Note 1395 — Chapter VI · (continued 2)

Her identification with the Greek goddess was perhaps furthered by a supposed relation between her name and the noun venustas, 'grace, beauty,' the special quality of Aphrodite. If that was the original sense of 'Venus,' it could hardly have indicated an æsthetic perception of nature (Wissowa, op. cit.); such a designation would be foreign to early ways of naming deities. Whether the stem van might mean 'general excellence' (here agricultural) is uncertain; on the Greek epithets 'Kallisto,' 'Kalliste,' and so forth, cf. Gruppe, Griechische Mythologie, p. 1270 f. The name 'Venus,' if connected with the root of venerari, might mean simply 'a revered object,' a deity; cf. Bona Dea and Ceres (creator).