Have a beautiful Day of Aphrodite aka Venus' Day aka Frigg's Day aka Friday 🌹
Neoclassical statue of #Aphrodite and her lover #Adonis. Adonis was loved not only by Aphrodite but also by Persephone, Apollon, Dionysos, and #Herakles. In fact, Herakles' death was orchastrated by Aphrodite in revenge for the hero stealing her man!
🏛️ Venus and Adonis by Antonio Canova, dated ca. 1794 CE
This week's #MythologyMonday theme is healing. The God of Healing is #Apollon but there are other gods who share in a subset of his power. Apollon's son #Asklepios famously brought dead people back to life. Deified after his untimely death by Zeus' thunderbolt, he received a cult of his own, the Temples of Asklepios serving as hospitals. Asklepios had children of his own, among them Panacea (Cure-all), and Hygieia (Health).
But he is not the only healing god associated with Apollon.
In fact, #Asklepios learned the art of medicine from #Chiron, a centaur raised and educated by #Apollon. Chiron in turn raised and educated many famous heroes in their youth, among them #Achilles, Apollon's son Aristaios, and Kokytos, whom Chiron had taught medicine and who cared for #Adonis when he was wounded by the wild boar.
Chiron was wounded by an arrow dipped in the blood of the hydra, giving up is immortality to end his agony. The healer could not heal himself. 😔
Have a beautiful Day of Aphrodite aka Venus' Day aka Frigg's Day aka Friday 🌹
Relief of #Aphrodite with her lover #Adonis. He really got around. One version of the death of #Herakles says that Aphrodite was behind it because Herakles had seduced her man. Like Dionysos, Apollon & Persephone.
🏛️ Aphrodite & Adonis, Greek Plaster Relief, 3rd–2nd century BCE
This week's #MythologyMonday theme is #flowers. In #GreekMythology, several flowers are the result of transformations. The most well-known examples are #Aphrodite turning her dying lover #Adonis into a flower after he had been mauled by a boar, Apollon turning #Hyakinthos into a flower after he fatally wounded him with a discus, and the nymph Daphne turning into the first laurel tree to escape the unwanted amorous advances of #Apollon.