Venus (mythology)

Venus
Goddess of love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, prostitution, and victory
Member of Dii Consentes
Statue of nude Venus of the Capitoline type, Roman, 2nd century AD, found at Campo Iemini in 1794.
Planet	Venus
Symbols	Rose, common myrtle
Day	Friday (dies Veneris)
Festivals	Veneralia Vinalia Rustica Vinalia Urbana
Genealogy
Parents	Caelus
Consort	Mars and Vulcan
Children	Cupid (in later tradition); Aeneas (fathered by Anchises in Virgil's Aeneid)
Equivalents
Greek	Aphrodite

Venus (/ˈviːnəs/; Classical Latin: [ˈu̯ɛnʊs̠] Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈvɛ(ː)nus]) is a Roman goddess whose functions encompass love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. In Roman mythology, she was the ancestor of the Roman people through her son, Aeneas, who survived the fall of Troy and fled to Italy. Julius Caesar claimed her as his ancestor. Venus was central to many religious festivals, and was revered in Roman religion under numerous cult titles.

The Romans adapted the myths and iconography of her Greek counterpart Aphrodite for Roman art and Latin literature. In the later classical tradition of the West, Venus became one of the most widely referenced deities of Greco-Roman mythology as the embodiment of love and sexuality. As such, she is usually depicted nude.