VENUS, in pagan worship, the goddess of love and beauty. Cicero mentions two other deities of this name; Venus, styled Urania and Celestis; and the Venus Pandemos, or Popularis, the wife of Vulcan, and the goddess of wanton and effeminate love. To the first the Pagans ascribed no attributes but such as were agreeable to the strictest chastity and virtue; and of this deity they admitted no corporeal resemblance, she being only represented by the form of a globe, ending conically. Her sacrifices were termed nephelia, on account of their sobriety. To her honey and wine were offered, and no animal except the heifer; and on her altars the wood of figs, vines, or mulberries, were not suffered to be burnt. The Romans dedicated a temple to this goddess, to whom they gave the name of Ventricordia;
Venus Veragua; because she turned the hearts of lewd women, and inspired modesty and virtue.
But the most famous of these goddesses is the wife of Vulcan; who is represented as springing from the froth raised by the genitals of Saturn, when cut off by Jupiter and thrown into the sea. As soon as she was formed, she was laid in a beautiful shell embellished with pearl, and wafted by gentle zephyrs to the isle of Cytherea, whence she sailed to Cyprus. At her landing, flowers rose beneath her feet: she was received by the Hours, who braided her hair with golden fillets; and then wafted her to heaven, where her charms appeared so attractive, that most of the gods desired her in marriage; but Vulcan, by the advice of Jupiter, gained possession by putting poppies into her nectar. As Venus was the goddess of love and pleasure, the poets have been lavish in the description of her beauties; and the painters and statuary have endeavoured to give her the most lovely form. Sometimes she is represented clothed in purple, glittering with gems, her head crowned with roses, and drawn in an ivory car by swans, doves, or sparrows; at others, she stands attended by the Graces; but in all positions, her son Cupid is her inseparable companion. She was honoured as the mother of Hymeneus, Cupid, Aeacus, and the Graces, and was passionately fond of Adonis and Anchises.
This goddess was principally worshipped at Paphos and Cyprus; and the sacrifices offered to her were white goats and swine, with libations of wine, milk, and honey. Her victims were crowned with flowers, or wreaths of myrtle.
Venus's Fly-Trap. See DIONEA Muscipula.
Venus, in zoology, a genus of insects belonging to the order of vermes testacea. Its animal is a tethys; the hinge with three teeth near each other, one placed longitudinally and bent inwards. There are a great many species; of which the most remarkable is the menaria, or commercial, with a strong, thick, weighty shell, covered with a brown epidermis; pure white within; slightly striated transversely. Circumference above 11 inches. These are called in North America clams; they differ from other species only in having a purple tinge within. Wampum, or Indian money, is made of them.