Aphrodite and Venus

Aphrodite vs. Venus

In many ways the two goddesses were the same person because they were both said to be beautiful and carried the mantle as goddesses of love and fertility. However, the tradition is much different since both were borrowed from other traditions (Venus came, in part, from the Aphrodite tradition), so were not unique to the pantheons they occupied. The goddesses were both also associated with multiple trysts, often playing the gods and men they had interactions with against each other. The stories of their affairs and lives have become important in myth and in reality as many women identify with the characters of these two. Two pieces, The Odyssey by Homer and The Lusiads by Camoes, are examined herein as classic pieces of literature in which the goddesses served a crucial part in the story.

Aphrodite: The Odyssey

The Iliad and the Odyssey are...
[ View Full Essay]