Question: Do you think that Aphrodite's constant and long-lasting affair with Ares symbolizes the closeness (in the Greek and Roman mind) of sex and violence?
Not necessarily; reducing it down to "sex and violence are related" is very simplistic and doesn't really cover the Greek attitude toward their most famous adulterous lovebirds very well. Sex and violence certainly could be related in ancient Greek thought - certainly rape, particularly of other men, was a violent power-play rather than a sensual fun time - but they aren't always, and often romance and the violence of war are firmly divided from each other into different categories of philosophical discussion.
Rather, Aphrodite and Ares represent the two greatest passions of life in ancient Greek thought - love and war - and as such, it's natural for them to be drawn together. That their children are almost always further expressions of uncontrollable passion - Eros and Anteros, Phobos and Deimos, and so forth - is a great example of that idea again. They have only one child who's even-tempered, sweet Harmonia, goddess of harmony, and I've read some interesting scholarship that suggests that she represents the rare times that the two great passions of her parents can balance one another out to calmness.
It's no wonder she's the only one, really. Try to imagine growing up with that family.
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