The History of the Myth
Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of love, was married off by Zeus, king of the Gods, to
Hephaestus, the God of the Forge. Aphrodite was already partnered with Ares, Ares, the God of
War and Hephaestus’ brother, before her marriage, before her marriage. This caused problems
when Aphrodite was caught in bed with Ares while she was married. Hephaestus did not take
kindly to this and crafted chains to catch the couple in when they next lie together. After catching
them, Hephaestus called upon all the gods and goddesses; the goddesses stayed outside the house
due to the shame for Aphrodite. The gods crowded in the building and Hermes talked about how
he viewed Aphrodite in this situation. Hephaestus begged Zeus to force Ares to pay the price of
the wedding and reparations for the event. Poseidon promised to pay the money back if Ares was
unable. Hephaestus freed the couple, so Aphrodite fled to Paphos and Ares went to Thrace.
This story was first told in the Odyssey by Homer in the 8th century BCE. The story was hinted at
or retold in multiple other works such as Plato’s Republic, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Statius’s
Thebaid, Hyginus’s Fabulae and Smyrnaeus’s Fall of Troy. These works did not change the sole
meaning of the myth, instead the myth’s perspective changed, or the author added in details.
Even with the other works, Homer’s Odyssey is still the largest and has the most detailed of the
myth.
There are subtle differences in some of these stories such as the Fall of Troy. Written in
the third or fourth century AD, focused on the shame elements for Aphrodite and relating it back to Helen of Sparta, soon to be Helen of Troy. This is due to the parallels between both stories
which allows for an accurate reflection for Helen. This parallel connects the hardships of affairs
and the shameful nature the woman faces when an affair happens. The baseline is the same, but
the consequences of the affairs change. Helen caused the Trojan war, and Aphrodite brought
shame upon the goddesses.
Hyginus’ Fabulae, in the second century CE, retells and explains more of the story. From
the original affair story, Vulcan is noted as clever due to being able to think of a proper revenge
and humiliation plan while in a state of sorrow. It adds to the myth by telling the story of
Minerva, who Vulcan gifted “a robe draped in crimes” (Hyginus. 148) which was filled with all
his hate, despair, and sadness from the event. Minerva was one of the offspring of this affair, and
the robes marked all of Minerva’s descendants as “ill-fated” (Hyginus. 148). This version also
includes Sol believing Vulcan has gone too harsh on Venus.
Thebaid by Statius in the middle of the first century CE, did not retell the story, instead
he added it. This story talks about the daughter of Mars and Venus, Harmonia. Harmonia is set to
be wed when Vulcan joins the crowd and offers Harmonia a necklace created out of hate. This
turns Harmonia and her fiancé into serpents and curses anyone who wears it.
Statius wrote another story called Silvae in the year 90 CE, which uses this story to show
Aphrodite’s conflicting ideas on the Trojan War. The story is a memory rather than a retelling
and aids in the understanding Aphrodite needed to see which gods will be affected by her events.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses, from the early first century CE, does not change the story much,
but it tells the story from Sol’s perspective by displaying the guilt he felt after telling Vulcan
about Venus’ affair. Sol reflects the shame she must be feeling and feels sorrow for Venus being
put in such a vulnerable position.
Plato’s Republic, from 380 BCE, does not tell the story; instead, it has a few lines on the
lack of profit and interest displayed by Zeus. Zeus gave Hephaestus Aphrodite’s hand in
marriage, rather than being a marriage of love. There are multiple stories of their marriage, most
notably being Hephaestus winning her hand or Hephaestus asking Zeus for permission and
paying Zeus. After Hephaestus’ payment to Zeus, he is uninterested in their marital affairs,
including their public dispute.
The latest addition, in 200 AD, was Athenaeus’, Deipnosophista which displayed the
actions as amusing rather than shameful and added to the humor of the situation. This idea is not
original. Homer’s Odyssey features Hermes to lighten the mood by having Hermes yearn for
Aphrodite and wish to trade places with Ares.
Analysis of the Myth
The significance of each story comes into play when creating the current idea of this
myth. The most enticing pieces include the creation of Hephaestus’ hatred for Aphrodite, the use
of the manufactured chains, and the addition of Hermes. The myth portrays Aphrodite as
ashamed and quiet while Hephaestus is loud and vengeful. In the retellings of the stories, there is a narrative of shame for both Hephaestus and Aphrodite. Each type of shame is different. Helios
feels guilty for allowing Hephaestus to treat Aphrodite the way he did. Hephaestus did multiple
things that, in current society, are considered shameful. The affair and the indifference from the
other gods affected Hephaestus, soon his rage grew enough for him to curse two of Aphrodite’s
children and their lineage through objects of clothing. The progression of his hatred is what
causes him to be continuously viewed as ‘lame’, not just in physical attractiveness or his body;
but rather in his mentality because of his actions against two lineages. During the story, the other
goddesses felt shame for the entirety of the event and chose to stay outside Hephaestus’ home.
Aphrodite was shamed by the rest of the gods while caught in chains. The differences in
reactions and types of shame viewed display the way society views these acts. This is continued
into The Fall of Troy by paralleling this myth with the story of Helen who was also shamed for
her similar actions.
The chains Hephaestus created for Aphrodite were extremely symbolic to the story;
especially, with the idea of shame. In creation, Hephaestus wanted these chains to be invisible,
binding, and Hephaestus-controlled. This creates a feeling of power and knowing shame for
Aphrodite and Ares. Hephaestus did not let the couple out of these chains until Poseidon told
him to and said he would pay Ares’ payment. The chains were only to be controlled by
Hephaestus. After the chains were released, both Ares and Aphrodite were free to go where they
pleased, which shows his hold on their relationship breaking. This is emphasized now that the
entirety of Olympus knows about the relationship which allows the couple to be together without
worrying about everyone or hiding the relationship to when Hephaestus is away.
