Arkugal:
>Where is it stated that MARS or ARES have any connection with the
>Underworld?
Nergal, Marduk, Baal, etc. They are related to war or storms and are also
related to the underworld with a venusian consort. Note also that Mars
wasn't always a war god and is the product of mythological confusion.
Arkugal:
>VENUS is connected with the land, APHRODITE is connected with the
>water. Two different things.
Venus is connected with Mars (a theme persistent as well in the related
SumeroAkkadian belief) and so by association, they are connected with the
underworld which happens to be watery. However, the water theme is obscure,
I agree, partly because Mars has always persisted with the early established
association with fire even when the underworld went from firey to watery.
Clearly, Venus has always been a fertility god whether she be associated
with water directly or not. I'm not sure whether Aphrodite was truely an IE
deity or rather a later "mirror image" deity of Venus.
- gLeN
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