In Greek mythology, Adonis was an extremely handsome youth who died and was reborn. Like many other mythological figures who are resurrected,to raise from the dead Adonis became associated with the annual cycle of the seasons in which vegetation dies in the fall and grows again in the spring. Adonis's counterpart in Near Eastern mythology was the god Tammuz.

According to tradition, Adonis was the son of Myrrha and her father, Theias, the king of Assyria. So attractive was the infant Adonis that Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of love, fell in love with him. She hid the baby in a box and gave him to Persephone, goddess of the underworld,land of the dead for safekeeping. When Persephone saw Adonis, however, she also fell in love with him and refused to return him to Aphrodite.