Venus - The Roman Goddess

Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty, is equal to the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The meaning of Venus is "charm" in archaic Latin. Venus is also known as Venus Verticordia (Goddess of Chastity) and Venus Victrix (Goddess of Victory).

According to the Roman myth, after Aenaeas, the son of Venus, fled to Rome from Troy after the Trojan War with his father on his back, he founded the Roman race in Italy. From then on, Venus was considered as the divine ancestor of the Romans and was given an esteemed place among the Roman gods. Therefore, she is also called as Venus Genetrix. Venus, the Roman goddess, is also as worshiped as the Goddess of Spring.

Roman Myth and Venus

According to the Roman myth, Venus is known as the "Daughter of Heaven and Sea". Her parents were the Greek gods Uranus and Gaia. Venus, the "Goddess of Love" is not their love child. According to the myth, Gaia cuts the genitals of Uranus and throws into the ocean. His genitals mate with the Goddess of Ocean to give birth to Venus.

Though Venus married and had children, she had no maternal instincts. She had many extramarital affairs with gods such as Aries, the God of War, and Adonis and so on. Venus gave importance to charm, beauty, sensuality, sexuality and pleasure.

The Romans worshiped Venus as Goddess of Fertility. In spite of she having numerous love affairs with gods and mortals, Roman women worshiped her as Goddess of Chastity and Symbol of Feminism. Many Romans also worship her as Goddess of Good Fortune and call her by the name Venus Felix.

The historians opine, Venus, the Roman goddess, has no myth of her own. Since she identified with the Greek goddess Aphrodite, the myths of Aphrodite are borrowed.

The Cult of Venus

Romans believe they are the ancestors of Venus. Ancient Romans held Venus is high esteem and believed she had the powers to protect the morals and chastity of the maidens. The emperors such as Sulla, Caesar and Pompey considered Venus as their protector.

It was during the rule of Julius Caesar, Venus was worshiped and temples were constructed in her name. The race of Caesar or the Julian clan believed they were direct descendants of Venus. Caesar started a religious cult in her name. She was known as Venus Genetrix and was honored as a divine goddess of the Julian clan.

Augustus Caesar carried forward the cult and associated Venus Genetrix with Mars Ultor. Mars Ultor is one of the divine ancestors of Romans. Romans of the Julian clan believe Venus and Mars helped in avenging the murder of Julius Caesar. The Romans honor these two gods.

The cult of Venus began in Ardea, Lavinium and Latium. The oldest temple of Venus dates back to 293 BC. A festival called Vinalia Rustica is held in her honor every year on August 18. A temple was built in the name of Venus Erycina in 215 BC in Capitol to commemorate the Roman defeat. On April 23, every year, Romans celebrate a festival known as Vinalia Priora. Every year on April 1, a festival known as Veneralia was observed as a dedication to Venus Verticordia. A temple was built in her name in 114 BC.

The popularity of Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love never faded and even today, many Romans have faith in her.