1. The Pagan Deities of Sex and War
The Ancient Greek Pantheon
Aphrodite Areia ("Warlike Aphrodite") & Ares: While classical mythology often distinguishes sexual desire (Aphrodite / Eros) from martial slaughter (Ares), archaic Greek religion united them. In Sparta, Argos, and Cythera, Aphrodite was worshipped in full battle armor as Aphrodite Areia or Enoplion—an armed deity presiding over both erotic desire and martial triumph. In classical myth, Aphrodite’s primary illicit union is with Ares, personifying the pagan nexus between unrestrained carnal passion (epithumia) and violent fury (thymos).
Historical Derivation: Classical historians, including Herodotus and Pausanias, noted that the armed, erotic Aphrodite was imported directly into Greece from Phoenician and Semitic cult centers.
The Canaanite & Baal-Related Cults
Anat (Anath): In the Ugaritic texts (the Baal Cycle), Anat is the sister-consort of the storm and fertility deity Baal-Hadad. Anat personifies both unrestrained erotic passion and frenzied slaughter. In Canaanite epics, Anat is depicted wading knee-deep in the blood of warriors, strapping severed heads and hands to her waist and back, while simultaneously embodying raw sexual fertility.
Astarte (Hebrew: Ashtoreth, Akkadian: Ishtar, Sumerian: Inanna): Worshipped widely alongside Baal throughout Canaan and Phoenicia, Astarte held dual dominion over fertility/sexual passion and combat. The Old Testament repeatedly condemns the syncretic worship of "the Baals and the Ashtaroth" (e.g., Judges 2:13, 1 Samuel 7:3–4, ESV), where cultic rituals incorporated temple prostitution, orgiastic frenzy, and ritual violence.
2. Patristic Analysis of the Cults of Passion
The Early Church Fathers—including Clement of Alexandria, St. Justin Martyr, Athenagoras of Athens, and St. Athanasius the Great—critiqued how pagan deities sanctified and amplified fallen human passions rather than healing them.
The Demonic Elevation of the Fallen Passions
The Fathers taught that pagan deities were demonic entities exploiting the fallen state of humanity:
- St. Justin Martyr (First Apology, Ch. 5 & 14): Justin explains that fallen demons appeared in terrifying and seductive apparitions, deceiving mankind into naming them gods. These entities demanded rituals centered on carnal lust and bloodshed, chaining the human soul to the passions that sever communion with God.
- Clement of Alexandria (Exhortation to the Greeks / Protrepticus, Ch. 2): Clement identifies pagan cults as the source of godless legends and daemon-worship, directly rebuking the cult of Aphrodite for turning base lust into religion, and Ares for glorifying the demonic thirst for carnage and vengeance.
Sanctified Sin vs. Christian Purity
"As for adultery—both in the case of men and gods... this is made the subject of their dramas. But far be it from Christians to conceive any such deeds. For with them temperance dwells, self-restraint is practiced, monogamy is observed, chastity is guarded... Truth governs, grace guards, peace screens them." — Athenagoras of Athens, A Plea for the Christians (Ch. 32–35)
St. Athanasius the Great (Against the Heathen, Part I): Athanasius demonstrated that when mankind fell away from the contemplation of God, the soul turned inward toward sensory impulses. Deifying lust (Aphrodite/Astarte) and wrath (Ares/Baal) allowed fallen man to invent gods that granted religious license to indulge destructive passions without guilt.
3. Comparative Matrix: Pagan Cults vs. Christ
| Domain | Pagan Cults (Aphrodite, Ares, Baal, Anat) | Teaching & Commands of Jesus Christ |
|---|---|---|
| Sexual Passion | Lust (Epithumia) as Sacred Ecstasy: Temple prostitution, orgiastic rites, and unrestrained indulgence framed as sacred fertility rituals. | Chastity & Interior Purity: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27–28, ESV) |
| Conflict & Warfare | Bloodlust (Thymos) as Virtue: Martial frenzy, vengeance, slaughter, and violent subjugation celebrated as divine martial power. | Meekness & Non-Retaliation: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:38–39, ESV) "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword." (Matthew 26:52, ESV) |
| Treatment of Enemies | Vengeance & Slaughter: Annihilation of foes, celebrated in ancient victory hymns to Ares, Baal, and Anat. | Self-Sacrificing Love (Agape): "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:44–45, ESV) |
| Purpose of the Soul | Subjugation to the passions; enslavement to bodily drives and external spiritual entities. | Spiritual Freedom (Apatheia) & Deification (Theosis): Transfiguration and mastery of the passions through grace; putting on the likeness and holiness of Christ. |
4. Patristic Summary
In the Protrepticus, Clement of Alexandria contrasts the pagan rites with the Incarnation: Christ the divine Logos came as the heavenly Physician and Minstrel to tame the "wild beasts" within the human soul. Where pagan religions sanctified the destructive pairing of carnal lust and violent fury, the Gospel delivers humanity from the demonic bondage of passion, elevating the soul through purity, humility, and sacrificial love.