Venus
Roman goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, identified with the Greek Aphrodite but also revered as ancestress of the Roman people
The Myth of Venus
Venus held a unique status in Roman religion as the divine mother of Aeneas, and therefore the ancestress of the entire Roman race. Julius Caesar's family, the Julii, claimed direct descent from her through Aeneas's son Iulus. This political dimension set the Roman Venus apart from the Greek Aphrodite, whose worship was more purely erotic. Venus was honoured at multiple festivals, including the Veneralia on 1 April, when women washed her cult statue and sought her blessings. Her most famous temple was the Temple of Venus Genetrix in the Forum of Caesar. The planet Venus was named for her because of its brilliant beauty in the dawn and evening sky.
Parents
None recorded
Children
Cupid, Aeneas
Symbols
Fun Fact
Julius Caesar built a temple to Venus Genetrix and claimed she was his literal great-grandmother many times over
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Aphrodite
⚡ godGoddess of love, desire, and beauty
The goddess born from sea-foam whose power over desire could override the will of gods and mortals alike.
Libera
⚡ godFemale fertility, freedom, wine
Roman goddess of female fertility and freedom, consort of Liber, sometimes identified with Proserpina
Juno
⚡ godMarriage, childbirth, women, the state
Queen of the Roman gods and protector of women and the state, counterpart to the Greek Hera
Charites
⚡ godGrace, beauty, and festivity
Collective name for the three Graces who embodied charm, beauty, and creative inspiration
Aphrodite
⚡ godGoddess of love, beauty, desire
Goddess of love and beauty, born from the sea foam. Aphrodite's power to inspire desire was so great that even the gods were not immune.
Hera
⚡ godQueen of the gods and guardian of marriage
The queen of Olympus and goddess of marriage who defended the institution of matrimony with a wrath that shaped half the myths.
Ops
⚡ godAbundance, harvest, earth
Roman goddess of abundance and the harvest, wife of Saturn, equivalent to the Greek Rhea
Hera
⚡ godQueen of the gods, marriage, family, childbirth
Queen of the Olympian gods and goddess of marriage. Known for her jealous rages against Zeus's lovers and their children.
Cupid
⚡ godLove, desire, attraction
Roman god of erotic love and desire, son of Venus, equivalent to the Greek Eros
Lucina
⚡ godChildbirth, light, newborns
Roman goddess of childbirth who brought babies into the light, equivalent to the Greek Eileithyia
Aphrodite
💭 conceptAstronomy and mythology
The planet Venus is named after the Roman equivalent of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, because it is the brightest and most beautiful object in the night sky after the Moon
Ceres
⚡ godAgriculture, grain, harvest, fertility
Roman goddess of agriculture and grain, identified with the Greek Demeter