Adonis is a term that refers to a young man of great beauty. The meaning of the concept derives from the mythology of Ancient Greece.
Mythological stories tell that Adonis was a young man who was born from an incestuous relationship between Cíniras (his father) and Mirra (his mother and also sister). Already from his childhood he caused admiration for its beauty: when seeing it, the goddess Aphrodite was delighted and fell in love. In this way, Aphrodite decided to take Adonis and lock him in a chest that he gave to Persephone for his care. Persephone, upon learning the contents of the chest, also marveled at the beautiful Adonis and did not want to return it.
Following mythology, Zeus is said to have resolved the conflict between Aphrodite and Persephone by having Adonis spend four months with each and the remaining four months of the year with whomever he chose. Adonis, in this framework, opted for Aphrodite.
Adonis’ death was caused by a wild boar attack. Its blood gave rise to the anemones; Aphrodite’s blood, which was injured when 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 for 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 is one that takes Adonis as the protagonist.
Specifically, we are referring to the painting entitled “Venus and Adonis”, an oil on canvas dated to the year 1520 that was made by the famous artist Titian. However, we cannot overlook other paintings that also revolve around this figure, such as those made by Hurtado de Mendoza or Lodovico Dolce.
From all this history, today all young people who stand out for their beauty are known as 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 shows on his face”.
In addition to a genus of plants, Adonis is also the name of an asteroid, a genus of moths, and the pseudonym of Syrian writer Ahmad Said Esber.
This author has to his credit important international recognitions such as the Picasso Medal (1984) granted by UNESCO, the Nonino Poetry Prize (1999) or the Goethe Prize (2011), without forgetting that he is one of the “eternal” candidates to achieve the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Among his best-known and published works in Spanish, some stand out such as these: “Songs from the Mihyar of Damascus” (1997), “Epitaph for New York” (1987), “Shadow for the desire of the sun” (2012) or “History tearing into a woman’s body. ”
It should not be overlooked either that Adonis is the name of specialized software made for companies with which they can undertake in a much simpler way what is the management of business processes.
