mention of a resurrection for Adonis in any version of the poem. In the poem, he dies, and in some versions, he remains dead, never to even be remembered.

 

Another ancient reference to Adonis is found in a Greek Encyclopedia of Greek mythology called "The Library". This particular text is believed to have been penned by a Greek writer called Apollodorus. According to the reference, Adonis was killed while out on a hunting trip by a wild boar.

 

This leaves copycat theorists with a problem. Yes, Adonis does die, even in the earliest sources of the legends. But they would be rather hard pressed to find any reference to Jesus being killed by an angry pig while out on a hunting trip. One of the main points of the central message of Christianity is Jesus' death by crucifixion, not by an angry swine. Jesus' death also had a different purpose. While Adonis' death was simply a tragic animal attack, Jesus willingly sacrificed himself, at the hands of his enemies, to the most painful form of capital punishment ever created by human beings. The reason for this sacrifice was to defeat death itself and provide forgiveness for the sins of anyone who is willing to accept his message.

 

Did Adonis resurrect?

 

After Jesus' death, he rose again on the third day. This resurrection is permenant. Jesus can never die again, and through his resurrection, he demonstrated his ultimate power over death. In rising, Jesus promises that he will resurrect everyone who believes in him so that they, too, can enjoy eternal life in his glorious kingdom. On the other hand, there is no known record of Adonis rising from his unfortunate death in any pre-Christian literature available to us today.

 

The earliest known record of a "resurrected" Adonis comes from De Dea Syria, which was written by Lucian of Samosata in the second century A.D. This is troublesome for copycat theorists, as the New Testament was completed in the previous century. This means it is impossible for De Dea Syria to have influenced Christianity. In the text from De Dea Syria, we read "They say, at any rate, that the deed that was done to Adon by the boar occurred in their land, and in memory of that misfortune every year they beat their breasts and mourn and perform the ceremonies, making solemn lamentations throughout the country. And when the breast-beating and weeping is at end, first they make offerings to Adon as if to a dead person; and then, on the next day, they proclaim that he is alive and fetch him forth into the air, and shave their heads as the Egyptians do when Apis dies."

 

This text, again, repeats the claim that Adonis was killed by a boar, not by a cross. By reading the text, one could also conclude that, prior to the ceremony, Adonis remains dead, and that his followers make offerings to him as they do to dead people. They then claim he is alive again. But even then, the myth of Adonis' resurrection is completely different from the resurrection of Jesus. As we have previously mentioned, the resurrection of Jesus is permenant, and carries with it the power to give eternal life to all who follow Jesus. On the other hand, according to Psalm of Adonis, by third century Greek poet, Theocritus, Adonis' resurrection is only for one day a year. He is then carried out to sea. Now, if Jesus' resurrection only garanteed me a resurrection for one day each year, I would be less overjoyed to be a Christian. But the truth is, Adonis' resurrection garanteed nothing to anyone. Adonis doesn't defeat death with his own, he dies, revives and then returns to death, mirroring the cycle of plants.

 

Was Adonis born of a virgin?

 

Another alleged similarity between Jesus and Adonis is that Adonis was born of a virgin. Jesus, of course, was born to Mary, a young virgin woman who was engaged to a man named Joseph. Adonis, allegedly, was also born to a virgin mother, whose name is either Myrrh, Myrhha or Smyrna. But is this claim true? The answer is no. Most sources deny that Myrrh was a virgin when she bore Adonis. The most generally accepted account is that Myrrh tricked her father, Theias, to sleep with her under instruction from the godess Aphrodite. Theias found out about the deception and chased Myrrh with a knife. In order to save her, the gods turned her into a tree, which eventually burst open, allowing Adonis to emerge. The way in which the tree burst open varies between accounts. In one version, it bursts of its own accord. In another, it is struck by an arrow, and in yet another version, a wild boar tears it open with its tusks, supposedly foreshadowing his death.

 

The afore mentioned Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology, The Library, agrees. In it, we read "...this Smyrna conceived a passion for her father, and with the complicity of her nurse she shared her father's bed without his knowledge for twelve nights. But when he was aware of it, he drew his sword and pursued her, and being overtaken she prayed to the gods that she might be invisible; so the gods in compassion turned her into the tree which they call smyrna (myrrh). Ten months afterwards the tree burst and Adonis, as he is called, was born..."

 

Conclusion

 

As this article demonstrates, Adonis and Jesus are not as similar as copycat theorists would like you to believe. The claim that both were born of a virgin is not true. Instead, Adonis was born out of a tree. This tree was his mother, who had had sexual relations with her own father. The claim that Adonis died is true, just as all historical figures eventually die. The method and nature of their deaths, however, are completely different. While Adonis' death was at the hands of a pig while he hunted, Jesus' death was voluntary, at the hands of the Jews and the Romans, who nailed him to the cross. Adonis' death had no purpose and no power, but the Lord Jesus' death had the purpose of paying the price of sin so that those who love Jesus would not have to. Finally, it is claimed that Adonis rose again, just as Jesus did. This is not true either. While Adonis does revive once a year, he never permenantly resurrects, and even this is an idea from the second century, after Jesus' life, death and resurrection, and after the completion of the New Testament. These facts make it impossible for Jesus to be a copycat of Adonis.