Aphrodite and Adonis

The story begins with a beautiful mortal girl named Myrrha. The girl was so beautiful that Aphrodite herself got jealous of her. Aphrodite in a fit of jealousy, cursed Myrrha, and caused her to turn to her own father, King Theias of Cyprus. Myrrha slept with her own father and got pregnant. Soon, King Theias found out about how Myrrah tricked him and pursued her with a sword in hand.

" You crazy girl! Do you not remember the laws of the gods?! There should be no incest, now you will be greatly punished by the gods! Leave my kingdom at once before I strike you with my sword!" King Theias  shouted at Myrrha. The King almost killed her but Aphrodite regretted her decision of cursing the girl and quickly turned her into a Myrrh tree. 9 months later a child was born from the Myrrh tree that was once the beautiful Myrrha. At the same time, Aphrodite was accidentally stricken with one of her son's, Eros (also known as Cupid), arrows. After she was stricken by the arrow, Aphrodite caught sight of the newborn infant.

" Oh what a beautiful child! Such divine beauty he has! I must keep him safe or his beauty will go to waste if he dies." Aphrodite said to herself. " He will be named Adonis." Aphrodite took him in and raised him for a little while. But this caused her to abandon her duties as a goddess.The goddess put the child safely in a chest and decided to make Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld, in charge of the infant.

" Hey Persephone. Could you take charge of this infant? Don't worry I'll come back for him later on. His name is Adonis and he is a mortal."Aphrodite asked Persephone.

" Alright, but just for a while. Make sure you actually come back for him though. Here, give him over." Persephone responded.

" Okay. Here he is. I'll come back later!" Aphrodite left Persephone to deal with the child. 'I'll be back later for him. I just need a rest. I wonder if Ares is free today?' She wondered. Persephone, on the other hand, opened the chest and was instantly met with Adonis' beauty. She took care of him and took a liking to him. Overtime, Aphrodite came back for Adonis.

" I'm back for Adonis, Persephone" Aphrodite said.

" Oh. So soon? I was going to keep him." Persephone responded.

" Well you were, but I have returned for him. So hand him over." Demanded Aphrodite.

" You took too long so I'm just going to keep him. I refuse to give him back." Persephone retorted.

" Ugh! You are so possessive! Give him back!" Aphrodite was starting to get mad.

" No." Persephone countered. Aphrodite had had enough of Persephone's nonsense so they decided to take their problem over to Zeus. Zeus evaluated the situation and came up with a solution.

" Listen here young man, I'm going to tell you something. You will spend the first 4 months, or a third of the year with Persephone. Another 4 months with Aphrodite. And the last 4 months you will spend with whomever of the two you choose." Zeus instructed the young boy. And so that's what he did. He stayed with Persephone for the given time, and with Aphrodite he stayed till his time was over. He became an outdoorsman and a great hunter. Adonis grew up to be a strikingly handsome young man. His good looks caused whatever woman to lay eyes on him to instantly desire him. This was especially true with both goddesses.

Aphrodite was especially known for having numerous affairs with some of the gods. Ares was one of the many to have an affair with her. He was her lover and one day he came to know about Aphrodite's love for Adonis. Ares became very jealous about this and decided to kill Adonis. One day Adonis went out hunting and did not heed Aphrodite's warning to not get close to any beast that did not run away from him. She told him to be careful because she could not bear losing him to death. Because he did not heed her warning, Adonis was killed by a wild boar who had become irritated with him. The boar was Ares in disguise. His dying screams were heard by Aphrodite and she immediately went to him in the forest. He was on his last breaths when she found him and she sprinkled nectar onto his wounds causing beautiful red anemones to sprout from droplets of his blood. The rest of his blood that did not become a flower flowed to become the river Adonis, which today is known as the river Nahr Ibrahim. Knowing that his spirit was now with Persephone, the goddess went to the Underworld to bring him back. Zeus, sensing another quarrel brewing, intervened and let Adonis stay with Persephone half of the year and the other half with Aphrodite. This was possible because Zeus resurrected Adonis in order for Aphrodite to stay happy, as she was devastated with Adonis' sudden death.