Editing Adonis (section)

=== Origin ===
[[File:Marriage_of_Inanna_and_Dumuzi.png|thumb|left|An ancient Sumerian depiction of the marriage of [[Inanna]] and [[Dumuzid the Shepherd|Dumuzid]]{{sfn|Lung|2014}}]]

{{Fertile Crescent myth (Levantine)}}{{Middle Eastern deities}}

The worship of Aphrodite and Adonis is probably a Greek continuation of the ancient [[Sumer]]ian worship of [[Inanna]] and [[Dumuzid the Shepherd|Dumuzid]].{{sfn|West|1997|page=57}}{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=67}}{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=97}} The [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] name {{lang|grc|[[:wikt:Ἄδωνις|Ἄδωνις]]}} (''{{lang|grc-Latn|Ádōnis}}''), {{IPA|grc|ádɔːnis}}) is derived from the [[Canaanite languages|Canaanite]] word {{lang|phn|[[:wikt:𐤀𐤃𐤍|𐤀𐤃𐤍]]}} (''{{lang|grc-Latn|[[Adon|ʼadōn]]}}''), meaning "lord".{{sfn|Burkert|1985|pages=176–177}}{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=97}}<ref name="Robert S. P 2009, p. 23">[[Robert S. P. Beekes|R. S. P. Beekes]], ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 23.</ref>{{sfn|Botterweck|Ringgren|1990|pages=59–74}}{{sfn|West|1997|page=57}} 

This word is related to [[Names of God in Judaism|''Adonai'']] ({{langx|he|אֲדֹנָי}}), one of the titles used to refer to the God of the [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] and still used in [[Judaism]] to the present day.{{sfn|Botterweck|Ringgren|1990|pages=59–74}} The Syrian name for Adonis is ''Gauas''.{{sfn|Detienne|1977|page=137}}

The cult of Inanna and Dumuzid may have been introduced to the [[Kingdom of Judah]] during the reign of [[Manasseh of Judah|King Manasseh]].{{sfn|Pryke|2017|page=193}} [[Ezekiel 8]] ({{bibleverse|Ezekiel|8:14|HE}}) mentions Adonis under his earlier East Semitic name [[Tammuz (mythology)|Tammuz]]{{sfn|Pryke|2017|page=195}}{{sfn|Warner|2016|page=211}} and describes a group of women mourning Tammuz's death while sitting near the north gate of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]].{{sfn|Pryke|2017|page=195}}{{sfn|Warner|2016|page=211}}

The earliest known Greek reference to Adonis comes from a fragment of a poem by the poet [[Sappho]] of [[Lesbos]] ({{Circa|630|570 BC}}),{{sfn|West|1997|pages=530–531}} in which a chorus of young girls asks Aphrodite what they can do to mourn Adonis' death.{{sfn|West|1997|pages=530–531}} Aphrodite replies that they must beat their breasts and tear their [[tunic]]s.{{sfn|West|1997|pages=530–531}} The cult of Adonis has also been described as corresponding to the cult of the Phoenician god [[Baal]].{{sfn|West|1997|page=57}} As [[Walter Burkert]] explains:

{{blockquote|text=Women sit by the gate weeping for Tammuz, or they offer incense to [[Baal]] on roof-tops and plant pleasant plants. These are the very features of the Adonis legend: which is celebrated on flat roof-tops on which sherds sown with quickly germinating green salading are placed, Adonis gardens&nbsp;... the climax is loud lamentation for the dead god.{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=177}}}}

The exact date when the worship of Adonis became integrated into Greek culture is still disputed. Walter Burkert questions whether Adonis had not from the very beginning come to Greece along with Aphrodite.{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=177}} "In Greece," Burkert concludes, "the special function of the Adonis legend is as an opportunity for the unbridled expression of emotion in the strictly circumscribed life of women, in contrast to the rigid order of [[polis]] and family with the official women's festivals in honour of [[Demeter]]."{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=177}} The significant influence of Near Eastern culture on early Greek religion in general, and on the cult of Aphrodite in particular,{{sfn|Burkert|1998|pages=1–6}} is now widely recognised as dating to a period of [[Orientalizing period|orientalisation]] during the eighth century BC,{{sfn|Burkert|1998|pages=1–6}} when [[archaic Greece]] was on the fringes of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]].{{sfn|Burkert|1998|pages=1–41}}

In Cyprus, the cult of Adonis gradually superseded that of [[Cinyras]]. W. Atallah suggests that the later Hellenistic myth of Adonis represents the conflation of two independent traditions.<ref>Atallah 1966.</ref>