- cid
- bafkreicjnrs74t537wikftea3p4yo5urna6pvgyqiqwybzq44xhhy7slye
- content_type
- image/jpeg
- filename
- 02_venus_and_adonis_1905_facsimile_page_0023.jpg
- height
- 2400
- key
- pdf-page-1769806521464-jjvpzigakao
- page_number
- 23
- pdf_type
- born_digital
- size
- 580448
- text
- VENUS AND
ADONIS
of
lamentation
for ritual
observances
in the sixth
century
b.c.
But
it
was
three centuries
later,
in
the
closing epoch of
classical
Greek
literature,
when
the
worship
of
Adonis
flourished in
its
chief
glory, that the
theme
was
developed
to
best
effect
by
Theocritus
and
Bion, the
Greek
pastoral
poets
of
Sicily.
The
fifteenth of
Theocritus'
Idylls
describes
idylls
of
the
celebration
of
the
festival
of
Adonis,
and
includes
^^^610^
a
beautiful
psalm sung
in
the
hero's
honour.
The
finest
"""
of
all
Greek poems
on
the
theme
is
Bion's pathetic
Lament
for Adonis^
which enjoyed
the
admiration
of the poets of
the
Renaissance,
and
ultimately suggested
to
Shelley
his
Adonais,
the great
elegy on
Keats.
goddess
of
love
to
spend
in
spirit
half
the
year in
Hades
with
Persephone
(Proserpina) and
half
the
year on
earth
with
Aphrodite. The
myth seems
an
anthropomorphic
interpretation
of
the
annual
birth
and
decay
of
vegetation
Adonis
being
identified
with
the
spirit
that
brings
the
flowers
and
fruits
year
by
year
to
life
and then deserting
them
leaves
them
to
decay.
This
interpreta-
tion is
confirmed by
the
name
of
'Gardens
of
Adonis
'
(.^^06
'
khZa>o,\
which
was conferred
throughout
Greece
in classical
times
on
earthen vessels
in
which
plants
were
brought
to fruition
with exceptional
rapidity
and
then
usually
faded
as
quickly.
Many
classical
authors
mention
these flower-pots
under
the
name
of
'
Gardens
of
Adonis
' (cf.
Plato,
Vhaedrus
zi6).
In
/
Henry
n,
1.
6.
6-7
Joan
of
Arc's
<
promises
'
are
likened
to
_,■
J
,
,
,
,
Adonis' gardensIhat
one day bloom'd and
fruitful
were
the
next-
sure
evidence
of
ripe
classical
knowledge
in
the
author of
this scene.
Spenser
in his
F^m.
G^j^ee^e
(Bk.
iii.
Canto
vi,
Stanzas
xxix-liii)
gives
an
eaborate
description of
'The
Garden
of
Adonis',
which he
represents
allegorically
as
the great treasury
of
Nature's
seeds
—
The
first
seminary
Of
all
things
that are
born
to live
and
die
According
to their kinds.
Developing
his
theme somewhat
irregularly,
Spenser
finally
makes
the
'
garden
'
the
eternal
home
of the
immortalized
hero
Adonis,
where he
is
visited by
his
lover
Venus
(Stanzas
xlvi-xlix).
Milton, doubtless imitating Spenser, wrote of
Spot
more
delicious
than those
gardens
feign'd
Or
of reviv'd
Adonis,
or
renown
'd
Alcinous, host
of
old Laertes'
son.
(Paradise Lost,
ix.
^3^-41.)
C
- text_extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:55:21.464Z
- text_extracted_by
- pdf-processor
- text_has_content
- true
- text_source
- born_digital
- uploaded
- true
- width
- 1632