Phosphorus (morning star)
Channel: all the knowledge of the universe PRINCIPIA
Date: 2022-01-18

Phosphorus (morning star), by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1006245 / CC BY SA 3.0

#Greek_gods
#Stellar_gods
#Venusian_deities
#Venus_in_culture
#Lucifer
#Children_of_Eos
The morning star personified.
Engraving by G.H. Frezza, 1704 Phosphorus （Greek Φωσφόρος Phōsphoros） is one of the Astra Planeta, specifically the god of the planet Venus in its appearance as the Morning Star.
Another Greek name for the Morning Star is Heosphorus （Greek Ἑωσφόρος Heōsphoros）, meaning "the dawn-bringer".
The form Eosphorus is sometimes met in English.
As an adjective, the Greek word φωσφόρος is applied in the sense of "light-bringing" to, for instance, the dawn, the god Dionysus, pine torches, the day; and in the sense of "torch-bearing" as an epithet of several gods and goddesses,
especially Hecate but also of Artemis/Diana and Hephaestus.
Objectively, Venus is the "light bringer" as she appears most brightly in the sky in December （optical illusion due to days being shorter）;
the most regular appearance of the planet signalled a beginning of "rebirth" phase where the days would get longer and winter would end.
The morning star is an appearance of the planet Venus, an inferior planet, meaning that its orbit lies between that of the Earth and the Sun.
Depending on the orbital locations of both Venus and Earth, it can be seen in the eastern morning sky for an hour or so before the Sun rises and dims it,
or （as the evening star） in the western evening sky for an hour or so after the Sun sets, when Venus itself then sets.
Venus is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon, outshining the planets Jupiter and Saturn but, while these rise high in the sky, Venus never does.
This may lie behind myths about deities associated with the morning star proudly striving for the highest place among the gods and being cast down.
Stanisław Wyspiański: Phosphoros, Eos, Helios, Hesperos.
Pencil drawing, The National Museum in Warsaw, 1897 In Greek mythology, Hesiod calls...