The myth of Adonis and Aphrodite was borrowed by the Greeks from the Phoenicians. The name Adonis is not Greek, but Phoenician and means “lord.” The Phoenicians borrowed this myth from the Babylonians
But the goddess of love, who so punished Narcissus, knew the torment of love herself, and she had to mourn her beloved Adonis. She loved the son of the king of Cyprus, Adonis. None of the mortals was equal to him in beauty; he was even more beautiful than the Olympian gods. Aphrodite and Patmos, and the blooming Cythera, forgot for him. Adonis was dearer to her than even the bright Olympus. She spent all her time with young Adonis. She hunted with him in the mountains and forests of Cyprus, like the maiden Artemis. Aphrodite forgot about her gold jewelry, about her beauty. Under scorching rays and in bad weather, she hunted hares, shy deer and chamois, avoiding hunting formidable lions and wild boars. She asked Adonis to avoid the dangers of hunting lions, bears and boars, so that no misfortune would happen to him. The goddess rarely left the king's son, and every time she left him, she begged him to remember her requests.
One day, in the absence of Aphrodite, Adonis's dogs, while hunting, attacked the trail of a huge boar. They picked up the beast and, barking furiously, drove it away. Adonis rejoiced at such rich spoils; he had no presentiment that this was his last hunt. The barking of dogs was getting closer, and now a huge boar flashed among the bushes. Adonis was already preparing to pierce the enraged boar with his spear, when suddenly the boar rushed at him and mortally wounded Aphrodite’s favorite with its huge tusks. Adonis died from a terrible wound.
When Aphrodite learned about the death of Adonis, then, full of inexpressible grief, she herself went to the mountains of Cyprus to look for the body of her beloved young man. Aphrodite walked along steep mountain rapids, among dark gorges, along the edges of deep abysses. Sharp stones and thorns wounded the tender feet of the goddess. Drops of her blood fell to the ground, leaving a trail wherever the goddess passed. Finally, Aphrodite found the body of Adonis. She wept bitterly over the beautiful young man who died early. In order to preserve the memory of him forever, the goddess ordered a gentle anemone to grow from the blood of Adonis. And where drops of blood fell from the wounded feet of the goddess, lush roses grew everywhere, scarlet like the blood of Aphrodite. Zeus the Thunderer took pity on the grief of the goddess of love. He ordered his brother Hades and his wife Persephone to release Adonis to earth every year from the sad kingdom of the shadows of the dead. Since then, Adonis remains in the kingdom of Hades for six months, and lives on earth for six months with the goddess Aphrodite. All nature rejoices when the young, beautiful favorite of golden Aphrodite, Adonis, returns to earth to the bright rays of the sun.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru