Venus SymbolSailor Venus
Mina
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Venus - is the Roman goddess of love and beauty, but originally she was a vegetation goddess and patroness of gardens and vineyards. Later, under Greek influence, she was equated with Aphrodite and assumed many of her aspects. Venus is the daughter of Jupiter, and some of her lovers include Mars and Vulcan, modeled on the affairs of Aphrodite. Her son, Cupid is the messenger of love.

Although Venus helps the people with love problems and fills the world with beauty, she is often vain, selfish, and petty. Once a mortal, Psyche, was so beautiful that people traveled from all over the world to admire her. This caused Venus to become jealous because people forgot about Venus. So Venus asked her son, Cupid, to make Psyche fall in love with the most detestable creature in the world.

However, Cupid, upon seeing Psyche, himself fell in love with her. So instead of bringing her to a monster, he made her his wife. Because she was mortal, Cupid would not allow her to know who he was or what he looked like. Psyche lived happily with Cupid, but one night could finally no longer bear to the uncertainty of not knowing who or what her husband looked like. So one night while Cupid slept she looked at him. Cupid awoke and finding that his wife had betrayed him, he fled.

After Psyche betrayed Cupid she vowed to show him how much she loved him by spending the rest of her life searching for him. She prayed to all the gods for help, but none wanted to risk Venus's wrath. In desperation, Psyche prayed to Venus herself. In order for forgiveness, Venus made Psyche perform tasks that were clearly impossible. However Psyche completed each task with the help of others, which further enraged Venus.

Eventually, the lovers reconciled. Before an assembly of gods Psyche was made immortal, and it was formally announced that Cupid and her were married. Venus was even happy with this arrangement because her son now had a suitable match, but moreover with Psyche in the heavens rather than on Earth, people would no longer be distracted by Psyche's beauty and once again worship Venus.

Aphrodite - In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. She was born when Uranus (the father of the gods) was castrated by his son Cronus. Cronus threw the severed genitals into the ocean which began to churn and foam about them. From the aphros ("sea foam") arose Aphrodite, and the sea carried her to either Cyprus or Cythera. Hence she is often referred to as Kypris and Cytherea. Some say she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione.

After her birth, Zeus was afraid that the gods would fight over Aphrodite's hand in marriage so he married her off to the smith god Hephaestus, the steadiest of the gods. He could hardly believe his good luck and used all his skills to make the most lavish jewels for her. He made her a girdle of finely wrought gold and wove magic into the filigree work. That was not very wise of him, for when she wore her magic girdle no one could resist her, and she was all too irresistible already. She loved gaiety and glamour and was not at all pleased at being the wife of sooty, hard-working Hephaestus.

Aphrodite loved and was loved by many gods and mortals. Among her mortal lovers, the most famous was perhaps Adonis. Some of her sons are Eros, Anteros, Hymenaios and Aeneas (with her Trojan lover Anchises). She is accompanied by the Graces. Her attributes are a.o. the dolphin, the dove, the swan, the pomegranate and the lime tree.