Artemis lives an independent, almost feral existence away from cities and their societal norms, so her aversion to marriage is in keeping with the unbounded life she has chosen. Hestia – on the other hand – is right in the heart of city and society, yet she seems to prefer companionship to desire, a longer-term kind of domesticity. And Athene is different again. To return to the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, she is the daughter of Zeus who bears the aegis, glaukōpis Athene, who takes no pleasure in the works of Aphrodite. It’s wars that delight her, the work of Ares: battles, fighting, and making
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