Venus is the goddess of love, a mature and highly articulate female figure who is completely infatuated with Adonis. She employs physical force, cunning stratagems, and exhaustive intellectual arguments to seduce the young hunter. Her approach to love is deeply intertwined with physical desire, leading her to ignore Adonis's clear rejections and boundaries.

Adonis is an extraordinarily beautiful, innocent youth who prefers the company of male hunting companions over romantic entanglements. He is blunt and taciturn, openly disdaining Venus's advances because he views her passionate overtures as simple lust rather than true love. Inexperienced and tightly guarded, he refuses to step outside his comfortable world of masculine sports.

Mars is the god of war. According to Venus, despite his fearsome and warlike nature, he previously wooed her and was entirely subdued by her charms, going so far as to abandon his military drums for dancing and sport.

A magnificent stallion belonging to Adonis that represents natural masculine desire. When he spots a female horse, he crushes his iron bit and breaks his reins, ignoring his master's commands in order to pursue his instincts.

A small female horse (jennet) that initially resists the stallion's aggressive advances before eventually yielding. Her presence creates a natural, animalistic parallel to the awkward pursuit happening between the human and divine characters.

A fierce wild animal that Adonis plans to track with his friends. Venus views the creature with extreme terror, believing its violent nature poses an unacceptable threat to the young hunter's life and urging him to hunt smaller game instead.

Personified as an ugly, meager, and lean tyrant. Venus verbally attacks and berates this abstract concept, treating it as a literal adversary responsible for mortality and suffering when she fears for Adonis's safety.