Adonis
Adonis was the Greek god of beauty and desire. His religion belonged to women. Adonis was the deity of plants. He is known as a god who was forever young, the one who would live and die only to be born again. This cycle is repeated without end. The cult of Adonis is made up of women, as it is evident from the 2,600-year-old remains found on the island of Lesbos.
Athenian women planted the "garden of Adonis" where the seeds would spring to life and then die to be reborn a few months later. The festival of Adonis was celebrated in mid-summer when fennel and lettuce were harvested. Unfortunately, these plants would wither very quickly and the women would mourn their decline as the death of the youthful Adonis.
Adonis Media
Fragment of an Attic red-figure wedding vase (c. 430–420 BC), showing women climbing ladders up to the roofs of their houses carrying "gardens of Adonis"
Attic red-figure aryballos painting by Aison (c. 410 BC) showing Adonis consorting with Aphrodite
The Adonis River (now known as the Abraham River) in Lebanon was said to run red with blood each year during the festival of Adonis.[2]
Photograph of Sir James George Frazer, the anthropologist who is most directly responsible for promoting the concept of a "dying and rising god" archetype[3][4][5]
Death of Adonis (1684–1686) by Luca Giordano
