This Immortal Heart

Set in the world of Greek mythology, the novel is narrated by Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, who was born from the severed essence of Ouranos, the primordial Sky God, when his own son castrated him above the shores of Cyprus. She emerged fully formed from the sea foam, more ancient in origin than Zeus and most of the Olympian gods who rule from Mount Olympus.

Aphrodite's life on Cyprus revolves around answering the prayers of lovelorn mortals and tending her sanctuary at Paphos, attended by three nymph companions called the Horae and her winged son Eros, who was born from her body alone. She takes a series of casual lovers and relishes her freedom from the marriages that constrain other goddesses. When she encounters a humble boatman named Phaon, whose lifelong devotion to a lost love moves her, she restores his youth with a magical ointment and eventually reunites him with the woman he loved since childhood.

Athena, Zeus' warrior daughter, summons Aphrodite to Mount Olympus, where Zeus and Hephaestus, the Blacksmith God, have created a woman from clay named Pandora. They ask Aphrodite to bestow irresistible desire upon her. Aphrodite complies, unaware that Zeus intends Pandora as a trap: He plans for her to open a jar that will provide mortals a scapegoat for their suffering, blaming a woman for the world's ills. Aphrodite tries to prevent the scheme but fails when Zeus forgets to countermand his order to Athena. She helps Pandora and her husband Epimetheus flee to safety among the Titans, an older race of gods who live beyond Olympus.

Zeus pressures Aphrodite to marry, but she deflects him, valuing her independence. When she discovers that Phaon has joined a mortal army, she charges onto the battlefield to save him and confronts Ares, God of War, asking him to spare Phaon's life. Ares refuses, saying he never intervenes for individual warriors. As Aphrodite reaches Phaon and grabs his wrist, an arrow strikes him in the throat and kills him. Ares later reveals that Eris, Goddess of Strife and his deputy, deliberately fired the arrow. He warns Aphrodite not to seek revenge but offers no apology.

After hearing from Eros about Pygmalion, a sculptor on Cyprus who has fallen in love with his own ivory statue, Aphrodite sees an opportunity for a grand romantic gesture. She brings the statue to life, and Pygmalion names the woman Galatea. Yet Aphrodite feels uneasy about creating a person whose love was manufactured to satisfy a man's wishes. Her doubts prove justified when Pygmalion begins ranting publicly against women at Aphrodite's own temple. Aphrodite lifts the love charm from Galatea, freeing her to leave, and Galatea eventually finds refuge with Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt.

A fierce prayer from Thrace, Ares' homeland, draws Aphrodite to witness his violent sacrificial rites. Despite the brutality, she feels an unsettling physical connection to the War God. Their encounters escalate until a pivotal chariot ride during which Ares opens up about defying Zeus, drawing parallels between love and war as primal forces that exist independently of the Olympian king. At her festival on Cyprus, Aphrodite finds Ares waiting, unarmed and unguarded. He confesses he cannot stop thinking about her. She flies with him to his fortress on Mount Haemus in Thrace, and they begin a secret affair.

Their relationship deepens over months, though Aphrodite keeps insisting it must end. When Zeus violently beats his wife Hera, queen of the gods, for orchestrating the death of his mortal lover, their son Hephaestus throws himself between them to protect Hera. Zeus strikes Hephaestus with a thunderbolt and exiles him. Aphrodite secretly visits Hephaestus in his volcanic prison in Sicily, finding him broken and weakened but alive in a cave he carved from inside the rock. She brings nectar and ambrosia to heal him. Over subsequent visits, he recovers and builds a new forge, but he walks with a permanent limp and warns Aphrodite bitterly that Ares will destroy her.

Aphrodite meets Dionysus, Zeus' son and God of Wine, a charming and ambitious deity who plans to claim a seat on Olympus. She is attracted to him but asks him to keep Zeus distracted so she can visit Hephaestus undisturbed. At the volcano, Hephaestus kisses Aphrodite; she pushes him away and reaffirms she can only be his friend. Eventually she confesses to Ares that she has fallen in love with him, and he tells her his heart belongs to her alone.

The crisis arrives when Hephaestus, encouraged by Dionysus' company and wine, crafts a golden throne that traps Hera in unbreakable fetters. Zeus declares a contest: The god who frees Hera wins Aphrodite's hand in marriage. Aphrodite swears an oath on the River Styx, the most binding vow in the divine world, confident she can talk Hephaestus into revealing how to unlock the throne. She fails. Ares storms into the volcano and beats Hephaestus, but violence cannot break his resolve. Aphrodite stops the fight by throwing Ares' own spear between them. Dionysus later plies Hephaestus with wine, and in his intoxication, Hephaestus frees Hera himself, knowing this makes him the contest's winner and Aphrodite's betrothed.

Aphrodite tells Ares she will keep the oath to preserve her power, her temples, and Olympus' peace. Ares refuses to accept this, offering to fight Zeus at her side, but Aphrodite insists keeping the peace requires greater strength than war. Ares sees her decision as a choice of Olympus over him and walks away, abandoning Mount Haemus entirely.

Aphrodite marries Hephaestus and accompanies him to Lemnos, a volcanic island where he has built a hidden palace. Their marriage remains platonic. They develop an uneasy companionship, but Aphrodite notices her divine power weakening: Romances she blesses fail, lovers quarrel, and the world's love begins to wither. She traces the problem to her own closed heart.

When Eros leads her to the forests of Arcadia, she meets Adonis, a beautiful mortal hunter, and begins a romance disguised as a forest nymph. The affair rekindles her power, and love flows across the world again. She leaves Hephaestus peacefully, both acknowledging their marriage was never real. Before she can take Adonis to safety, a wild boar charges from the forest. Adonis, not knowing Aphrodite is a goddess, throws himself in front of her and is killed. From the earth where his blood spills, Aphrodite causes a new flower to bloom, vowing not to let the world lapse back into lovelessness.

Years pass, and Aphrodite tends to her worshippers with renewed dedication. A cry of anguished love reaches her from the Scythian steppe, far beyond the Olympian world. She discovers a tribe of warrior women called the Amazons, who call themselves the Daughters of Ares. She learns that Ares has been living in Scythia, raising a daughter named Alkippe. When an enemy tribe attacks the Amazons, Aphrodite wades into battle, and Ares arrives to finish the fight. They face each other on the battlefield, exchange guarded words, and part again with mutual sadness.

Ares then appears at Aphrodite's door on Olympus, confessing he has thought of nothing but her since their encounter. They reconcile, but word comes that Halirrhothios, Poseidon's mortal son, has gone to Scythia. Ares finds Halirrhothios attacking Alkippe and kills him. Poseidon is devastated, and Zeus chains Ares, declaring an unprecedented trial for murder.

At the trial in Athens, Eros brings Alkippe to testify that Halirrhothios assaulted her and that Ares intervened to save her. The 12 Olympians split evenly, and Zeus casts the deciding vote in Ares' favor. Hephaestus unlocks his brother's chains, and Zeus orders Ares to return to Olympus.

At a sacred spring outside Athens, Ares tells Aphrodite he had already decided to return to her before the trial. He acknowledges there will always be more wars but expresses hope for a distant future when love might rule the world and war become a forgotten relic. The novel closes with the two of them choosing to face eternity together, the Goddess of Love and the God of War, on their own terms.