View source for Hesperus

{{Short description|The planet Venus in the evening}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Mengs, Hesperus als Personifikation des Abends.jpg|thumb|right|180px|''Hesperus as Personification of the Evening Star'' by [[Anton Raphael Mengs]] (1765).]]

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Hesperus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ɛ|s|p|ə|r|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Ἕσπερος|Hésperos}}) is the '''Evening Star''', the planet [[Venus]] in the evening. A son of the dawn goddess [[Eos]] ([[Roman mythology|Roman]] [[Aurora (mythology)|Aurora]]), he is the half-brother of her other son, [[Phosphorus (morning star)|Phosphorus]] (also called Eosphorus; the "Morning Star"). Hesperus' Roman equivalent is '''Vesper''' (cf. "evening", "supper", "evening star", "west"<ref>''Collins Latin Dictionary plus Grammar'', p. 231. {{ISBN|0-06-053690-X}}.</ref>).  By one account, Hesperus' father was [[Cephalus]], a mortal, while Phosphorus was the star god [[Astraeus]]. Other sources, however, state that Hesperus was the brother of [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]], and thus the son of [[Iapetus (mythology)|Iapetus]].<ref>Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica'' 4.27.1.</ref>

== Variant names ==
[[File:Antalya museum Gigantomachy Selene, Hesperos and Nix 3151.jpg|thumb|[[Selene]], Hesperus and [[Nyx]] fight against the [[Giants (Greek mythology)|Giants]], [[Antalya Museum]].]]

Hesperus is the personification of the "evening star", the planet [[Venus]] in the evening.  His name is sometimes conflated with the names for his brother, the personification of the planet as the "morning star"  Eosphorus (Greek {{lang|grc|Ἐωσφόρος}}, "bearer of dawn") or [[Phosphorus (morning star)|Phosphorus]] (Ancient Greek: {{lang|grc|Φωσφόρος}}, "bearer of light", often translated as "[[Lucifer]]" in Latin), since they are all personifications of the same planet Venus. "Heosphoros" in the Greek [[Septuagint]] and "Lucifer"  in  [[Jerome]]'s Latin [[Vulgate]] were used to translate the Hebrew "[[Helel]]" (Venus as the brilliant, bright or shining one), "son of [[Shahar (god)|Shahar]] (Dawn)" in the Hebrew version of [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] 14:12.

Eosphorus/Hesperus was said to be the father of [[Ceyx (husband of Alcyone)|Ceyx]]<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'', 65</ref> and [[Daedalion]].<ref>[[Ovid]]. ''[[Metamorphoses]]''. Book XI, 295.</ref> In some sources, he is also said to be the father of the [[Hesperides]].<ref>Servius. ad Aen. 4,484.</ref>

[[Maurus Servius Honoratus]], in his commentaries on [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Eclogues]]'', mentions that Hesperus inhabited [[Mount Oeta]] in [[Thessaly]] and that there he had loved the young [[Hymen (god)|Hymenaeus]], son of [[Dionysus]] and [[Ariadne]]. Servius makes no distinction between the Evening Star and the Morning Star, calling them both Hesperus and the Lucifer of [[Mount Ida|Ida]].<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0091%3Apoem%3D8%3Acommline%3D30 Serv. Ecl. 8.30]</ref>

== "Hesperus is Phosphorus" ==
{{Main|Frege's puzzles}}
In the [[philosophy of language]], "Hesperus is Phosphorus" is a famous sentence in relation to the [[semantics]] of [[proper name]]s. [[Gottlob Frege]] used the terms "the evening star" (''der Abendstern'') and "the morning star" (''der Morgenstern'') to illustrate his distinction between [[sense and reference]], and subsequent philosophers changed the example to "Hesperus is Phosphorus" so that it utilized proper names. [[Saul Kripke]] used the sentence to posit that the knowledge of something necessary (in this case the identity of Hesperus and Phosphorus) could be empirical rather than knowable ''[[a priori and a posteriori|a priori]]''.

==See also==
* [[Aurvandill]], a figure in German mythology also known as Earendel
* [[Hesperides]]
* [[Lucifer]], the Latin name for the Morning Star
* "[[The Wreck of the Hesperus]]", a poem by [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]]
* [[Aspect of Venus]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==

* [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''The Library of History'' translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather]]. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59&ndash;8. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
* [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Maurus Servius Honoratus]], ''In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii;'' recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0053 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Ovid|Publius Ovidius Naso]], ''Metamorphoses'' translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* [[Ovid|Publius Ovidius Naso]], ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].

== External links ==
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Hesperus |volume=13 |short=x}}

{{Venus}}
{{Greek religion}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Children of Eos]]
[[Category:Demigods in classical mythology]]
[[Category:Greek gods]]
[[Category:LGBTQ themes in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Philosophy of language]]
[[Category:Stellar gods]]
[[Category:Venusian deities]]