In Greek mythology, the gods Hesperus and Phosphorus shared authority over the planet Venus, as the evening and morning stars, respectively. Heosphorus, meaning "dawn-bearer," and spelled with an initial Greek letter eta, is simply an alternative name for Phosphorus (meaning "light-bearer"), used much less frequently than Phosphorus. Eosphorus, spelled with the initial letter epsilon, is a modern rendering of the word, never found in the original Greek mythic canon. The syncretic ancient Roman deity equivalent of Phosphorus is Luciferus, not to be confused with the modern Christian concept of Lucifer.
Phosphorus is typically depicted in art as a winged young man crowned with stars and carrying a torch. The word Phosphorus was frequently used as an epithet for other Theoi depicted with torches, including Hekate and Eros. Likewise, in Religio Romana, Luciferus is an epithet for light-bringing gods such as Apollo; light-bringing goddesses like Aurora would be called Lucifera.
Iron Noder 2015, 10/30