The myth included Hermes talking to Helios about Aphrodite’s body and his desire to be
in Ares place. It could be argued that this is included to objectify Aphrodite and sexualize the
female goddess, but another reason could be to add humor to an extremely awkward and tense
situation. It brings light to the shameful nature of Hephaestus’ actions and Aphrodite’s adultery.
The last few paragraphs explained shame, adding to the different perspectives of the events, such
as Hermes’ humor, and Helios’ guilt despite still joking with Hermes. Thus, allowing for a more
humorous and lighthearted situation. This is amplified by Zeus’ lack of interest in the situation.
Hermes and the other gods’ indifference and humorous nature to the events infer that the other
gods are knowledgeable on Aphrodite’s relationship to Ares. Poseidon goes out of his way, so
Hephaestus will unchain the couple and just begs that the situation ends. In the end, both
Aphrodite and Ares left the home and went back to their safe homes. When they left, the scene
ended and the Odyssey continued, but the symbolism of them leaving adds to the light-hearted
nature of the characters.
In Current Society
The theme of romanticizing war is ever present in current society. Multiple stories are written
which display the yearning felt by women while their husbands are at war. After wars end, the
idea of love letters while in danger and lacking time, last goodbyes, and bittersweet returns are
romanticized and seen as a large display of affection while forgetting the hardship of war. There
are videos of families reuniting after war, fathers seeing their children, brothers and sisters returning, and the happiness of waiting without showing the sadness of waiting forever. In Greek
mythology, the myth of Ares and Aphrodite’s love is shown in books with yearning, or war
specifically the Trojan War. The thought of love being present in war is extremely common and
allows for a lighter moment in hard times, the way Hermes added humor to a shameful event. In
this, I want to highlight a book, Lovely War by Julie Berry. This book features this myth in the
modern age and explains Ares and Aphrodite’s recollection of World War I through 2 couples
that stick together through the war. The myth is extremely accurate to Homer’s version and gives
multiple examples of the good and bad sides of war. Rather than continue the shame and try to
stay, understand Hephaestus, or defend the relationship, both characters fled the scene.
My Project
For this project, I created a divorce court where Hephaestus is divorcing Aphrodite
because of the affair. Aphrodite is counter-suing due to the suffering she endured by the event.
This project was made as a 10-minute video episode, three one-minute interviews with each of
the characters to understand their motives, and an online website to store all the information. I
wanted to go out of my comfort zone with this project. I hate hearing my own voice due to a few
bad past experiences, and I have only ever made one other website. These were things I wanted
to work on specifically and thought the fun nature of this project would work perfectly. The
website was made to look like a judicial website and an ancient text. For creating this project, I
loaned the Hurley Convergence Centers camera, microphone, and tripod for the recording. After the Digital Knowledge Center visit to class, I gained the knowledge on starting a website. I used
Domain of One’s Own through the University of Mary Washington. I created a scene using our
classroom due to its natural courtroom stage.
The digital process for this project had really good and really miserable moments. First, I used
the Hurley Convergence Center Camera to film approximately 2 and a half hours of footage,
including bloopers, original takes, and explanations of the story. After filming the 10-minute
video, I individually filmed both Josh Coe’s and Josh Venzen’s 1 minute interview. I did it this
way for two reasons; one, because they both needed to get to a club in thirty minutes; two,
because these one-minute interviews were completely improvised based on the way the actors
felt after the original filming. This adds to the authenticity of the actors and characters. While we
were eating Pizza Hut I bought for the group before filming, I read the story from the Odyssey;
this helped the actors get in character and create the authenticity of the interviews. After filming
their interviews, I filmed Lily Daichman’s interview as Aphrodite, which was also improvised.
She did not need to hurry and leave, so we were able to discuss a little more about the interview
and eat more pizza.
My partner, Tyler Harper, and Lily’s partner, Kai Credle, played the audience and the jury. Kai
played the narrator in the introduction. They were in charge of the camera. After I set up the
camera and hit record, they made sure it did not die, turn off, and that it was receiving the audio
since I was unable to retrieve the on-person microphone.
After filming, I began editing the videos in Clipchamp. This site was used to find stock photos,
edit the videos together, add captions, and insert on-screen text. The site itself was easy, but my
wifi cut out when editing the court, so I was forced to restart. When creating this project I was
able to find this resource through the Digital Knowledge center and went multiple times to help
better my videos. The captions were auto generated by Clipchamp then I went in and corrected
all of the mistakes. The ending has credits for all the actors and some of the creation.
The website was used using Domain of One’s Own and WordPress. This site was relatively easy
to use after going to the Digital Knowledge Center multiple times to understand how to make a
website. I chose a website because I thought it would be a good place to hold all the media and
create a more “judicial” atmosphere.
I focused heavily on the shameful actions of Hephaestus and the lackluster emotions from
Aphrodite. Aphrodite is seen lacking regret in the action and focusing on the future after the
events. Hephaestus is hyper focused on revenge from Aphrodite’s affair and betrayal from Ares.
In the end, Aphrodite wants to focus on regaining independence and starting anew rather than
continuing with Ares and a twisted sense of love. This continued into the project by having
Hephaestus angry at both parties and asking Hera to force them out of Olympus. This difference
is to highlight Hephaestus’ anger towards the couple and the situation itself. It is different than
the original because the original focused on them regaining autonomy and choosing to leave.
This effort is brought back when Aphrodite chooses to go separate ways after the trail and regain
independence.