Is Astarte and Easter the same?

Answer 1

Yes and no. Astarte is the Greek name for the ancient Goddess Anat worshiped by the Canaanites (the people mentioned in the old testament as living in what is now Israel). Astarte was the Goddess of fertility and her symbols included the egg and the pomegranate. Her worship involved sexual relations including ritual prostitution. Her worship continued into the Roman Empire and to appease her followers when the Roman Empire converted from polytheism to Christianity they included the festival of Astarte as a new religious holiday Easter. The name also may derive from Esther, the Egyptian fertility Goddess who is extremely similar to Astarte in many ways and may even be derived from the same source.