Adonis is a character from Greek mythology.
Adonis is a term that, according to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), refers to a young man of great beauty . The meaning of the concept derives from the mythology of Ancient Greece .
Mythological stories say that Adonis was a young man who was born from an incestuous relationship between Cinyras (his father) and Myrrha (his mother and also sister). Since his childhood, he caused admiration for his beauty : upon seeing him, the goddess Aphrodite was enchanted and fell in love. In this way, Aphrodite decided to take Adonis and lock him in a chest that she gave to Persephone for her care. Persephone , upon learning the contents of the chest, also marveled at the beautiful Adonis and did not want to return it.
Continuing with mythology , it is said that Zeus resolved the conflict between Aphrodite and Persephone by making Adonis spend four months with each of them and the remaining four months of the year with whomever he chose. Adonis , in this framework, chose Aphrodite .
Adonis in botany and art
Adonis ' death occurred from an attack by a wild boar . Their blood gave rise to the emergence of anemones ; The blood of Aphrodite , who was injured while helping him, allowed the emergence of another flower that is known, precisely, as adonis.
Within the artistic field, mythology has become a marked source of inspiration. Precisely due to this circumstance, there are numerous works that exist and that revolve around episodes of the same or its characters. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are some that take Adonis as the protagonist.
Specifically, we are referring to the painting titled “Venus and Adonis” , an oil on canvas dated 1520 that was made by the famous artist Titian . However, we cannot ignore other paintings that also revolve around that figure, such as those made by Hurtado de Mendoza or Lodovico Dolce.
There is a flower known as adonis.
Other uses of the term
From all this history , today any young man who stands out for his beauty is known as an adonis. For example: “Mauro is an adonis: all the girls in the neighborhood are crazy about him,” “When he was young he was an adonis, but now the passage of time can be seen in his face.”
In addition to a genus of plants, Adonis is also the name of an asteroid , a genus of moths and specialized software made for companies with which they can undertake business process management much more easily.
The writer Adonis
Adonis , finally, is the pseudonym of the Syrian writer Ahmad Said Esber . This author has to his credit important international recognitions such as the Picasso Medal (1984) awarded by UNESCO, the Nonino Poetry Prize (1999) or the Goethe Prize (2011), without forgetting that he is one of the “eternal” candidates to obtain the Nobel Prize in Literature .
Among his best-known works published in Spanish, some stand out such as these: “Songs of Mihyar of Damascus” (1997), “Epitaph for New York” (1987), “Shadow for the Desire of the Sun” (2012) or “History tearing into the body of a woman.”