not meant for war?
(or so they believed)
At this, the father of the gods and men
smiled, and then summoned golden Aphrodite,
and said to her. “My child, the work of war
is not your area. Concern yourself
with marriage and the workings of desire.
Fierce Ares and Athena will attend
to all of that.”
Homer, The Iliad, translated by Emily Wilson
I’m writing this as I prepare to teach about Aphrodite Areia in my yearlong priestess training. I didn’t expect the epithets to align so closely with the goings-on of the world, but here we are.
Aphrodite Areia: warlike, of Ares.
While this epithet is mentioned as early as mid 3 B.C.E. in epigrams by Leonidas, Aphrodite isn’t typically thought of as being associated with war. Though she and Ares have a torrid afraid, Homer certainly describes her in The Iliad as being the goddess of desire.
The quote at the start of this essay is part of a longer story in which Aphrodite is injured in battle by Diomedes, and she has to be helped by Iris and Ares to return to Olympus. Her earthly mother, Dione, carefully wipes the ichor, the fluid that runs through the veins of deities, away from her daughter’s wrist and the wound heals.
But Athena, as written by Homer, is critical of her sister, Aphrodite.
“Father, I hope that you will not be angry
at what I say, but surely Aphrodite
must have incited one of those Greek women
to go and join those Trojan men, whom now
this goddess loves so much—and as she petted
the woman’s pretty dress, she must have scratched
her slender wrist against a golden pin.”
A common story, to decide a goddess of love can not fight and only concerns herself with pretty things.
Homer, you have no idea what love can do.
Love is often a reason for war. Love of an idea. Love of a land. Love of a person. Love of one’s delusions and interpretations.
Love scrambles the brain. A flood of chemicals make it hard to sleep, impossible to settle, and easy to obsess. Desire makes the rest of the world disappear, for a time.
But love can conjure truth and build something bigger. Love points out the things that are important, and leaves what doesn’t matter on the sidelines. What seems like wistfulness can grow into connection, commitment, and loyalty.
And in that loyalty, we can take up swords. Swords we might fall on, and swords we might swing with our eyes closed. But weapons, nonetheless.
When what we love is in danger, we will fight—in the ways we know how.
I offer this to ask a question: what do you love?
There are battles in the everyday. Some louder, some with more at stake.
There are battles that even love can not win.
But we can fight anyway.
(They say Aphrodite was injured for protecting her son. Even a goddess of love can be warlike, when needed. When necessary.)
In love and magick, Irisanya
(Thanks for the love in response to my last post. I’m grateful for the community we’re growing here…nearly 900 of us!)
Classes & Events
OPEN until June 21: Applications are OPEN for Devoted to Her, Devoted to Self, my yearlong priestess/priestex training in love that starts in August 2025.
June 11 - 20: LlewellynCon 2025 - I’m co-presenting with Fio Gede Parma, Jane Meredith, and Raven Edgewalker on the Pearl Pentacle. It’s free, and there are so many more presenters to check out.
June 24 & 25: Divine Alchemy Conference - ONLINE - I’m presenting “Life is a Love Spell, Love is a Life Spell” and speaking on a panel.
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