Editing Venus (mythology) (section)

== Iconography ==
=== Signs, context and symbols ===
[[File:Medallion painting of Venus Aphrodite with a golden diadem and scepter, pearl earrings and necklace, House of Marcus Fabius Rufus, Pompeii 2.jpg|thumb|A medallion painting from the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus in [[Pompeii]], Italy, executed in the [[Pompeian Styles|Second Style]] and depicting the Greco-Roman goddess Venus-Aphrodite in [[regalia]], with [[diadem]] and [[scepter]]; it is dated to the 1st century BC.]]

Images of Venus have been found in domestic murals, mosaics<!-- Need text and image of Bignor Venus and "gladiator-cupids", if possible: Imperial era stuff, and Venus as vehicle of Imperial religion and ludi  --> and household shrines (''lararia''). [[Petronius]], in his ''[[Satyricon]]'', places an image of Venus among the [[Lares]] (household gods) of the [[freedman]] [[Trimalchio]]'s ''lararium''.<ref>Kaufmann-Heinimann, in Rüpke (ed), pp. 197–98.</ref> 

The Venus types known as ''Venus Pompeiana'' ("Venus of Pompeii") and ''Venus Pescatrice'' ("Venus the Fisher-woman") are almost exclusive to Pompeii. Both forms of Venus are represented within Pompeian homes of the well-off, with ''Venus Pompeiana'' more commonly found in formal reception spaces, typically depicted in full [[regalia]], draped with a mantle, standing rigidly upright with her right arm across her chest. Images of ''Venus Pescatrice'' tend to be more playful, usually found in less formal and less public "non-reception" areas: here, she usually holds a [[fishing rod]], and sits amidst landscape scenery, accompanied by at least one [[cupid]].{{sfnp|Brain|2017|pp=51-56|ps=none}}

Venus' [[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#signum|signs]] are for the most part the same as Aphrodite's. They include [[rose]]s, which were offered in Venus' [[Porta Collina]] rites,{{efn|Eden (1963),<ref name=Eden-1963>{{cite journal |last=Eden |first=P.T. |year=1963 |title=Venus and the Cabbage |journal=Hermes |volume=91 |pages=448–59}}</ref>{{rp|page=456}} citing {{cite book |author=[[Ovid]] |title=[[Fasti (poem)|Fasti]] |at=4:869–70, cf. I35–I38}} Ovid describes the rites observed in the early Imperial era, when the temple environs were part of the Gardens of Sallust.}} <!-- A bit of an oddment – not sure how best to incorporate --> and above all, [[Myrtus|myrtle]] (Latin ''myrtus''), which was cultivated for its white, sweetly scented flowers, aromatic, evergreen leaves and its various medical-magical properties. Venus' statues, and her worshipers, wore myrtle crowns at her festivals.<ref>{{cite book |last=Versnel |first=H.S. |year=1994 |title=Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion |volume=2 |page=262 |article=Transition and reversal in myth and ritual |publisher=Brill |article-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kWU33X4gPmUC&q=Inconsistencies+in+Greek+and+Roman+Religion:+Transition+and+reversal+in+myth}}</ref> Before its adoption into Venus' cults, myrtle was used in the purification rites of [[Cloacina]], the Etruscan-Roman goddess of Rome's [[Cloaca Maxima|main sewer]]; later, Cloacina's association with Venus' sacred plant made her [[Venus Felix|Venus Cloacina]]. Likewise, Roman folk-etymology transformed the ancient, obscure goddess [[Murcia (mythology)|Murcia]] into "Venus of the Myrtles, whom we now call Murcia".{{refn|Eden (1963)<ref name=Eden-1963 />{{rp|pages=457–58}} citing [[Pliny the Elder]], Natural History, 15,119–21}}{{efn|Murcia had a shrine at the [[Circus Maximus]].}}

