Greek Myths

Adonis and Aphrodite

         This myth shows really just one lesson. It should be easy to guess it. The myth of Adonis and Aphrodite has two parts; Adonis's early years and Adonis's death. As usual I'll ask you what you learned at the end.

        Deedee

        Adonis Birth:

        In the island of Smyrna, the king, Theias, had a daughter named Myrrha. When Myrrha grew up to be a women, she took interest in her father. This was because Aphrodite was jealous of her looks. King Theias noticed this, of course, but ignored all her advances. One year, King Theias forgot to make a sacrifice to Aphrodite, the goddess of not only love and beauty, but lust as well. Aphrodite took great offense to this. So one night, Myrrha managed to lure her father outside, with a little help from Aphrodite, and 'laid' with him.

        When morning came, King Theias found out he was tricked. He was so angry, he chased Myrrha with a sword, wanting to kill her and their unborn child. Aphrodite heard Myrrha's distress, and quickly helped her, wanting to fix what she had caused. Aphrodite changed Myrrha into a Myrrh tree. This only made King Theias angrier, and so he shot an arrow at the tree, creating a hole in it. From this hole, Adonis was born. And so Adonis became the child of an awful love cycle between a father and his daughter.

        Adonis Parentage:

        Baby Adonis was so cute, and since he had no one to care for him, Aphrodite took care of him. Everyday Aphrodite grew more and more in love with the child, and soon failed to attend to her duties. Aphrodite put Adonis in a chest and gave him to Persephone, the Queen of the underworld (nether world). She was to take care of him for Aphrodite. 

        Though, when Persephone opened the chest, she fell deeply in love with the child. When Aphrodite herself returned to the underworld for Adonis, Persephone refused to give him to her. This caused many arguments between the two, which was only settled by Zeus's words. Zeus had made a compromise, Adonis was to spend four months with Persephone in the underworld, and four months with Aphrodite in the upper world. Adonis would also have four months to himself, so he'd learn how to look after himself. 

        Adonis Death:

        Adonis grew up to be very handsome, he could make any women wooed by his looks. He was also very fond of hunting and loved the outdoors. One day, when Adonis was spending his time with Aphrodite, she had to go. She warned him not to stray too far into the forest, and run from any animal that would not run from him. 

        Adonis was young, and like any other teenager/man, he did not listen. He went deep into the forest.There, Adonis came across a wild boar, and he could not scare it away. The boar became very angry, and charged at Adonis. The boar stabbed Adonis with its tusk. The boar, though, wasn't really a boar, or at least some people thought, it was Ares. Ares, the god of war and one of Aphrodite's lovers. He was jealous of Adonis, for he got the most of Aphrodite's love. 

        Aphrodite heard Adonis pain, and made it to him just as he was taking his last breath. Aphrodite put nectar on the wound in effort to ease the pain, and as he was dieing she sung to him, which made him smile as he drifted away. The mixture of his blood and the nectar created a new flower, beautiful red anemones. His blood as continued to flow, becoming the river Adonis, which is know today as Nahr Ibrahim in Lebanon. 

Adonis Resurrection:

Demeter welcomed Adonis into the underworld with open arms. Aphrodite, on the other hand, went to the underworld to bring him back. This caused an argument between the two, in which Zeus had to step in again. He decided to make Adonis a god, and had him split his time. For the rest of his existence, he spent half a year with his mother (Demeter) and half a year with his 'wife' (Aphrodite).

THE END!

You know what to do.

Whats the lesson?