There are plenty of Greek legends, where humans end up being victims of Greek god’s wrath. Myrrha, also known as Smyrna, is also such a victim of Goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love and desire. There is of cause many variations to this story. But in the most popular one, Myrrha was a virgin and refused her many suitors. Goddess Aphrodite took this as an insult, since she rules over love and lust. So the goddess made Myrrha lust for her own father. Myrrha somehow tricked her father, to a sexual intercourse, and conceived Adonis. When Myrrha’s father came to know of this act, he has tried to kill her.
The gods heard Myrrha’s prayers, so they transformed her into the tree, known as, the myrrh tree. It is said that Myrrha gave birth to Adonis, in her tree form. Aphrodite found the infant under the tree, and gave him to be raised by Persephone, the queen of the Underworld.
So he grew up in the underworld, learning from those who have died. One of the skilled he learnt, is the skill of hunting. Adonis grew into an astonishingly handsome young man and a greater hunter.
His beauty and the brilliance in hunting made him irresistible, even by gods. So he was loved by many and that included many divine lovers such as Aphrodite, Persephone, Apollo, Heracles and Dionysus. Adonis is described as bisexual, since he acted as a man in his affections with goddesses and as a woman for gods.
Legends have specifically highlighted the involvement of Aphrodite and Persephone with Adonis. After living all his childhood in the underworld, he ventured above the surface to hunt from time to time. During one of these hunts, he caught the attention of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and lust.
But her son Eros, best known as the cupid, didn’t like the fact that Aphrodite admired the beauty of Adonis, over his. But accidently, one of Eros arrows pierced Aphrodite, causing her to fall in love with Adonis. Aphrodite was one of the most beautiful Greek gods. So when she approached him, there was no way Adonis could’ve resist her.
So they became lovers, and shared intense love. Aphrodite even fought with gods, to keep Adonis for herself. One such example is when Heracles grew feelings for Adonis, Aphrodite taught Nessos, the centaur, to ensnare him.
Since Aphrodite now only cared for Adonis, and neglected Eros, his jealousy only grew. So Eros thought to lock Adonis in the underworld. His powers work on the living, so the only living woman found in the underworld is Persephone, who cared for Adonis like a mother. But she became the target of Eros, so Aphrodite could finally get rid of Adonis’s clutches. Eros waited for Persephone to emerge to the surface, and once she did, he struck her from one of his arrows, making her fall in love with her own son. Persephone couldn’t act on her feelings for Adonis because she was already married. But because Adonis was mortal, she knew he was bound to be back in the underworld.
It’s not only Eros who were jealous over Adonis, but also Aeris, who was Aphrodite’s other lover. He was also aware that Adonis loved to hunt. So he filled a wild boar’s heart with immense wrath and sent it towards Adonis. Instead of running away from the hunter, the wild boar ran towards him with immense rage and gave him a deadly wound. By the time Aphrodite reached him, it was already too late, so he died in her arms. In different versions of the story, the boar was sent by Artemis, who wanted revenge against Aphrodite, for having killed her devoted follower Hippolytus, or by Apollo, to punish Aphrodite for blinding his son Erymanthus.
The story also provides an etiology for Aphrodite's associations with anemones flower, which is also called the ‘garden of Adonis’. As she mourned Adonis's death, her tears mixed up with Adonis’s blood and caused to grow the flower.Aphrodite declared the Adonia festival, commemorating the tragic death of Adonis, which was celebrated by women every year in midsummer. During this festival, Greek women would plant "gardens of Adonis", which are small pots containing fast-growing plants, which they would set on top of their houses, in the hot sun. The plants would sprout, but soon wither and die. Then the women would mourn the death of Adonis, tearing their clothes and beating their breasts in a public display of grief.
Back in the underworld, his fostered mother, now struck by Eros arrow, awaited his return. It is said that he was taken to the underworld through a parade and Persephone locked him in a chamber. Every night, after Haydees fall asleep, Persephone visited Adonis’s chambers to sexually involve with him. Even though Adonis resisted at first, because he’s locked up, he gave into her ways.
Meanwhile, Aphrodite mourned for her loss and since she couldn’t bear it any longer she visited Haydees and demanded him to release Adonis from his grip. More than haydees, it was Persephone who opposed the outrageous demand. But Aphrodite promised, if she can’t have him back, she’ll remove love from the world and fill it only with hate and dispute. Aphrodite kept to her word, and started to remove love from couples.
It was something like that happened between Haydees and Demeter over Persephone. Just as then, it got worse to the point that even Zeus had to interfere with the matter. Zeus gave the same solution he gave earlier. He ordered Adonis to stay one third of the year with Aphrodite, one third in the underworld, and the other one third in a place of his choosing. Adonis chose to stay that one third with Aphrodite.
Surprisingly, Persephone did not objected to the matter, instead she parted the year to three parts. She proclaimed that on winter, Adonis would be staying in the underworld and in spring he’d be staying with Aphrodite. The rest of the third is given to his pleasing. Zeus and Haydees did not note that on that particular part of the year Persephone left to meet with her mother. So Persephone had the advantage of having the time with Adonis, without having to worry about Haydees.
Even though the world placed back to its order, the conflict between the two goddess remained. So in some years the winter is longer than usual and summer becomes hotter. Because Adonis is moved back and forth between the two worlds, he’s considered as a dying and rising god. He was gifted with immortality, so he could live with his lovers eternally
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