Expert: Irulan Serena - 11/30/2006

Question
 i am a 9th grader at the health academy at Seminole high in Florida. I am doing a project on Aphrodite in my English class, but for part of that project i need to tell how her and Venus are similar and different. so if you could help me that would be great!!!

Answer
Hello Amanda,


Although I am not permitted to answer homework questions, I can give you some links that will help you understand the following:

Basically there were no differences since the Greek Aphrodite WAS in fact the same one known as the Roman Venus.  The only basic difference is that the Greeks called her Aphrodite and the Romans called her Venus.
Character, myths and attributes were the same.

The religion of the Romans was a direct transter of the Greek religion to Rome since the Roman culture was begun by a Greek prince known as Aeneas.  

His story/myth is part of the Iliad, which is the myth about the war that destroyed his homeland.  

Aeneas story/myth continues with myth called The AEneid which is the story/myth of his travels before he reaches Italy and establishes the beginings of the Roman culture.  

When Aeneas went to Italy he carried along with him his culture and his religion which became the religion of Rome in later years.  ALl the gods were the same except they had different names.

Here are the sites:

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/aphroditevenus/a/Venus.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphrodite

http://department.monm.edu/classics/Courses/CLAS230/MythDocuments/Pantheon/Aphro...



Hope this helps.

Regards,

Irulan