Adonis was the most handsome mortal man in the world. He is a former lover and ward of two goddesses, Aphrodite and Persephone.
History[]
Life[]
Aphrodite, one of Adonis' lovers.
After his pregnant mother was turned into a tree to save her from her father’s wrath, Adonis was born from the tree nine months later. He was found by Aphrodite, who raised him along with Persephone in their respective palaces.
When Adonis came of age and his beauty grew, both of the goddesses wanted him for themselves and took him to Zeus to decide what to do. The king of the gods decrees that Adonis will spend one-third of the year with Aphrodite, one-third of the year with Persephone, and one third of the year on his own.
The plan appeased the goddesses, but Adonis' time with Persephone overlapped with her time with Hades, so he spent most of that time in the Underworld hiding from the god of the dead. During his time with Aphrodite, he was constantly at the love goddess' side. Adonis and Aphrodite were a happy couple and had a demigod daughter, Beroe, who later became the nymph-goddess of a city named Beruit, in Phoenicia.
Death[]
One day, when he was out hunting, Adonis was attacked by a wild boar - possibly sent by Ares, the main lover of Aphrodite - and died. Depressed, Aphrodite turned his corpse into the first anemone flower. He was the only lover of Persephone, who was also saddened by his death.