Aphrodite and the Legend of the Red Roses

In the realm of love and beauty, ‘Aphrodite’ is widely recognized as the goddess who bestows love and beauty upon the valiant heroes of numerous Greek legends. She is also the instigator of the ‘Trojan War’, ignited by the flames of love. It is said that her love possesses such formidable power that it can erase the wisdom from the minds of scholars, leading them to fall in love irrationally. Thus, it gave rise to the saying ‘love without reason’ or ‘love makes people blind’. Nevertheless, aside from the enchanting Aphrodite, when love is mentioned, many minds often conjure the image of the ‘rose’, a flower that shares a profound connection with the goddess of love, Aphrodite, and is the very bloom she holds at the moment of her birth, emerging from the sea foam. Legend has it that Aphrodite once fell deeply in love with a young man named Adonis, a skilled hunter roaming in the forests. Her love for Adonis was so intense that she never let him wander far, always expressing concern and warning him about the dangers of hunting in the wild. One day, fate took a cruel turn, forcing Adonis to hunt alone, leading to an encounter with a mighty boar that left him battered and wounded. Upon hearing the cries of her beloved, Aphrodite rushed to his aid, but not without getting picked by the thorns of a white rose. Unfortunately, before Aphrodite could reach him, Adonis had taken his last breath, Overwhelmed with grief, the goddess of love wept, and her tears mingled with Adonis’s blood, giving birth to the red roses. Fueled by Aphrodite’s profound love for a mere mortal, the red rose transformed into a symbol of love. This poignant tale is commemorated on Valentine’s Day, representing a deep and sincere proclamation of affection in place of words.