The Myth Of Aphrodite And Ares: Between Beauty And War

The myth of Aphrodite and Ares is one of the most interesting in Greek mythology. Aphrodite was the goddess of beauty and sensual love. Born from the sea, her beauty was superior to that of any other creature. Anyone who saw her, god or mortal, was enchanted by her beauty and she was well aware of it. His extreme vanity depended, in part, on this.

Hephaestus, god of fire, of the forge, of blacksmiths and craftsmen, was among those who loved Aphrodite in secret. He was the son of Hera and Zeus, the king of the gods. But she was also the opposite of Aphrodite: a clumsy creature. According to the myth of Aphrodite and Ares , when Hephaestus was born, his mother was so annoyed by his ugliness that she expelled him from Olympus.

Hephaestus was lame and hunchbacked, he looked unkempt and unpleasant. As a result of the humiliating refusal he received from his mother, he decided to take revenge. To this end, she built a magical throne in her forge and tricked Hera into sedating herself by trapping her as she was no longer able to move.

Hephaestus and Aphrodite

Faced with Hera’s pleas, Hephaestus placed only one condition for his release: that the gods give him Aphrodite as his wife. Zeus granted his wish. The myth of Aphrodite and Ares tells us that the goddess of beauty did not like this decision at all. She hated Hephaestus because he wasn’t as handsome as she was.

Hephaestus tried in every way to win Aphrodite’s affection. He created beautiful jewelry for her in his forge. However, she had no interest in the god of fire. On the contrary, whenever she could, she betrayed him with other gods and even with mortals, without her husband noticing.

Then there was Ares, god of war, violence, virility and defender of the weakest. He was also the son of Hera and Zeus, but unlike Hephaestus, he was handsome. And he also had a soft spot for goddesses and mortal women. He didn’t even bother to woo them, he just made them his.

The myth of Aphrodite and Ares

According to the myth, when the god of war saw the goddess of beauty, he fell madly in love with her. Unlike what he used to do with other lovers, he started courting her. He filled her with gifts and flattery to win her love. The two spent a lot of time together and eventually Aphrodite gave in, totally reciprocating her love.

Hephaestus spent every night in his forge. The two lovers took advantage of this to love each other until dawn. Ares walked around accompanied by a young man named Alectrione, who stood guard at the door. His mission was to let him know when Elio, the titan of the sun, appeared on the horizon. Elio saw everything and they had to keep their love story secret.

For the Greeks, any god or goddess could have any kind of love affair with whomever they wanted. However, it was not allowed to have a single lover and keep it over time, that is, formal infidelity. The relationship between Aphrodite and Ares was just of this kind.

The punishment

Everything went smoothly, until Alectrione, tired, one day fell asleep while he was on guard. As he slept, it was impossible for him to warn the two lovers of Elio’s presence. He saw the lovers in the same bed where Aphrodite slept with Hephaestus. Filled with indignation, he sought out the god of fire and told him everything.

The myth of Aphrodite and Ares tells that Hephaestus was very hurt by this. As you can imagine, he only thought about revenge. For this purpose, he designed a beautiful net made of gold threads so thin that they were almost invisible, but at the same time extremely strong. Using a few tricks, he arranged the net of gold threads over the bed. He then warned Aphrodite that he was going on a journey.

Ares, who was always aware of Hephaestus’ moves, immediately took the opportunity to visit Aphrodite. While they were busy loving each other, the web of golden threads fell on them and trapped them. Hephaestus rushed in and summoned all the gods, who laughed so much at the situation, that their laughter seemed eternal.

Later, the lovers were released and had to go to a different place. Ares punished Alectrione by transforming him into a rooster, and forcing him to crow every time the sun appeared. Eros, the god of romantic love, was born from the love of the two deities. Ares and Aphrodite were forbidden to see each other, but they broke the rule and had seven more children.