The myth of Adonis and the red roses of love

The myth of Adonis tells us about love and beauty. In particular, it tells us about incestuous love, the punishments and tragedies it leads to and how it becomes impossible, but continues to exist forever in a symbolic way.

The myth of Adonis is one of the most beautiful, and also intriguing, of the classical age. All It begins with the story of Mirra, his mother. She was a beautiful woman. So much so that any man who saw her was hopelessly enamored of her. It is said that her father, worried about such an effect, decided to lock her up under seven keys and isolate her from the world.

Although the myth of Adonis has several versions, the one that has survived to this day tells that Mirra’s father even said that his daughter was more beautiful than the goddess Aphrodite. Upon hearing this, the divinity became angry. This led her to cast a spell to make the young woman fall in love. his father’s. Other versions point out that the confinement itself was what caused this infatuation.

Aware that her incestuous desire was aberrant, Mirra wanted to take her own life. However, one of the women who took care of her prevented it. She confessed her secret passion and the maid promised to help her, as long as she did not try to commit suicide. again. Thus the two hatched a plan that gave rise to the myth of Adonis.

“In man there is 1% human and the rest is, let’s say, animal; This gives a high margin of impenetrable territory. Sexually, what is human is the prohibition of incest, this has been said and it is true. But the rest?”.

-Alexandre Kojève-

Seduction and its consequences

The maid helped Mirra make her wishes come true. She convinced her father that there was a woman who secretly loved him and she wanted to sleep with him, with the only condition that she not see her face. The father accepted. For nine days he slept with his own daughter without knowing it.

After that period, he wanted to know the identity of his secret lover. So he revealed her face and that’s how he knew that his daughter had deceived him. . To avenge the insult, he wanted to kill her right there, but she fled. to very distant lands. Her father was about to catch her, when she asked the gods to help her. Then Zeus took pity on her and turned her into a tree: the myrrh tree.

It is said that when that plant drips, it is actually that the unfortunate young woman is still crying over her misfortune. The truth is that Mirra was already pregnant when this happened. So, The tree grew during pregnancy and nine months later Adonis was born, a boy as beautiful as his mother.. This is how the myth of Adonis begins.

The myth of Adonis

The goddess Aphrodite felt somewhat guilty about what happened. That’s why he went to visit the tree and rescue the child.. She put it in a beautiful chest and gave it to Persephone, owner and mistress of the underworld. She opened the chest and, seeing little Adonis, she decided to adopt him as if she were his mother.

Adonis grew up, becoming a handsome young man. Persephone felt in love with him. One day, Aphrodite, by chance, saw Adonis sleeping naked. She also fell in love with the boy and then asked Persephone to return him to her.. This she refused to do. They had to ask Zeus to intervene to resolve the dispute.

Zeus ruled that the year would be divided into three parts. Adonis would spend a third of his time with Aphrodite, since she had saved him when he was barely born. Another third would have to be with Persephone, since she had raised him. And in the remaining part, Adonis could decide who to be with: with Aphrodite, with Persephone or without either of the two.

The birth of Adonis

a tragic love

The myth of Adonis tells that the young man decided to spend two thirds of the year with Aphrodite. The young man liked hunting and the goddess did not. Still she accompanied him through the forests. At one point, He had to leave, but before doing so he warned him not to attack any animal that did not show fear..

However, Adonis ignored that warning. One day he saw a wild boar and wanted to hunt it, even though he showed no signs of fear. Actually, This creature was the god Ares, one of Aphrodite’s lovers, who had learned of the affair and wanted to kill Adonis.. That’s why she attacked him furiously.

According to the myth of Adonis, Aphrodite wanted to help her lover. However, she got tangled in a bush full of thorns. She tried to get out of there without success, while she watched how the man she loved was killed. Every wound he made was a drop of blood that fell to the ground and turned into a red rose. Since then, red roses have been a symbol of love.

When Adonis died, he went to the underworld. Persephone was there and Aphrodite went to Zeus again to solve the situation. Zeus determined that the young man would spend six months with each. Since then, the six months he spends with Persephone, in the underworld, correspond to autumn and winter. The six months he spends with Aphrodite are spring and summer.