Ares and Aphrodite: Red handed
Since many people visited this post, I have decided to add some extra content to it. This time, I will tell a story worthy of a talk show. Many of those who suffer from lovesickness will feel identified.
A Bit of Context
Hephaestus was a deformed and lame god. He was also a bit clumsy at everything except metalworking in his workshop. In that sense he was a hard worker. People also knew him for having a good heart.
But his childhood was difficult: At birth, his own mother, Hera, rejected him for his ugliness and expelled him from Olympus. But Hephaestus took revenge: He built a magical throne and tricked his mother into sitting on it. That way, he trapped her. Hephaestus agreed to release her on one condition: that the other gods give her Aphrodite in marriage. Zeus agreed and Hera was free.
Aphrodite, as expected from a goddess of love, was the most beautiful of the goddesses, and she had no problem flaunting it, by wearing only a semi transparent chiffon robe that left little to the imagination. But Hephaestus did not need to see her naked, because he could see the fire of passion burning within her.
A difficult marriage
Aphrodite detested Hephaestus, despite the boy’s efforts to conquer her, which included giving her all kinds of jewelry, which he himself made in his workshop.
Meanwhile, Aphrodite was casting furtive glances at Ares, god of war. Ares was strong an his muscles had been sculped by many battles. He was used to taking women by force, but with Aphrodite, he understood that it wouldn’t be necessary.
Cheat mode on
Ares and Aphrodite began to secretly meet for sex. Ares ordered Alectrion (a young man who always accompanied him) to watch until dawn, because the god Helios was able to see everything and he could discover them.
For the ancient Greeks it was normal for a god to have occasional sex with whomever he or she wanted, another god or even a mortal. But having a permanent lover was not ok, and these two repeated their encounters frequently. That was indeed a serious transgression.
Red-handed
At first everything was going well for the two lovebirds traitors, but one day Alectrion fell asleep. Then, the god Eos drew the curtain of the night, so that Helios could pass with his chariot through the sky.
When Helios drove his chariot past the lovers, he discovered them, sleeping together, still naked, still resting after the animal sex they had have the night before. Helios immediately went to tell Hephaestus what he had seen.
The revenge
Hephaestus began to make small iron rings, he forged them one by one, while his tears mixed with the sweat caused by the fire of the forge. Then he joined the rings in order to form a net.
Then, he waited until dawn was near, to cast the net over the lovers, relaxed and satisfied, so he could trap them.
In another version, he made the net out of fine, almost invisible, gold threads, and placed it as a trap, on the lovers’ bed. His plan was to let if fall on them once they were asleep.
The Scandal
Then, Hephaestus called the other gods, to show them what Ares and Aphrodite were doing.
The goddesses looked sideways and smiled at each other. Were they impressed by Ares’s attributes? There is not much information about it, but we can presume that they were.
The gods made sexist comments and some of them suggested a threesome or even a partner exchange.
The denouement
Finally, Poseidon asked Hephaestus to release them. Aphrodite fled, in shame, to Cyprus, and Ares to Thrace. They both promised never to see each other again, but they didn’t do much to keep their promise. So they sexual encounters went on.
From that relationship, Phobos, Deimos, Harmony, Eros and Anteros were born.
Hephaestus, for his part, had some love affairs with other beautiful maidens. So, if you are ugly, don’t loose hope.
This scandal taught the gods that neither love nor war could be controlled.
Bibliography
- Antes del Principio, by Ariel Pytrell
- https://lamenteesmaravillosa.com/el-mito-de-afrodita-y-ares-la-union-de-belleza-y-guerra/
My comic book, “My First Job” is now available in my e-shop:
Also available on the following platforms:
Related posts:
Powered by YARPP.
