, or the angry mistress of all animals Diana. It is these versions that myths offer.
And Adonis himself, hearing the furious barking of a pack of dogs, was full of excitement and forgot the instructions of his beloved. The dogs clung to the thick skin of the boar and held it with all their might. The young man took aim with his spear, but hesitated. The boar threw himself off the dogs and rushed at the hunter. With a fang, he pierced an artery in his thigh. Falling from the horse to the ground, the unfortunate man instantly bled to death and died.
Search for Aphrodite
When the goddess found out about the death of her lover, she went through the mountains, groves and bushes, shedding tears,rushed in search of Adonis. Every wound on her leg bled. Where her blood fell, a scarlet rose immediately grew - a symbol of unfading love. She found him in a wild lettuce patch.
From then on, he always brings tears to those who touch him. From the blood of her beloved, with the help of nectar, Aphrodite grew an anemone with the most delicate petals. The wind rips them off as easily as the life of Adonis was cut short. On the island of Crete, the goddess planted a pomegranate, the flowers of which are tender, and the juice of the fruits is like blood. She wanted to deprive herself of a now unnecessary life and threw herself off a cliff into the sea. But the gods are immortal. Aphrodite survived. Seeing the inconsolable grief of Aphrodite, Zeus ordered Hades and Persephone to release Adonis to earth every spring until autumn. When he returns from the realm of shadows, nature begins to revive and rejoice: everything grows rapidly, blooms and bears fruit.
Son of Adonis and Aphrodite
According to one version of the myth, the lovers had a son - Eros. This is the god of love. He knows how to bring happiness or sorrow, as he wants. No one can escape his well-aimed arrows. The playful kid has fun shooting them at the target and laughs happily. His arrows carry happy or unhappy unrequited love, with torment and suffering. Zeus knew about this and wanted his grandson to be killed as soon as he was born. But Aphrodite hid the baby in the wilds of the forest. There he was nursed by two formidable lionesses. Eros has grown up, and now there is love on earth, sometimes bitter and desperate, sometimes full of happiness.
Memory of Adonis
Women across the land are addictedgrowing flowers in pots. Many now do not even know that they are worshiping the love of a beautiful divine couple. So Adonis, the god of Ancient Greece, is alive on our windows in the coldest and most severe winters. Flowers at home delight us from autumn to spring, and then they are often transferred to balconies or cottages, where they bloom wildly, reminding us of the eternal love of Adonis and the immortal goddess Aphrodite.
