Aphrodite: The Affair with Ares
Image Information: Aphrodite. Menophantos. Marble, Greek artwork, 1st
century BC.
From the Church at San Gregorio al Celio. Wikipedia.
"I am the ultimate goddess of love, you all should
know. I put all of you to shame with knowledge of true love," declared
Aphrodite, arranging herself into a perfect posture to sit tall among
the other goddesses. Her entire body gleamed with golden necklaces,
tiaras, belts, rings, and bracelets, each fabulously decorated
with pink and crystal diamonds. But her image was not overwhelming;
instead, she managed to convey a fantastic, classical beauty that
seemed to dull the sparkling diamonds.
"There's
the wine talking," responded Ishtar. "Soon she'll be trying to convince
us that we should not even be considered goddesses of love." Ishtar,
flawlessly beautiful, was adorned with less gold than Aphrodite.
Instead, Ishtar wore brilliant, bright rubies and emeralds that
she had collected throughout her life.
"Well, you
shouldn't be. Not compared to me, at least. It seems I'm out of wine."
Just as the words left Aphrodite's lips, her golden wine glass refilled
itself with dark, red wine.
"Oh,
hush. You know we all are experienced on the issue in different ways,"
Frejya chimed in. Frejya was dressed in simple, elegant silver and
gold jewelry, "But I must say, we have been
apart for quite a long time. I wouldn't mind hearing a few stories
since we've been away from each other."
Now it
was Urvashi's turn to speak, "Yes, I love story time! But only one story at a time, Aphrodite. We
don't want to hear only about you for the whole night." Urvashi was the
least jeweled of the goddesses; her naturally glimmering skin needed
few extra adornments.
"Fine,"
said Aphrodite, "if I can only give you one story, then I guess it will
have to be a good one. Hmmm... Oh, I know just the one! This should
show you all how great my power over love is...
"As you
all know, or should know, I love a
challenge, especially when it comes to love. Well, I was bored with
Hephaistos, my husband. He means well, but he's just crippled, always
knocking things over, and so
very dull. I decided to set my eyes upon Ares, the stunning Greek god
of war. I always get what I want, and soon Ares was eating
out of the palm of my hand. It was thrilling, just the excitement I
needed in my life. He showered me with presents, flowers, and poems of
love, all in secret. Everything we did together was done with utmost
secrecy, which was the best part. You haven't lived until you've felt
the rush of a hidden love affair. I felt like a fugitive; it was great!
"Despite
our strict secrecy, I guess we became too obsessed with our love for
each other and started being careless. The first rule in having an
affair is
to never forget that it is an affair, not to be seen by
others. Helios, the sun god, discovered my affair with Ares. Had I
known, I would have ended things then, but I was completely ignorant of
my mistake. For some idiotic reason, Helios felt obligated
to tell Hephaistos the news. Rule number two in having
an affair: Do not betray a cunning, witty man. Though Hephaistos is
crippled and slow, he is very clever. He designed an invisible trap
over our marriage bed. When he went off to Lemnos, or so I thought he
was leaving, I invited Ares into my bedroom. I was so excited about
having an entire week for just Ares and I that I did not even consider
any traps in my home. When we went to bed together, the trap fell upon
Ares and me, and we were caught embracing each other. It must have been
quite a sight because all the gods came to get a good laugh.
So, there Ares and I were, chained together, unable to move, the joke
of the gods. Hephaistos obviously proved himself and managed to
completely embarrass the god of war. The ironic part is that after
everything, Hephaistos became extremely attractive to me. His invisible
trap reminded me of his cunning abilities that first drew me to him.
The affair actually helped our marriage. I would definitely do
the whole thing over again if I could. Remember, ladies, affairs are
not
always bad."
Beaming
with accomplishment, Aphrodite finished the last of her wine and
looked at the other three goddesses. She was very happy with her story,
and she knew she had taught the other goddesses something they did not
know about love. She had proved herself to be a true expert of love.
Author's
Note: I used the story of Aphrodite and Ares from Homer's
"Odyssey." I changed the original story to tell the myth from the
perspective of Aphrodite. I tried to add more of what Aphrodite was
feeling and thinking throughout the affair. Aphrodite was known for her
many love affairs, so I assume that she thinks positively on the
subject. I kept the main plot line the same, having Helios tell
Hephaistos of the affair. I excluded a few details about Hephaistos,
however. In the original myth, Hephaistos threatens to
keep Ares and Aphrodite in the invisible trap until Zeus,
Aphrodite's father, gives Hephaistos back all the gifts he had lacked
from birth. In the end, Poseidon grants Hephaistos his wish so that he
will set Ares free. Because I omitted some of the details of
Hephaistos, my story is slightly shorter than the original, but I did
add some details about Aphrodite. I also changed the end of the myth.
In the original story, Ares, Aphrodite, and Hephaistos all go separate
ways. I wanted to make a point that Aphrodite likes all aspects of
having a scandalous affair, so I changed to end to have Aphrodite and
Hephaistos actually increase their attraction for one another. This
way, both Hephaistos and Aphrodite benefit from the affair between Ares
and Aphrodite.
Original Story: Aphrodite
and Ares
Bibliography:
Wikipedia
Theoi Greek Mythology
Back to
Storybook