The origins of the gods have always been a mystery and the origin
of Venus is a particularly difficult case. Malicious tongues say
that she came from the countryside. Probably a successor to an
ancient mother goddess, she was venerated in what is now Italy as
the patroness of gardens and vegetable farming — especially on
Veneralia, the feast day of Venus, April. In defence of her
reputation, one should add that she lost her earthmess early on.
Beginning in the fourth century BC she was equated in Rome with
Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, who was the patroness of
coquettish young women, of laughter and fun, and of sweet desire and
clemency.
Aphrodite's origins are also rather uncertain, and the various
legends about her birth contradict one another. These stones agree
about one thing, that Aphrodite emerged from the sea. According to
the early Greek poet Hesiod, who established the family tree of the
Olympian gods, Aphrodite was born of the foam which billowed up
around the genitals of her castrated father Uranus, which were cast
into the sea by his son Saturn (Cronus), who was responsible for
this violent act. Another legend tells us that Aphrodite was born in
a bivalve shell. The Italian Humanist poet Angelo Poliziano (Politian),
who was an advisor at the Medici court in Florence, elaborated on
these ancient tales in his writings:
"And born within (the white
foam),
in rare and joyous acts
a maiden with a heavenly race
by playful zephyrs
is pushed to the shore.
She travels on a sea-shell;
and it seems
that the heavens rejoice."
The zephyrs, blowing a strong wind, steer her "ship" towards the
Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where she is greeted by
nymphs, who are "surprised by joy at the sight of her" and dress her
in a cloak decorated with flowers — for even the goddess of love
cannot remain nude forever. The Italian Renaissance painter
Allesandro Filipepi, later known as Sandro Botticelli, may well have
taken Poliziano's poem as the literary model for his painting The
Birth of Venus. Probably commissioned by the Medici family, the
painting depicts the goddess as the personification of Love. She is
to lead the Florentines, who at the time were growing increasingly
enthusiastic about Greek philosophy, back to its loftiest ideals:
goodness, truth and beauty.
Today the planet Venus, sometimes called the Evening Star, is not
the only reminder of how important the goddess once was. The fifth
day of the week also bears her name: "Friday", and the German
"Freitag",
derive from the name of the Teuton goddess Freya, who was equated
with Venus. Friday in Italian, venerdi, and in French, vendredi;
respectively have retained much of the original sound of "Venus",
and both mean "Venus Day".
