I don’t agree with the social commentary the Greeks attached to Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Ares but I do think it’s interesting and goes against this headcannon.
Aphrodite was forcednto be in married to Hephaestus, but does not show him and love, instead she’s in a long term affair with Ares / is cuckolding Hephaestus.
Looking at Aphrodite, not as ‘a woman’s love’ but love and passion itself, what this relationship is telling us is that we pretend that love is for our crafts, or our creative passions, but really our true love is for conquest and victory. We can’t deny out competitive nature, no matter how much we pretend our nature is to create.
Again I don’t agree with that belief but it’s a great insight into ancient Greek culture and morality.