Adonis: Our Love vs. My Power
Venus and Adonis
I was out one beautiful day with my son Cupid when I came upon a man.
He was no ordinary man, though. He was a mortal whom I had never graced
with my presence before, the poor soul. Upon seeing him, I knew I
needed to have him.
His blue eyes were ones you could stare into for days and still
find yourself mesmerized by their beauty. His blonde locks flowed
through the wind as if feathers, and his chiseled chest? Well,
let’s just say you’ve never seen anything quite like it. He was
beautiful and, from the looks of him, he had everything I had ever
desired
in a man. Although he was a mortal, I wanted nothing more than for him
to be mine.
When I introduced myself, he quickly responded. “Of course I
know who you are, I am Adonis.” As soon as I heard this, I realized how
foolish I sounded by assuming he didn’t know who I was. (After all, I
am the
best-looking goddess around, who wouldn’t know who I am?) This moment
drastically changed my life.
Adonis and I fell in love and I never wanted him to leave my
side. He granted my every wish and obeyed my every command. He
treated me like the goddess I was, beautifully and unconditionally. We
were the new Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, hands down the best-looking
couple around.
Adonis did have his occasional slip-ups, but I was willing to
look past them for the most part. He sometimes expected me to treat him
with the respect I demanded of him and often used the excuse “I’m a
person, too!” (Person
being the key word. Not quite the same as goddess!) Poor guy thought he
deserved to have the same level of respect and power I had just because
we were dating. Luckily, he very rarely fell into these states of
demanding
equality, so I let them slide. Yes, he was a looker, but sometimes he
just didn’t realize I was the more important one in the relationship!
During one of his fits, he and I were arguing about his upcoming
hunting trip. I told him needed to stop hunting and realize what it
could do to my reputation! I couldn’t have my boyfriend wandering
around hunting for fun when we had servants to hunt for us! He said he
wasn’t getting the respect he deserved from me and stormed out to
immediately go hunting just to spite me.
I sat for hours with my arms crossed waiting for Adonis to return
and apologize for his over-reaction. After five hours had passed I
began to
worry. What would people think if he was the one who dumped me? I
couldn’t have my reputation hurt like that. I had to talk to him. I
wandered the woods for many hours in the dark until I finally found
him…or what was left of him.
Adonis had been killed by a wild boar while he was out hunting. I
didn’t know what to think. Was it my fault? Surely not! I was the one
who hated his hunting adventures and he was the one who stormed out on
me. I still to this day refuse to think I had anything to do with it;
it wasn’t my fault he couldn’t measure up to my vast amount of beauty
and power!
Author’s Note: I took the story of Venus (Aphrodite) and Adonis
and made a lot of changes to it. In the original story, Venus sets
aside her ego for the most part and shows her unconditional love for
Adonis in all ways possible. Although she loves Adonis very much, she
still tells him in the original story, “Beware how you expose yourself
to danger and put my happiness to risk.” Venus obviously thinks her
happiness is more important than anything and anyone else. I took this
idea from the original story and expanded it. In my version of the
story, I emphasized Venus’ self-centered personality traits by having
her look down upon Adonis in different ways. Although she loves the way
Adonis looks, she keeps emphasizing his flaws by comparing herself to
his inferior mortality. At the end of the story, I had Venus speak more
about how she thinks she had nothing to do with the death of Adonis
than the sorrow she felt upon finding him dead in the woods. I tried to
modernize the story by my use of informal language and references to
contemporary stars and idols. Like many of the other stories in this
storybook, Venus’ tone shows her over-confidence and complete disregard
for the feelings of others.
BACK HOME (CoverPage)
Introduction
Image
Source: Aphrodite In Love
Story:
"Chapter VIII. Venus and Adonis"
Author: Thomas Bulfinch
Book: Bulfinch's Mythology
Year Published: 1855
Web Source: Bulfinch's
Mythology