Aphrodite and Ares
Alice Chen
Pearl Ho
Section 106
Aphrodite
• Goddess of love, lust, beauty, and desire
• Rose naked from the foam of the sea
• Two versions of birth
– Hesiod’s Theogony: sprung from Uranus alone
– Homer’s Illiad: born from the union of Zeus and the Titan goddess
Dione (One of the 12 Olympian deity)
• Used her powers to help faithful followers, to destroy those who
tried to disrupt or prevent the natural workings of love and
sexuality
• Aphrodite’s fate/job: one divine duty only to make love.
• One day, Athene caught her not doing her work; Aprhodite
apologized and never turned from work since.
• Earned her reputation for frivolity and promiscuity as a result of her
very liberated sexuality
Aphrodite (cont.)
• Too proud for any of her suitors and rejected them all
– As a punishment, Zeus made her the wife of Hephaestus,
the homely and lame smith-god
– But had an affair with Ares, god of war, and other deities
– Had many children with gods and mortals
• Often pictured as sitting or riding on a variety of
animals, particularly birds such as swans or geese
•
(http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/papers/lombardiaphrodite/aphrodite.html)
• Her festival is Aphrodisiac
•
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/aphrodite.html)
• Has a significant role in the Trojan War
Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus (Aphrodite)
Ares
• Only son of Zeus & Hera, A.K.A. God of Wars,
One of the 12 deities of Olympian Gods.
• father (by Aphrodite) of Harmonia and of
Phobos (fear) and Deimos (terror).
• Ares appears in myth chiefly as the lover of
Aphrodite (Odyssey 8.266-366),
• Though the use of his name is a synonym for
war, he is often unsuccessful in battle (e.g.
Iliad)
• Ares has not been consistently victorious.
Athene, a much more skillful fighter than he,
has twice wrestled him in battle, and once the
gigantic sons of Aloeus conquered and kept
him imprisoned in a brazen vessels of 13
months until, half dead, he was released by
Hermes.
Aphrodite & Ares Relationship With
Other Deities (Hesiod’s Version)
Kronos’
deed
Ares
Lovers
Aphrodite
Ouranos
Mother /wife
&
husband/son
Gaia
Ouranos & Gaia’s children
12 Titans
3 Kyklopes
3 Hundred
Handed
Aphrodite & Ares Relationship With
Other Deities etc. (Homer’s Version)
Zeus & Dione
Lovers:
Aphrodite
Hephaistos
Poseidon
Zeus & Hera
Hermes
Ares
Mortals
Interesting Facts
•
•
•
•
Ares: God of War ;Roman Name: Mars
Sacred items= Spear, Helmet, Shield, and Armor
Sacred Animals= Serpent, dog
Sacred Birds= Vulture, woodpecker, Barn Owl,
Eagle Owl
• Ares throne was brass with a seat cover of human
skin
• “Men are from Mars , and Women are from
Venus.”
Bibliography
• Image Source:
• http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/pantheon.html
• http://www.chesstheory.com/ct_virtual_art_museum_sculpture.ph
p
• http://www.paleothea.com/SortaSingles/Aphrodite.html
• http://z.about.com/d/atheism/1/0/g/Q/AresCupidLudovisi-l.jpg
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Ares_Cano
pe_Villa_Adriana.jpg
• http://www.talariaenterprises.com/product_lists/greek_marble_ms
tatue.html
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Cnidus_Ap
hrodite_Altemps_Inv8619.jpg
Bibliography
•
•
•
•
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Hesiod Works & Days Theogony
Homeric Hymns, To Aphrodite
The Greek Myth by Graves
Homer’s Illiad
Homer’s Odyssey