Hesperus (Vesper) and Phosphorus (Eosphorus, Lucifer) are both children of the Dawn Goddess Eos / Aurora. Phosphorus, light bringer, is the herald of the dawn. He bears a flaming torch and his name is given to the glowing mineral phosphorus.
His half-brother Hesperus, the evening or supper star, represents the coming of night. Together they function as two parts of a dual-natured god.
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The planet is first officially observed and documented by Babylonian astrologers in the 17th century BCE. The later Greeks call the planet Aphrodite, after the Greek Goddess of beauty and sexual love.
Several hundred years later, the Romans are the new invaders in town. They call the planet Venus and retain the associated Goddess under the new name. Like the ancient Hittites, Romans are fond of assimilating the various cultures they battle.
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And so Hesperus and Phosporus receive the Latin names Vesper and Lucifer. They're both sons of the Dawn Goddess but have different fathers. Concordant to the inconsistency of myths, there are a few options.
Vesper is considered the brother of Atlas, the Titan who bears the Earth on his shoulders. This would make Vesper a Titan too but he's not listed as such. His association is with his mother's side of the family, the influence of Eos, the Dawn.
Lucifer's father is sometimes said to be Cephalus, an Aeolian prince of divine heritage, descended from Hermes. In other tellings, Vesper's father is Cephalus and Lucifer's father is vague.
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As Hesperus, Vesper is father (or grandfather) of the Hesperides, who guard the golden apples of the Olympian Gods. Known as Daughters of the Evening or Nymphs of the West, they're considered to be dryads of evening and the golden light of sunsets. Their mother is Nyx, or night.
As an evening deity Hesperus is associated with Aestraeus, the Greek God of Dusk. Aestraeus is consort of Eos, the Dawn Goddess. They are creation entities, and their magic is strongest at twilight times.
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The Dawn Goddess and Dusk God create the four winds, and also Eosphorus (dawn bringer) aka Phosphorus, from Greek phosphoros, bringer of light. Aestraeus is therefore another possible father of the Romanized Lucifer. Cephalus then would be the father of Vesper, as the soap opera of Greco-Roman mythology hones the fine details.
Greek is much older than Latin, which appears as a language c. 7-8th century BCE. Written Greek goes back to about the 3rd millennium BCE. Spoken Greek languages and Egyptian go back even further.
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The first written language is Sumerian c. 3100 BCE. Before that, gods exist in oral tradition. Tales are twisted in the telling, sometimes to include a local god or hero, or a rival town, which is defeated no matter what history says.
Hesperus and Phosphorus are a typical duo, pair or dyad, a subset favored by ancient myth. The Divine Twins and Bulls Seri and Hurri are examples of deific duos. In some cases mythological 'twins' are clear opposities. Of the Divine Twins, one's a warrior and one a healer.
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Myths evolve to involve deities from other cultures or origins. Today the name of Vesper is immortalized in the tradition of evening prayers, and as for Lucifer ... well, we all know what happened to him. Or do we?
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