September 19, 2023 12:34 pm
Click for my new slide show APHRODITE AND ARES
Since starting to draw with my eyes closed in March 2023 I have been investigating the myth of Aphrodite, Ares and Hephaestos. See Vulcan’s Net and LIW.
In the Iliad, as in the Ramayana, wars are caused by the abduction of a woman. And yet, in ‘real life’, war seems especially male. However, myth places Ares and Aphrodite in the trap of the net made by Hephaistos (Aphrodite’s crippled arms-maker husband) which Hephaistos places over the marriage bed. The myth is well told in the Odyssey – see Vulcan’s Net for Chapman’s translation of the tale.
I refer to this story in Book 1 of The RUNIAD – the epic poem I am engaged in writing. The link takes you to the Heyzine book where you can read this work in progress.
Aphrodite (or Venus) is the goddess of beauty. She can be a celestial beauty – as in Botticelli’s Venus – a perfect example of the Fibonacci Series and human attractiveness. She can also be Aphrodite Pandemos, the goddess of prostitutes.
Ares (or Mars) is the god of war. He is not a master of strategy (his sister Athene is the goddess of wisdom in war). Ares is a brutal exponent of mayhem. He is a mercenary and a thug.
Hephaestos (or Vulcan) was born deformed, and his mother Hera threw him out of heaven. When he crashed into the earth he broke his leg. So he is both crippled and deformed. However he is the maker of all weaponry and the other gods are indebted to him for their beautiful winged sandals, javelins, helmets of invisibility and so on. He trapped Aphrodite’s mother into giving him her beautiful daughter as his wife. But Aphrodite was always a whore. She has intercourse with Ares because he showers her with gifts. When caught with Ares in the net, release comes only when the bridal price has been paid back to Hephaistos – which leaves a giggling Aphrodite free to go off and open a brothel on Cyprus.
War, beauty, the arms industry. All so intimately entangled.
A prisoner may be offered a choice: become a mercenary and risk death but be released from jail.
A woman may make a choice: become a prostitute and renounce love for anything but financial remuneration.
The mercenary on rotation seeks a woman in the brothels of the capital.
With my eyes closed, I wanted to draw subjects that cannot be seen clearly – as in the “fog of war”, as when sexual passion “clouds judgement”.
I’ve no sense of proportion, and sometimes the sheet is turned through 90 degrees or 180 degrees. I am limited in my perception. I am a blind observer.
The investigation continues…
There is also Norman Walter’s book THE SEXUAL CYCLE OF HUMAN WARFARE published during World War 2. I can’t recommend this book too highly. It should definitely be republished.
And here is a contemporary Aphrodite.
Posted by anthonyhowelljournal
Tags: Anthony Howell, Aphrodite, Ares, war
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i cant even draw this good with my eyes open
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By Art Hernandez on September 19, 2023 at 12:46 pm
Write like a painter. Draw like a poet.
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By anthonyhowelljournal on September 19, 2023 at 8:15 pm
[…] more see APHRODITE AND ARES – scroll down to the bottom of the post which provides a link to the internet’s copy of […]
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By The Sexual Cycle of Human Warfare | anthonyhowelljournal on October 18, 2023 at 5:38 pm
[…] Aphrodite and Ares […]
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By Drawing with the Eyes Closed | anthonyhowelljournal on August 10, 2025 at 6:13 pm