Here are some cool and interesting facts about this lovely and beautiful Roman goddess.

1.) In the Latin language, the noun form venus means “love” and “sexual desire”.

2.) Cupid, the god of desire, affection and erotic love, is her son to Mars, the god of war.

3.) Venus is also the consort of Vulcan, the god of beneficial and hindering fire.

4.) The most remarkable Venus symbol is a depiction of a circle with a small cross below it.

5.) Venus is the ancestor of the Roman people by way of its legendary founder Aeneas and his son Iulus.

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6.) Venus was adopted by Julius Caesar as his protectress.

7.) Several temples were dedicated to Venus. The oldest was dedicated on August 15, 293 BCE.

8.) A temple to Venus was dedicated on the Capitoline Hill in 217 BCE and a second temple to her was dedicated in 181 BCE.

9.) Venus Genetrix or Mother Venus is the goddess of motherhood and domesticity. A festival was held in her honor on September 26.

10.) One of the most significant works of art about Venus is “The Birth of Venus”. This painting was created by Sandro Botticelli that depicts Venus having emerged from the sea as a full grown woman.

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11.) A notable statue of Venus is the Capitoline Venus, a type of statue of modest Venus.

12.) The planet Venus, the second planet from the sun and the hottest planet, was named for goddess Venus.

13.) Another popular painting about Venus is “The Sleeping Venus” which is also known as the Dresden Venus. This masterpiece was created by Giorgione, an Italian Renaissance master.

14.) Venus was born of the foam in the sea in Cyprus.

15.) Her father is Jupiter, the Roman chief god and Terra, the great mother of all.

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See also 

• 40 Amazing and Interesting Scientific Facts About the Planet Mercury
• Interesting Facts About the Roman God Jupiter
• 70 Lesser Known Greek Gods and Goddesses
• Interesting Facts About Mercury, Messenger of the Gods and Goddesses
• 35 Amazing and Interesting Scientific Facts About the Planet Venus

Minerva has a variety of functions. Originally she represented skill in handicrafts, particularly those associated with woman, such as spinning and weaving. Later Minerva came to symbolize general skill. Still later, the Romans worshipped her as the goddess of Wisdom. The owl has traditionally been considered wise because it was the bird of Minerva.

The Romans, who believed that warfare involve the higher mental powers, worshipped Minerva  as the goddess of the intellectual aspect of war. Most artists showed her wearing armour and a helmet. Minerva carried a magic shield called Aegis.

Numitor also had a daughter, Rhea Silvia.  Amulius had heard it prophesied that Rhea Silvia’s children would threaten his dominance, but he could not simply kill her as he had done to her brothers. Murdering a maiden would bring the wrath of the people down upon him, so Amulius instead said he would honor Rhea Silvia by sending her off to serve the goddess Vesta as a Vestal Virgin.  The Vestal Virgins took a vow of celibacy, so it would be ensured that Rhea Silvia would never have children. 

Mars and the Vestal Virgin by Jacques Blanchard, Wikimedia Commons

One day as Rhea Silvia was sleeping in the forest, the god Mars came upon her.  He was captivated by her beauty and raped her as she slept.  Breaking the vow of celibacy for a Vestal Virgin was punishable by death. When she was found to be pregnant, Rhea pleaded that she had been raped by a god, but no one believed her.  She was thrown into prison to await her fate of being buried alive, and her twin sons were ordered to be cast into the Tiber river and drowned.  The river god Tiberinus took pity on Rhea Silvia, and caused the river to flood.  He swept Rhea Silvia away and she became his wife, living with him in his watery realm.

Mars and Rhea Silvia by Peter Paul Rubens Wikimedia Commons

Since the river was in flood stage, the servant who was ordered to drown the babies was not able to get close to the deep, swiftly flowing part of the river, so he just set the basket down in the shallows among the reeds.  When the flood waters receded, the babies were found and suckled by a she-wolf, and later raised by the shepherd Faustulus.  When they grew up, Romulus did in fact slay the tyrant Amulius, and Numitor was restored to the throne that was rightfully his.

The months of the year have great spiritual significance. January comes from the Roman calendar month Januarius (January), named for Janus, god of beginnings and doorways.

Janus (image click here) is the Roman god of gates and doors (ianua), beginnings and endings, and hence represented with a double-faced head, each looking in opposite directions. He was worshipped at the beginning of the harvest time, planting, marriage, birth, and other types of beginnings, especially the beginnings of important events in a person’s life. Janus also represents the transition between primitive life and civilization, between the countryside and the city, peace and war, and the growing-up of young people.

Now is the time to sow what it is you wish to reap later in the year.

Blessed be

Upon adulthood, Zeus cut his father up in a brief confrontation, in which he released his still alive siblings, who had been growing the whole time. They began the war of the gods, in which they overthrew the titans and cast them away. Cronos was banished to the pit of tartarus in the underworld, the titan of war doomed to hold his parents apart to stop them destroying the world. The titans and their allies were banished to the far corners of the world. The three other sons of cronos drew straws to see who would rule which lands. Zeus ruled the sky, so through it the gods. Hades became somewhat hateful at this point, as he was given the underworld, the worst of the realms.

Zeus, as said above, was given the sky like his grandmother. When the kind titan, the only one who had sided with the gods, gave humanity the gift of fire they were still believed to be primitive so in anger he was punished by Zeus with being chained to a rock and having his liver eaten every day. But slowly, as humanity gained knowledge, the gods softened toward them as they were worshipped.

Zeus also softened in time, and as he was ruler he gained the most worshippers, and these were generally not centred on a single area. Throughout the history, Zeus has sired various heroes, helping or hindering them, one who had to thwart a plan by Poseidon to destroy the rebuilt city of troy. As he was the ruler of mount Olympus he was also able to control or override the other gods on many occasions, though these decreased as the years passed.

One time he was forced by the other gods, led by Poseidon to relinquish his supreme power, and become a less influential leader. Since then he has been suspicious of his brother. He is often pictured holding his symbolic lightning bolts, and is also symbolised by aegis and an oak tree. He will sometimes punish wrong-doers severely; however even though he is a supposed champion of the poor he exposes himself rarely.

His official consort is Hera; they have fathered many children, including Ares, Hephaestus and other mortal heroes like Hercules. His siblings were Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter and Hera.

The name Easter was named after the pagan goddess Ishtar. The food that she ate to keep her immortal was the egg and the animal that was associated with her was the rabbit. I have also noticed that Christian churches to this day will have Easter egg hunts and little do they realize that they are celebrating an old pagan tradition but yet they are Christians and just go on and on about how paganism is evil and should not be practiced but yet they will practice old pagan customs and celebrate pagan holidays themselves.

And not to mention there are so many religious freak parents out there who will tell there children to stay away from witchcraft and paganism but yet at the same time they themselves will let their kids celebrate Halloween and we all know that Halloween is an evil holiday all the way. A lot of people who claim to be Christians will look up their horoscopes in the daily newspaper but yet little do they realize the bible talks against Astrology and Astrology and horoscopes were practiced and developed by the ancient pagans.

A lot of Christmas decorations that we put in our homes were pagan traditions as well. The Christmas tree was originally a pagan tradition, candy canes and holly wreaths decorated the pagan temples back in times of ancient Greece before the times of Christ. Don’t get me wrong I have very great respect for the Christian church and I will always defend the pagan faith and the old wisdom of our ancient ancestors, for if it wasn’t for the pagans we never would have had the hanging gardens, the pyramids, the colossus, or Stonehenge. But I really do think that people really need to be aware of what is going on and we all need to be more open minded, liberal in our spiritual beliefs and less hypocritical.