/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>12534618
The Myth of Aphrodite and Adonis

It is said that Adonis was born of the illicit union between King Theias of Smyrna and his daughter Myrrha. Urged on by Aphrodite herself, the goddess of beauty, love and sexual desire, who had been offended when King Theias forgot to make a sacrifice for her, Myrrha had made amorous advances towards her father but he was successfully keeping her away. One night, she managed to lure her father out into the open and there under cover of darkness she laid with him. As dawn broke, Theias discovered to his utter disgust the deception of his daughter and with sword in hand chased her into the wild, wanting to punish her for her audacity. Sensing Myrrha's necessity, Aphrodite transformed her into a tree, the myrrh tree. Still in anger, Theias shot an arrow into the tree trunk, splitting it wide open and it was from there that Adonis was born, the child of an awful union between a father and his daughter.

Baby Adonis was adorable beyond words and since there was no one to look after him, Aphrodite took him under her wing. So obsessed was she with him that she began neglecting her duties as a goddess. As a remedial measure, she sent the child to be looked after by Persephone, the Queen of the Dead in the Underworld. It was also a move to keep him away from interfering eyes.