The Odyssey
Homer
“For centuries, people have been trying to discover who was behind the timeless tales of the Odyssey and its predecessor, the Iliad. Homer, the name attached to the two poems, remains a mysterious figure. Was he a man? Was ‘Homer’ a group or lineage of poets? Was Homer a woman? The late-19th-century novelist Samuel Butler was convinced that the author of the Odyssey, at least, was female. For most people in antiquity, however, the two epics were the products of a single male mind. … In the second century AD, a satirical writer named Lucian imagined meeting the poet and interrogating him as to who he truly was. ‘Homer’ revealed to him that many people believed he came from the Aegean island of Chios, or from Smyrna or Colophon, on the west coast of what is now Turkey. While his words were to be taken lightly, scholars today consider it highly probable that the Homeric poems did indeed originate in these parts. Their Greek, while not one that was ever spoken, is overall more typical of the ancient dialects of the west coast of Turkey and the islands just off the coast than it is of those of mainland Greece. … Homer was associated with this part of the world from a very early date. Several writers described a talented poet of Chios, where a group of performing bards calling themselves the ‘Homeridae’ or ‘children of Homer’ had also established itself by the 6th century BC. References also exist in the early sources to Homer being conceived on the island of Ios or at Cyme and being born at Smyrna. … It is possible that the blindness of Homer was a myth invented to account for the fact that the Homeric poems originally evolved orally, before the development of writing in Greece, by being performed and passed down from bard to bard. Like the blind poet Demodocus in the Odyssey, a bard would have sung the poems before an audience, repeating passages and set phrases, such as ‘godlike Odysseus’, to satisfy the poetic metre.” Dunn, Daisy. “Who Was Homer?” British Museum, 22 Jan. 2020, www.britishmuseum.org/blog/who-was-homer.
The story in the Odyssey is the original telling of this myth. The story begins in chapter VIII with Demodocus telling the story of Ares and Aphrodite’s love. Aphrodite and Ares love is seen even before the Odyssey; they are known for being in a sexual relationship before Hephaestus and Aphrodite are wed. Hephaestus leaves their home for a few days. Ares enters asking his beloved Aphrodite to be with him while Hephaestus is away. When the sun, Helios, rises, he catches the couple in the act! Helios rushes to tell Hephaestus of the adulterous sight. Hephaestus, fueled by rage, crafts invisible chains and places them on the bed while Aphrodite is away. Hephaestus tells Aphrodite he is headed to Lemnos for a few days. After Hephaestus departs, Aphrodite and Ares leapt into bed together when the chains Hephaestus created captured them in the act. Since Hephaestus lied about going to Lemnos, he returned from a nearby town and caught the affair. Hephaestus cried out for all the gods and goddesses to hear. The goddesses stayed outside for the shame of Aphrodite and themselves while the other Olympian gods went inside. They saw the couple in the act with Hephaestus staring and shouting for validation. He demanded his money back from Ares for stealing his wife. Poseidon pleaded to let the couple go due to the shame and embarrassment. Hephaestus argued that Ares may not pay him back, but Poseidon countered by saying he would pay Hephaestus if Ares does not. Hephaestus agreed and freed the couple, still fueled by hate. Aphrodite fled to Paphos and Ares to Thrace. Each going back to their homeland and sanctuary. While Hephaestus was whining and mourning his marriage, Hermes agreed that he would do the same as Ares, even if it meant the same outcome.
Other stories recount this myth and the affair of Ares and Aphrodite. It is worth noting Ares and Aphrodite were together long before Hephaestus wed Aphrodite. The couple is seen together in many context between many stories.