Lovely War

The court case ends. Hephaestus reluctantly releases Ares, who departs. Apollo and Hades depart also. Hephaestus and Aphrodite are left alone; Hephaestus contemplates the pointlessness of his court case, reflecting that bringing Aphrodite to trial for infidelity has achieved nothing in repairing their relationship. He reflects aloud that he understands that death and frailty are essential for true love, and that therefore Olympians are unable to engage in genuine love.

He reflects on Aphrodite’s beauty, which is “eternally beyond his reach” (446). Making a last attempt to win her over using her own logic, Hephaestus points out that she is far from perfect—choosing men badly and being vulnerable to the agonies of mortal life. He goes on to point out that he, too, is broken, with a twisted and shattered frame from being flung from Olympus to land upon the earth. He asks Aphrodite, “How about me?” to which she replies, “I say it’s about time” (447).

Aphrodite reveals that her affair with Ares was a ploy to attract Hephaestus’s attention. She complains that Hephaestus never truly wanted her, that she was a reminder of his brokenness: “the Olympian charity case” (449). Aphrodite admits that all she wants is for Hephaestus to know her and love her, and to let her love him.