Venus

Venus, originally a Roman goddess of spring, patron of flower-gardens, was subsequently identified with the Greek Aphrodite (q.v.), and so became also the Roman goddess of Love. In this capacity she is first heard of about 217 B.C. But over and above her cult as love-goddess she was worshipped by the Romans as Dea Genetrix, mother of the race, on account of her being the mother of Aeneas (q.v.). She was also regarded as the tutelary goddess of the city of Rome, and as the ancestress of the Gens Julia. Hadrian built her a great temple in the Forum. Her sacred day was the 1st April. The ideal beauty of Venus was that created for the Greek Aphrodite; the famous statues of Venus are in fact Aphrodites. Most famous was that by Praxiteles at Cnidus, of which there are ancient copies at Munich and elsewhere. Of the great originals still extant by far the noblest is the Venus of Melos ('di Milone'), now in the Louvre, which was found on the island of Melos in 1820; the author and date are unknown. Next most famous are the Venus of Capua, at Naples; the Venus de Medici, now at Florence, but found at Rome near Tivoli in the 18th century, and long kept at the Villa Medici; and the crouching Venus of the Vatican. For the planet Venus, see PLANETS; and for the transits of Venus, see SUN. Venus' Flower-basket is one of the Sponges (q.v.); Venus' Fly-trap, one of the Insectivorous Plants (q.v., p. 164); and Venus' Girdle, one of the Ctenophora.