# Venus — Metamorphoses character guide > Venus in Metamorphoses by Ovid. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Cytherea **First appearance:** 0105-story-of-venus-and-adonis ## Snapshot Goddess of love whose charm moves gods and mortals alike, she petitions Neptune for sea-deities and bends even war to her purposes. ## Who they are Venus moves through the Metamorphoses as desire itself made divine, at once a mother pleading for her kindred's immortality and a force that reshapes whatever it touches. When she asks Neptune to transform Ino and Melicerta into sea-gods, her persuasive power shows how love and lineage drive the poem's ceaseless changes. Her interventions ripple outward, turning grief into divinity and reminding readers that in Ovid's world, affection is never merely private. ## Relationships ### [Medea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/medea) _psychological_ Venus manipulates Medea's emotions to aid Jason, using her as a tool of divine will. ### [Medea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/medea) _psychological_ Venus manipulates Medea's emotions to aid Jason, using her as a tool of divine will. ## In the story ### [Story of Leucothoe and the Sun](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-leucothoe-and-the-sun) Mentioned in the context of her affair with Mars being spied by the Sun, leading to revenge. ### [Transformation of Ino and Melicerta to Sea-Gods](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/transformation-of-ino-and-melicerta-to-sea-gods) Cytherea (Venus) pities Ino and Melicerta and appeals to Neptune to grant them divine status in the sea. ### [Song of the Muses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/song-of-the-muses) Venus orchestrates the plot to inflame Pluto with love for Proserpine, urging Cupid to use his arrow. ### [Story of Nisus and Scylla](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-nisus-and-scylla) Cytherea, implied as the goddess of love inspiring Scylla's passion. ### [Book IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/book-ix) Attends the wedding of Iphis and Ianthe, and is concerned for Anchises' youth. ### [Debate of the Gods](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/debate-of-the-gods) Advocates for Anchises' restored youth, representing the theme of love and desire. ### [Fable of Iphis and Ianthe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/fable-of-iphis-and-ianthe) Present at the nuptial rites after Iphis's transformation. ### [Book X: Orpheus and Eurydice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/book-x) Aids Hippomenes in the race against Atalanta by providing golden apples. ### [Transformations of the Cerastae and Propoetides](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/transformations-of-the-cerastae-and-propoetides) The goddess who punishes the Cerastae and Propoetides for their impiety and cruelty. ### [Story of Pygmalion and the Statue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-pygmalion-and-the-statue) Goddess who answers Pygmalion's prayer and animates the statue. ### [Story of Venus and Adonis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-venus-and-adonis) Goddess of love, enamored of Adonis; narrates the tale of Atalanta and Hippomenes. ### [Book XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/book-xiv) Mother goddess who pleads with Jove to deify Aeneas, and later anoints him with ambrosial dews. ### [Adventures of Diomedes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/adventures-of-diomedes) Mindful of her wound, she decrees continued calamities for Diomedes. ### [Trojan Ships Transformed to Sea Nymphs](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/trojan-ships-transformed-to-sea-nymphs) Goddess who watches over her son Aeneas and ensures his triumph over the Latians. ### [Deification of Aeneas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/deification-of-aeneas) Venus pleads with Jupiter to deify her son Aeneas, then descends to Laurentum to oversee his purification. ### [Story of Vertumnus and Pomona](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-vertumnus-and-pomona) Mentioned in the context of a tale about how she once revenged neglected love. ### [Story of Iphis and Anaxarete](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-iphis-and-anaxarete) The Cyprian queen in whose temple the statue of Anaxarete is said to stand. ### [Latian Line](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/latian-line) Countermines Juno's schemes by enlisting the Naiads to hinder the Sabine advance. ### [Book XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/book-xv) Venus, distraught over Caesar's assassination, attempts to hide him in a cloud but is reminded by Jove of fate's inevitability. She ultimately retrieves Caesar's spirit and transforms it into a star. ### [Deification of Julius Caesar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/deification-of-julius-caesar) Venus, as Caesar's divine mother, pleads with the gods to save him and ultimately carries his soul to the stars. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/venus - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters