Venus > Veneralia and Venus Blog/Discussion > Venus the Roman Goddess
If all you know about Venus is
- that she is the Roman counterpart of Aphrodite, the goddess who incited the adultery that brought on the Trojan War, or
- she is the goddess depicted nude in statue after statue, or
- she was caught in adultery with the war god,
For the Romans, small-town identity could be a liability. Rome and Roman citizenship were what counted. In the Greek world of myriad proud little city-states and islands, there were cults in different cities set up to honor the gods and goddesses -- including Aphrodite, according to local custom. The location could lend its name to the cult. Aphrodite is known as Cytherea and Cypria, perhaps because she was born in Cythera or Cyprus, both of which were cult centers. Sometimes the Greeks worshiped aspects of the gods; in the case of Aphrodite, Aphrodite Ourania (Heavenly Aphrodite), for example. Aphrodite appears to have had over 300 epithets, place-names and otherwise [Teodorsson].
On the Worship of Multiple Aspects of the Gods and Goddesses
"Multiple aspects allowed specificity in prayer, as one could pray to the aspect of the god that seemed most relevant to one's situation: Diana as goddess of childbirth, not goddess of the moon. Roman religious practice could separate deities into separate attributes and worship each in separate temples-Jupiter Propugnator, not Jupiter Optimus Maximus or Jupiter Fulgur; Venus Genetrix, not Venus Verticordia or Venus Victrix."
Charles King
Romans tended to use an aspect or attribute of the deity for the epithet. Thus you find Jupiter tonans 'the thundering Jupiter,' or Jupiter Optimus Maximus 'Jupiter best and greatest.' Venus was the ancestor of the Roman people in her aspect as Venus Genetrix. In contrast, the Venus Pompeiana is named for the city of Pompeii, and, incidentally, is always depicted fully clothed. [Rives]
This article looks at aspects of Venus, especially those connected with the modest Roman goddess Venus.
Venus vs Aphrodite
Following philologist Georg Otto August Wissowa (1859 - 1931), it has been assumed that Venus was a graceful, elegant, native Italic goddess of gardens. When the Greeks came to southern Italy, including Sicily, they brought Aphrodite with them. When the Italic people came in contact with Aphrodite, they conflated her with their own garden goddess Venus.
- Did the Romans Believe Their Myths?
- How Ancient Rome Grew, Expanded Its Power, and Became Leader of Italy
Venus Obsequens
In Rome, people consulted the Sibylline books when times were tough. Sometimes the advice led to the creation of a new cult. Military leaders made all sorts of promises to stave off defeat just as people offer prayers to their god(s) today. One type of promise that we know about was the promise to create temples or cults for certain gods. While Aphrodite was not known for her particular skill in matters military -- although she was the mother of the Trojan prince who survived the burning of Troy, Aeneas, and is associated with the love and war goddess of the Near East -- she, as Venus Obsequens 'Gracious or Accommodating Venus,' still earned a shrine dedicated to her in 295 B.C. It is said to have been promised by Fabius Gurges who needed help against the Samnites [Staples] and recommended, according to Livy, by the Sibylline books. The cost of the shrine was covered by fines paid by Roman matrons convicted of adultery. Venus Obsequens was an asset to Roman military expansion and marriage.
Venus Verticordia
Another aspect of Venus associated with female chastity was Venus Verticordia 'Venus Changer of Hearts,' whose worship Ovid describes in the fourth book of the Fasti [Fantham]. Following the Punic War disaster at Cannae, the Temple of Venus Verticordia was dedicated and Vestal Virgins thought guilty of violating their vows (and therefore responsible for the defeat) were executed [Parker].
It is possible lower class women were excluded from participation in the cult of Venus Verticordia (instead, they had to seek the Venus from Eryx, Sicily [below]).
Venus Obsequens vs Venus Verticordia
There are contradictory accounts of the Venus Obsequens shrine and the similarity between the functions of Obsequens and Verticordia led Richardson to write:
"There is some confusion about the temples of Venus in Rome. The oldest temple recorded is one built in 295 B.C. by Q. Fabius Gurges prope circum, paid for from fines levied against women convicted of adultery (Livy 10.31.9).... On the other hand Servius (ad Aen. 1.720), in explanation of the various epithets Venus was known by in Rome, says that a Venus Obsequens was dedicated by Fabius Gurges at the end of the Samnite War, quod sibi fuerit obsecuta. Now it seems most unlikely that a temple built with fines for adultery would ever have been offered to Venus Obsequens; traditionally the goddess taking cognizance of chastity and adultery would have been Venus Verticordia (Ovid, Fast. 4.157-60; Valerius Maximus 8.15.12).... The duplication in the festivals of the goddess, April first and August nineteenth, usually taken to be the dedication days of separate temples to Venus Verticordia and Venus Obsequens, may easily be explained as a traditional feast of Venus (April first) and a dedication day proper (August nineteenth)."
L. Richardson, Jr.
Venus Erycina
Venus Erycina, a Sicilian import, was promised a temple on the Capitoline in 217 by Fabius Maximus. Venus Erycina was concerned with military matters and prostitutes. As is fitting for a city in Magna Graecia, this cult is named for the location, like the Greek cults of Aphrodite.
Other Aspects of Venus the Roman Goddess
Other aspects of the Roman goddess Venus include:
- Venus Pompeiana/Venus Felix of Sulla,
- Pompey's Venus Victrix,
- (Julius Caesar made a vow at the Battle of Pharsalus to build a temple for his ancestral) Venus Genetrix,
- Venus Cloacina,
- Venus Libitina,
- Venus Murcia, and
- Venus Frutis. [Hastings]
Venus the Roman Goddess References
- ["An Epithet of Aphrodite," by Sven-Tage Teodorsson; Glotta; 66. Bd., 3./4. H. (1988), pp. 135-136.]
- [Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Part 15, by James Hastings; Kessinger Publishing, 2003; p. 178.]
- [Fasti By Ovid, edited by Elaine Fantham.]
- [From Good Goddess to Vestal Virgins: Sex and Category in Roman Religion, by Ariadne Staples; p. 113.]
- ["The Approach to the Temple of Saturn in Rome," by L. Richardson, Jr.; American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 84, No. 1 (Jan., 1980), pp. 51-62.]
- ["The Organization of Roman Religious Beliefs," by Charles King; Classical Antiquity, Vol. 22, No. 2 (October 2003), pp. 275-312.]
- ["Venus Genetrix outside Rome," by James Rives; Phoenix Vol. 48, No. 4 (Winter, 1994), pp. 294-306.]
- ["Why Were the Vestals Virgins? Or the Chastity of Women and the Safety of the Roman State," by Holt N. Parker; The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 125, No. 4 (Winter, 2004), pp. 563-601.]
