Aphrodite Hoplismene

Aphrodite is predominantly a goddess of love but despite the best efforts of Zeus to keep her away from influencing warfare there are many strong links between the spheres of love and war under Aphrodite. She might not have been as war hungry as Ares but there is evidence to suggest she did not do as Zeus told her and just “take care of the pleasures of love and leave the fighting to Ares and Athena”.[i]

Ares, Athenian black-figure amphora C6th B.C., Worcester Art Museum

Aphrodite is the goddess of mixis. Cyrino defines this as “the blending of bodies in intimate physical contact, both sexual and martial.[ii] Her birth shows the martial future she had”. The remarkable act of violence which created her[iii] embodies the violence and antagonism which the ancient Greek poets linked with the intensity of human sexuality.[iv] It also linked her from the beginning of her existence to violence and power struggles. In the Iliad she was the first point of intimate contact between mortals and gods, when saving Aeneas from the battle. She was also the first god to be wounded by a mortal in battle which led other deities to engage in further god-mortal combat, for example Ares and Diomedes.[v]

Paris and Menelaos duel in a scene from the Iliad. Paris is protected by two goddesses, Aphrodite on the left and a bow-holding Artemis on the right . Attic Red Figure, c.485 - 480 BC. Musée du Louvre, Paris

It must be asked how Aphrodite could be comfortable entering a battle. When rescuing Aeneas and Paris is it her passion as a goddess of love that gives her the strength to enter a battle.  There are many literary examples of Aphrodite being a goddess not of war but linked to war. In Book Five of the Iliad she rides Ares’ war chariot back to Olympus, in Book 21 she helps Ares away from the battle when wounded[vi], she was married to Hephaistos; maker of weapons and armour and most importantly she was the instigator of the most famous military battle in Greek mythology.[vii] As a result Aphrodite is also responsible for all the honour that is bestowed upon the gods and heroes who fought.[viii] Regardless of whether Aphrodite was actively part of the fighting or not the emotion she embodied was inspiration enough for many fighters to bear arms.[ix]

Aphrodite’s golden quality[x] is most often associated with objects of power and prestige for example armour, breast plates and spear rings.[xi] Other divine objects with this quality were Zeus’ scales, Apollo’s aegis and Athena’s armour. Instead of being a quality just of beauty it is also one of power, it is another embodiment of mixis.

Detail of Aphrodite and Ares seated amongst the feasting gods of Olympos. Aphrodite holds a dove, and Ares his helm. Museo Nazionale Tarquiniese, Tarquinia, Italy 

There were physical monuments erected to the war-like Aphrodite. In the 2^nd century AD Pausanius mentions the existence of “armed” (hoplismenē) statues of Aphrodite. She may have acquired a militarised personality in Sparta where there was a temple to Aphrodite Aria. This temple suggests that Aphrodite was worshiped as a warrior herself or as a mixis between her and her lover Ares.[xii]  It must also not be forgotten that two of Aphrodite and Ares’ children were his followers representing fear (Phobos) and terror (Deimos) she must have had war-like attributes to produce children like them.[xiii]

The two children of Aphrodite and Ares. On the right Deimos on the shield of Leonidas. On the left  Phobus, god of fear, Greco-Roman mosaic; from Halicarnassus C4th A.D. British Museum

The Aphrodite Hoplismenē may not have been worshiped by the majority but her embodiment of mixis, her relationship with Ares, her instigation of Troy and her bravery in battle all point to her being a goddess of war but with a twist on it. It is a mark of her power that even though she may not have shouldered a weapon like Artemis or Athena that she still caused and actively participated in the greatest war in Greek mythology.

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[i] Homer, Iliad, Book 5, lines 426-30 (accessed 17/10/11) http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D5%3Acard%3D416

[ii] Cyrino, Monica S. Aphrodite. London: Routledge (2010) pp. 5

[iii] If we follow the account Hesiod narrates where Kronos severed the genitals of his gather Ouranos and threw them into the sea. From the foaming waters where they floated Aphrodite emerged fully grown. Hesiod, Theogany, lines 188-206, trans M.L. West, Oxford: OUP (1999)

[iv] Cyrino, Aphrodite pp. 13

[v]Jackson, Kassandra. Father-Daughter Dynamics in the Iliad: the Role of Aphrodite in Defining Zeus’ Regime. Brill’s Companion to Aphrodite. Eds. Smith, Amy C. and Pickup, Sadie. Brill (2010) pp 160-1

[vi] Homer, Iliad. Books 5 and 21. trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett (1997)

[vii] Cyrino, pp. 50

[viii] Jackson, Father-Daughter Dynamics pp. 160-1

[ix] Cyrino, pp 50

[x] Mentioned by many poets for example Homer in Homeric Hymn V lines 1-2 “Muse, speak to me of the works of Aphrodite, the golden one,” Homer, Hymn to Aphrodite (V and VI), The Homeric Hymns, trans Jules Cashford. London: Penguin (2003)

[xi] Jackson pg. 162

[xii] Cyrino, pp 5. Quoting Pausanius Description of Greece (3.17.5)

[xiii] Hesiod, Theogany, lines 934-7

Bibliography


Cyrino, Monica S. Aphrodite. London: Routledge (2010)
Hesiod, Theogany, lines 188-206, trans M.L. West, Oxford: OUP (1999)
Homer, Iliad, (accessed 17/10/11) http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D5%3Acard%3D416
Homer, Iliad.  trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett (1997)
Homer, Hymn to Aphrodite (V and VI), The Homeric Hymns, trans Jules Cashford. London: Penguin (2003)
Jackson, Kassandra. Father-Daughter Dynamics in the Iliad: the Role of Aphrodite in Defining Zeus’ Regime. Brill’s Companion to Aphrodite. Eds. Smith, Amy C. and Pickup, Sadie. Brill (2010)