Source Verification: Adonis

Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.

What the Sources Attest

Why did Aphrodite hide Adonis?

Apollodorus says she hid him for his beauty, while he was still an infant. She put him in a chest, unknown to the other gods, and gave the chest to Persephone to keep. When Persephone saw the child she refused to return him. Aphrodite brought the case to Zeus, who split the year into three parts. The hiding is Apollodorus's Panyasis version. Ovid has no chest and no Persephone in this scene, and has Venus fall for him after Cupid's arrow grazes her.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.14.4

Is Adonis Greek or Lebanese?

He belongs to Greek myth, but his name is probably Semitic. Apollodorus makes him a Cypriot, son of Cinyras of Paphos and Metharme, though Panyasis calls his father king of Assyria and Hesiod calls him son of Phoenix. Scholars derive the name from Semitic adon, lord, but Burkert notes no Semitic cult matches the Greek one exactly. The Greek sources never place him in Lebanon, so Lebanese claims rest on modern scholarship, not on any passage we have.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.14.3

Did Aphrodite and Adonis have a child?

Nonnus's Dionysiaca says so. There Beroe, a girl born of Aphrodite to Assyrian Adonis, is courted by suitors. Nonnus wrote in the fifth century AD, long after the earlier sources. Apollodorus and Ovid, the fullest older accounts, record no child of the pair. Ovid gives Venus only a short season of hunting beside him before he dies.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.14.4

Does Persephone love Adonis?

The sources do not say she loves him. Apollodorus says only that when she opened the chest and saw him, she would not give him back. That refusal is why Zeus split his year among Adonis, Persephone and Aphrodite. Bion's lament ends with Adonis gone down to Acheron, where Persephone keeps him, and Ovid mentions her only as the goddess who once turned the nymph Menthe into mint. Her desire is an inference, not a stated motive.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.14.4

What is the story of Adonis?

Adonis is born from the myrrh tree into which his mother is changed. Aphrodite falls for him and hides him in a chest with Persephone, who refuses to return him. Zeus divides his year among the two goddesses and Adonis himself. Later Adonis is killed by a boar while hunting, and Aphrodite mourns him. Ovid turns his blood into the anemone, and Theocritus shows Alexandria celebrating him at the Adonia.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.14.4

How was Adonis killed?

A boar killed him during a hunt. Apollodorus says it gored him through the anger of Artemis. Ovid has him wound the boar with a spear, after which it drove its tusk into his groin, and adds that Venus had warned him against wild boars. Bion places the wound in the thigh. Nonnus makes the boar Ares in disguise, driven by jealousy.

Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.652-716

Where Accounts Differ

who Adonis's parents were
who sent the boar
where the boar wounded Adonis
how Adonis's year was divided
which flower grew from his death
whether Adonis had a child
whether Adonis is Greek or Semitic

Adonis's parents differ by source. Apollodorus (Library 3.14.3) makes him a son of Cinyras and Metharme, daughter of Pygmalion, and then reports that Hesiod called him a son of Phoenix and Alphesiboea, and Panyasis a son of Thias, king of Assyria, and Smyrna (Library 3.14.4). Ovid gives Myrrha and Cinyras (Metamorphoses 10.298-518). Bion calls him the son of Cinyras.
The cause of the boar's attack differs. Apollodorus says it came through the anger of Artemis (Library 3.14.4). Ovid gives no divine cause, only Adonis's own courage against Venus's warning (Metamorphoses 10.652-716). Nonnus makes the boar Ares in disguise, moved by jealousy (Dionysiaca 42).
The wound is placed in two spots. Ovid has the tusk enter the groin (Metamorphoses 10.652-716), while Bion's lament has it pierce the white thigh.
Adonis's share of the year is told in three ways. Apollodorus splits it among Adonis, Persephone and Aphrodite, and adds that Adonis gave his own share to Aphrodite (Library 3.14.4). Theocritus has the Hours bring him from Acheron in the twelfth month (Idyll 15). Bion leaves him with Persephone.
The flower differs. Ovid makes the anemone from Adonis's blood (Metamorphoses 10.652-739). In the Barrett Browning translation of Bion, his blood becomes a rose and Aphrodite's tears the wind-flower.
Whether Aphrodite and Adonis had a child differs by period. Nonnus gives them a daughter, Beroe (Dionysiaca 42), while Apollodorus and Ovid mention none.
The Semitic origin of the name is a modern scholarly view, not an ancient statement. Burkert holds that adon, lord, is the likely source of the name, but that no Semitic cult matches the Greek one exactly.

Sources

Primary sources

Apollodorus, Library 3.14.3
Apollodorus, Library 3.14.4
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.298-502
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.298-518
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.519-559
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.560-680
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.652-716
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.652-739
Theocritus, Idyll 15
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.41.2