February 7: Love Month

Difficulties in relationships are often compared to the differences between the planets Mars and Venus. But the gods these planets refer to, Ares and Aphrodite, were seen as the ultimate power couple. They weren’t married – at least not to one another – but the bond between them was strong. As the Greeks were masters in concretising abstract subjects, their love story is illustrated by the children they got together. Their first born would be Eros, god of passion, because physical attraction is wat brought them together. Passion then developed into deeper feelings. Really deep feelings. A jealous Ares ran away from the battlefield once, to get Aphrodite out of her husband’s smithy. (Hilariously, the myths add that he feared that the soth “would dirty her pretty face”). It must be around this time, that the twins Deimos (fear) and Phobos (panic) were born. But in the end, the unrest settled, and their daughter, Harmonia (Concordia in latin) brought stability and trust. And proof that even if you’re from different planets, harmony is achievable.

Mars and Venus, fresco, Casa di Meleagro, Pompeï, Italy

Mars and Venus, fresco (Herculaneum), Musée Saint-Raymond, Toulouse, France