[[Myrtus|Myrtle]] was thought a particularly potent [[aphrodisiac]]. As goddess of love and sex, Venus played an essential role at Roman prenuptial rites and wedding nights, so myrtle and roses were used in bridal bouquets. Marriage itself was not a seduction but a lawful condition, under [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]]'s authority; so myrtle was excluded from the [[bridal crown]]. Venus was also a patron of the ordinary, everyday wine drunk by most Roman men and women; the seductive powers of wine were well known. In the rites to [[Bona Dea]], a goddess of female chastity,{{efn|"[[Bona Dea]]" means "The Good Goddess". She was also a "Women's goddess".}} Venus, myrtle and anything male were not only excluded, but unmentionable. The rites allowed women to drink the strongest, sacrificial wine, otherwise reserved for the Roman gods and Roman men; the women euphemistically referred to it as "honey". Under these special circumstances, they could get virtuously, religiously drunk on strong wine, safe from male intrusion and Venus' temptations. Outside of this context, ordinary wine (that is, Venus' wine) tinctured with myrtle oil was thought particularly suitable for women.<ref>{{cite book |last=Versnel |first=H.S. |title=Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion |volume=2 |article=Transition and reversal in myth and ritual |publisher=Brill |year=1994 |page=262 |postscript=;}} see also {{cite journal |last=Versnel |first=H.S. |date=April 1992 |title=The Festival for Bona Dea and the Thesmophoria |journal=Greece & Rome |series=Second Series |volume=39 |issue=1 |page=44 |doi=10.1017/S0017383500023974 |s2cid=162683316 |postscript=,}} citing {{cite book |author=[[Plutarch]] |title=Quaestiones Romanae |at=20}}  For the total exclusion of myrtle (and therefore Venus) at Bona Dea's rites, see [[Bona Dea]] article.</ref>

Venus' long association with wine reflects the inevitable connections between wine, intoxication and sex, expressed in the proverbial phrase {{Lang|la|[[sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus]]}} (loosely translated as "without food and wine, Venus freezes"). It was used in various forms, notably by the Roman playwright, [[Terence]], probably by others before him, and certainly into the early modern era. Although Venus played a central role in several wine festivals, the Roman god of wine was [[Bacchus]], identified with Greek [[Dionysus]] and the early Roman wine-god [[Liber Pater]] (Father of Freedom).<ref>Bull, Malcolm, ''The Mirror of the Gods, How Renaissance Artists Rediscovered the Pagan Gods'', Oxford UP, 2005, pp. 218_219{{ISBN|978-0195219234}}</ref>

Roman generals given an [[ovation]], a lesser form of [[Roman triumph]], wore a myrtle crown, perhaps to purify themselves and their armies of blood-guilt. The ovation ceremony was assimilated to Venus Victrix ("Victorious Venus"), who was held to have granted and purified its relatively "easy" victory.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brouwer |first=Henrik H.J. |title=Bona Dea : The sources and a description of the cult |date=1997 |publisher=E.J. Brill |isbn=978-9004086067 |page=337 |postscript=,}} citing [[Pliny the Elder]], Natural History, Ch 23, line 152–58; and Book 15, Ch.38, line 125}}</ref><ref name=Beard-2007 />{{rp|pages=63, 113}}

=== Classical art ===
[[File:Venus sur un char tiré par des élpéhants - Pompéi - Atelier des Feutriers.jpg|thumb|Venus riding a ''[[quadriga]]'' of [[elephant]]s, fresco from [[Pompeii]], 1st century AD]]
[[File:Capitoline Venus - Palazzo Nuovo - Musei Capitolini - Rome 2016.jpg|thumb|Statue of nude Venus of the Capitoline type, Roman, 2nd century AD, from Campo Iemini, housed in the British Museum]]
Roman and Hellenistic art produced many variations on the goddess, often based on the [[Praxiteles|Praxitlean]] type [[Aphrodite of Cnidus]]. Many female nudes from this period of sculpture whose subjects are unknown are in modern art history conventionally called "Venus", even if they originally may have portrayed a mortal woman rather than operated as a [[cult statue]] of the goddess.

Examples include:
* ''[[Venus de Milo]]'' (130 BC)
* [[:File:Venus pudica Massimo.jpg|Venus Pudica]]
:* [[Capitoline Venus]]
:* [[Venus de' Medici]]
* [[Esquiline Venus]]
* [[:File:Venus Felix Pio-Clementino.jpg|Venus Felix]]
* [[:File:Venus Arles.jpg|Venus of Arles]]
* [[Venus Anadyomene]] (also [[:File:Lely Venus BM 1963.jpg|here]])
* [[:File:NAMA Aphrodite Pan & Eros.jpg|Venus, Pan and Eros]]
* [[Venus Genetrix (sculpture)|Venus Genetrix]]
* [[:File:Venus Capua, Nordisk familjebok.png|Venus of Capua]]
* [[Venus Kallipygos]]
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