Chapter 268 Aphrodite, Queen of the Gods

Aphrodite, Astarte, Astarte, Anat——

These similar-sounding names obviously belong to the same goddess.

This goddess originated from the Phoenician region on the east coast of the Eastern Mediterranean. She was originally one of the two supreme gods worshiped by the West Semitic people. As the queen of the gods, symbolizing women, she has the same identity as the storm god, the king of gods, symbolizing men. status.

As a goddess that originated in the Phoenician region, the Phoenician region was originally supposed to be the center of Aphrodite's worship.

But after hundreds of years of glory, the Phoenician region began to be ruled by invaders such as the Egyptian Empire, the Western Empire, and the Kingdom of Mitanni.

Losing their independent status, although the Phoenicians could continue to worship Aphrodite, they could no longer provide a seat for their patron goddess.

So Aphrodite moved to Cyprus, making Cyprus the center of her worship.

Yin Shitar, Yin Nanna——

These two similar-sounding names belong to Inshtar, the queen of the gods in the Mesopotamia.

Because Aphrodite and Inshtar influenced each other and evolved into similar goddesses, people who don't understand the myth think that Aphrodite and Inshtar are the same goddess.

This is of course a completely wrong interpretation.

If Aphrodite and Inshtar influence each other, consider Aphrodite and Inshtar as the same goddess.

According to the same logic, Aphrodite and the lion goddess in Egypt influenced each other, and it can also be considered that Aphrodite and the lion goddess in Egypt are the same goddess.

Aphrodite and Inshtar are the same goddess——

Aphrodite and the lion goddess are the same goddess——

After drawing these two conclusions, a new conclusion will finally be drawn. Inshtar in the Mesopotamia and the lion goddess in Egypt are the same goddess.

But anyone with a normal mind knows that Yinshtar and the Lion Goddess can never be the same goddess.

After overturning these absurd conclusions, we can draw the normal conclusion that Aphrodite and the Lion Goddess are not the same goddess, and Aphrodite and Inshtar are not the same goddess.

Treating different goddesses from different regions as the same goddess simply because of the confusion caused by the mutual influence between gods is the most irresponsible way of interpreting myths.

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Of course, Luo Yin believed that Aphrodite and Inshtar were different goddesses because they had completely different origins.

The origin of Aphrodite is the Phoenician region on the east coast of the Eastern Mediterranean.

The origin of Inshtar is the Sumer area in the eastern Mesopotamia.

The West Semites who originally worshiped Aphrodite were nomadic people.

The Sumerians who originally worshiped Inshtar were more like a farming people.

Whether it is the place of origin or the origin nation of worship, Aphrodite and Inshtar are fundamentally different.

The port of Cilicia.

Penthesilea stood on the sea with a huge god figure, looking at Aphrodite with a smile on her face.

"Aphrodite, since you have come to the island of Cyprus, the Phoenicians worship Astarte as the moon goddess. I really can't blame you!"

After hearing Penthesilea's words, Aphrodite immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said.

"It's great that you understand! Before I left the Phoenician region, I had absorbed many concepts from Mesopotamia and Egypt, and had very complex divinities. Now I just want to keep some really useful divinities, I no longer want to add unnecessary divinity.”

"Queen of the Gods, Goddess of War, Goddess of Love, Goddess of Venus, Goddess of Hades, Goddess of Vengeance, Goddess of Harvest, Goddess of Beauty, Goddess of Navigation—"

Penthesilea talked about the divinity possessed by Aphrodite and teased with a sneer.

"I do believe that your divinity has become so complicated that you don't want to add new divinities, but you have never really surrendered to me and my sister, just like the Kingdom of Cyprus only nominally surrendered to the Xitai Empire. Now you can help I will destroy the intruder Zeus and prove to me that you are truly one of my own!”

"Can I refuse your order?"

Aphrodite said with a troubled expression.

"The Kingdom of Cyprus just wants to have good relations with everyone, and does not want to get involved in the war between the Xitai Empire and the Mycenaeans."

"Do you want to be my enemy?"

Penthesilea said coldly.

"Aphrodite, you should know very well that the Kingdom of Cyprus can nominally surrender to the Xitai Empire. It is not that the Xitai Empire does not have the strength to conquer Cyprus Island across the sea. It is just that conquering Cyprus Island with war is somewhat The gain outweighs the loss. In the same way, as long as I pay a certain price, I can teach you a painful lesson."

Facing the threat of Penthesilea, Aphrodite sighed helplessly, then summoned her golden bow, bent the bow and aimed an arrow at Zeus and said.

"Sorry, Zeus! I don't want to be an enemy with the Moon Queen more than I am an enemy with you. After all, the Mycenaeans are far away from the island of Cyprus, and the Xitai Empire is very close to the island of Cyprus."

After saying this, Aphrodite missed her arrow and shot it at Zeus.

After Zeus used his thunder power to block Aphrodite's arrow from missing, he looked at Penthesilea with vigilant eyes, and at the same time led the Mycenaeans away from the Gulf of Cilicia.

Amphitryon received the oracle revelation from Zeus and anxiously ordered the soldiers to return to the ship.

After Zeus and the Mycenaeans' expeditionary fleet accelerated away from the port, Penthesilea saw that Aphrodite's attack could not cause any harm to Zeus, so she held the Moonlight Axe in her left hand and threw it at Zeus.

Swish——

The Moonlight Axe drew a silver light and split Zeus' body in half, and then, like a falling meteor, it hit the flagship on which Luo Yin and Amphitryon were riding.

The next moment!

The flagship was split in half by the Moonlight Axe, and everyone on the ship fell into the water.

"Fierce goddess of war, just stop like this!"

Luo Yin spread her white wings behind her, flew hundreds of meters into the air, and looked at Penthesilea and Aphrodite and said.

"The Mycenaeans came here to eliminate pirates, not to wage war against the Hittite Empire. Although I hate Zeus, I don't want to see innocent Mycenaeans die here."

"Goddess of war——"

Penthesilea stared at Luo Yin with her beautiful red eyes and said.

"Who were you talking to just now?"

"What a superfluous question! In front of you, the Queen of the Moon, Aphrodite cannot be the Moon Goddess, and of course cannot be the Goddess of War. Right here and now, you are the only Goddess of War."

Hearing Luo Yin's words, Aphrodite immediately puffed up her face in dissatisfaction.

In front of Penthesilea, Aphrodite did not want to call herself the Moon Goddess Astarte, not only because she did not want to offend Penthesilea, but also because there were too many divinities, and she really regarded the Moon Goddess as a dispensable chicken rib.

But the Goddess of War is one of Aphrodite's original divinities. Even if she had to fight Penthesilea, Aphrodite did not want to give up the identity of the Goddess of War.

Penthesilea was obviously very satisfied with Luo Yin's words. She pointed the moonlight spear in her right hand at Luo Yin and said.

"I can let the Mycenaeans go, but you, a suspicious guy, will be punished for them."