Dear Diary, 

Do you know what it is like to have your partner in marriage determined for you? I have no control over who I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with and nothing I do will change the situation. I foolishly agreed to an arrangement made by Zeus because I was certain my lover, Ares, would succeed in receiving my hand in marriage. It is such a complicated story, but this is how it all started:

Hephaestus was cast from heaven by his mother, Hera, when he was only a baby because he was born crippled. Hera just so happens to be Zeus's Queen as well, and she was ashamed she had given birth to an abnormal son and immediately rid herself of her newborn baby. In my opinion, I understand why Hera cast him away because he is simply grotesque in appearance and extremely lame. Although he is unattractive, I guess I should note how skilled he is. He is an unbelievable craftsman and blacksmith.

Lucky for him, when Hephaestus was thrown from heaven by Hera he landed in the ocean and was then rescued by Thetis, an ocean nymph. Thetis and Euronyme, two goddesses of the sea, took Hephaestus in and raised him as their own.  Therefore, Hephaestus is sort of like me, because he did not have conventional parents either…which is probably the only thing we share in common. After all, he is hideous and I am considered the fairest of all the goddesses. Anyways, Hephaestus was rasied as a blacksmith and from time to time he sent numerous gifts to Mount Olympus. He was extremely talented at creating things and could even create objects with magical qualities. Cleverly, one of the gifts he sent was a golden throne that he slyly created to get back at Hera for her harsh treatment. The throne was cursed so that once Hera sat upon the throne, she was bound to it and could not escape.

Zeus desperately sought assistance from the gods to free his Queen. He was so dedicated to liberating his wife that he vowed to offer my hand in marriage to the god who could bring Hephaestus to Olympus to free his Queen. Unfortunately, I agreed to this arrangement because I was convinced my beloved Ares would be the one to bring Hephaestus to Olympus because, after all, he is the god of war. Looking back, I don’t know why I agreed…I was just so certain that Ares would prevail.

Unfortunately for me, when Ares attempted to retrieve Hephaestus, he was defeated by the Divine Smith of flaming metal. Hephaestus can make all kinds of powerful weapons and used this talent to defeat Ares.

Dionysus, the god of wine and feasting, went next to retrieve Hephaestus, but slyly suggested that if Hephaestus could release his mother he could have my hand in marriage. I’m sure you can guess what happened next…Hephaestus was thrilled with the plan and ascended to heaven and released the Queen. Now I am doomed to a loveless and passionless marriage.

The thought of marrying Hephaestus is simply horrible, but because of the arrangement, I have no choice in the matter.

 
Valentina tries to imagine how awful and empty Aphrodite must have felt to know she was entering a loveless marriage. She cannot imagine what her life would be like if she did not have the freedom to choose her mate. Reluctant to put the diary away for now, she decides to continue reading at the pace of one entry a day so she can truly grasp the importance of each story.

Hephaestus. Web Source: The Idea-Smithy Blog.

Author’s Note: I changed the original story by continuing to use a diary format. The story is told from Aphrodite’s perspective, while a young woman is reading her diary. I included suggested feelings and emotions from Aphrodite’s point of view that were definitely not included in the original story. It is true that Aphrodite did not want to marry Hephaestus and that she found him lame and unattractive. She did agree to the arrangement made by Zeus because she thought that Ares would surely prevail, and this was whom she wanted to be with. The majority of the story is similar to the story I used from the Theoi.com website, but I retold the story in a more modern perspective. Aphrodite was probably not as concerned with the arrangement as I wrote in this story. Although she did not want to marry Hephaestus, this was just the way things were and she accepted it. Arranged marriages were not uncommon in ancient Greece and she probably did not question that she did not love Hephaestus. Her passion for Ares is also accurate and will be analyzed later in my storybook. The main changes I made consisted of the perspective of the story being told from Aphrodite's point of view, the modern twist by using Valentina, and the diary structure.