semblance to Ares’s mythological family configuration: raised by
his bitter mother after his father left them. He is an emotional, pas-
sionate, blustering man, who has “supermacho” affectations. Lacking
a real father as a role model and disciplinarian, and used to getting
his way with his mother, he is impatient and has a low tolerance for
frustration. He likes to be in charge, yet he may lose his head when
pressured, which doesn’t make him a good leader.
The Aphrodite-Ares combination is an inflammable mix. Both
share a propensity to live in the here and now. Both are reactive
rather than reflective; they are do-now, think-later people.
Whenever they get together, erotic sparks or fiery tempers set off
blazing interactions. They make both love and war. This combination
invented fight-and-make-up lovers’ quarrels.
Aphrodite and Ares are not the ingredients of a stable relationship.
Besides the emotional flareups, his swagger-braggart machismo often
causes a precarious economic situation. He is unable to think stra-
tegically or be prudent; in the heat of the moment, he may say or do
something that costs him his job. If, in addition, the woman has
Aphrodite’s tendency for infidelity—or at the very least, her flirta-
tiousness—she further threatens his masculinity and triggers his
possessiveness. Then he may become violent, and his outbursts may
be brutal, creating terror and fear.
For all their fireworks, however, it is possible for some Ares-
Aphrodite matches to endure and be relatively harmonious. In such
a match, he has an Ares personality—impulsive, intensely emotional
and combative by nature—but had a healthier family situation, and
so isn’t basically hostile. And she has enough Hera in her to develop
an enduring bond with him.
A man who acts the eternal youth also attracts many Aphrodite
women, who seem to have a penchant for immature, complex, sub-
jectively focused men with creative potential. They resemble Hermes
the Messenger God, youngest of the Olympians. She finds his facility
with words intoxicating—especially when he is poetic—and is fas-
cinated by his ability to move quickly from the heights to the depths
(emotional or social). A Hermes type can be a trickster, a bit of the
con man,
Aphrodite: Goddess of Love and Beauty, Creative Woman and Lover