'''Venus''' is a Roman goddess whose functions encompass love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. In Roman mythology, she was the ancestor of the Roman people through her son, Aeneas, who survived the fall of Troy and fled to Italy. Julius Caesar claimed her as his ancestor. Venus was central to many religious festivals, and was revered in Roman religion under numerous cult titles.

The Romans adapted the myths and iconography of her Greek counterpart Aphrodite for Roman art and Latin literature. In the later classical tradition of the West, Venus became one of the most widely referenced deities of Greco-Roman mythology as the embodiment of love and sexuality. As such, she is usually depicted nude.

Venus had no worship in Rome in early times, as the scholar Marcus Terentius Varro shows, attesting that he could find no mention of her name in old records. This is corroborated by the absence of any festival for her in the oldest Roman calendar and by her lack of a flamen (special priest). Her cult among the Latins, however, seems to be immemorial, for she had apparently at least two ancient temples, one at Lavinium, the other at Ardea, at which festivals of the Latin cities were held. Hence, it was no long step to bring her to Rome, apparently from Ardea itself. But how she came to be identified with so important a deity as Aphrodite remains a puzzle.

That Venus’s identification with Aphrodite took place fairly early is certain. A contributory reason for it is perhaps the date (August 19) of the foundation of one of her Roman temples. August 19 is the Vinalia Rustica, a festival of Jupiter. Hence, he and Venus came to be associated, and this facilitated their equation, as father and daughter, with the Greek deities Zeus and Aphrodite. She was, therefore, also a daughter of Dione, was the wife of Vulcan, and was the mother of Cupid. In myth and legend she was famous for her romantic intrigues and affairs with both gods and mortals, and she became associated with many aspects, both positive and negative, of femininity. As Venus Verticordia, she was charged with the protection of chastity in women and girls. But the most important cause of the identification was the reception into Rome of the famous cult of Venus Erycina—i.e., of Aphrodite of Eryx (Erice) in Sicily—this cult itself resulting from the identification of an Oriental mother-goddess with the Greek deity. This reception took place during and shortly after the Second Punic War. A temple was dedicated to Venus Erycina on the Capitol in 215 bce and a second outside the Colline gate in 181 bce. The latter developed in a way reminiscent of the temple at Eryx with its harlots, becoming the place of worship of Roman courtesans, hence the title of dies meretricum (“prostitutes’ day”) attached to April 23, the day of its foundation.

The importance of the worship of Venus-Aphrodite was increased by the political ambitions of the gens Iulia, the clan of Julius Caesar and, by adoption, of Augustus. They claimed descent from Iulus, the son of Aeneas; Aeneas was the alleged founder of the temple of Eryx and, in some legends, of the city of Rome also. From the time of Homer onward, he was made the son of Aphrodite, so that his descent gave the Iulii divine origin. Others than the Iulii sought to connect themselves with a deity grown so popular and important, notably Gnaeus Pompeius, the triumvir. He dedicated a temple to Venus as Victrix (“Bringer of Victory”) in 55 bce. Julius Caesar’s own temple (46 bce), however, was dedicated to Venus Genetrix, and as Genetrix (“Begetting Mother”) she was best known until the death of Nero in 68 ce. Despite the extinction of the Julio-Claudian line, she remained popular, even with the emperors; Hadrian completed a temple of Venus at Rome in 135 ce.

As a native Italian deity, Venus had no myths of her own. She therefore took over those of Aphrodite and, through her, became identified with various foreign goddesses. The most noteworthy result of this development is perhaps the acquisition by the planet Venus of that name. The planet was at first the star of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar and thence of Aphrodite. Because of her association with love and with feminine beauty, the goddess Venus has been a favourite subject in art since ancient times; notable representations include the statue known as the Venus de Milo (c. 150 bce) and Sandro Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus (c. 1485).

All published appearances of Venus from before January 1, )-(95)}} are public domain in the US.

Some notable appearances are listed below:

*Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner

*Man in Black #1-4
*Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #46-47
*America's Greatest Comics #5
*Boy Comics #10
*Mystery Men Comics #2
*National Comics #32
*All Good Comics
*Humdinger vol. 1 #4
*Popular Romances #11

*The planet Venus is named after the Roman goddess, and so, by extension, are numerous Venusian characters.
*Black Venus is also named after Venus.
*The Digimon [https://wikimon.net/Venusmon Venusmon] was named after the Roman goddess.
*The character [https://m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Venus Venus] from the Pokémon franchise was named after the Roman goddess.
*In Romance languages, Friday is named after Venus (vendredi, venerdì, viernes etc.), but in Germanic languages, it is named after her perceived counterpart Frigg.

Venus.jpg|From America's Greatest Comics #5
Aphrodite.jpg|From Humdinger vol. 1 #4

*Wikipedia
*[https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venus_and_Amor,_by_Hans_Holbein_the_Younger.jpg#mw-jump-to-license Wikimedia Commons]
*[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/venus/4005-85122/ Comicvine]
*Myth & Folklore Wiki
*Myths in Media Wiki
*Religion Wiki
*DC Wiki
*Marvel Wiki
*Gacha Games Wiki
*[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Venus-goddess Britannica]
*[https://wiki.jennyeverywhere.net/wiki/Aphrodite Jenny Everywhere Wiki]
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