The relations of Mars to other deities may be best illustrated by passages from the Iliad, which, generally speaking, presents him in no very favorable light. […] The very necklace of Vulcan seemed to catch the spirit of ill-luck, and convey a baleful influence to such as wore it. […] Her very tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth, and her veins ceased to convey the tide of life. […] His dark blood drips down his skin of snow, beneath his brows his eyes wax heavy and dim; and the rose flees from his lip, and thereon the very kiss is dying, the kiss that Cypris will never forego. […] But, far from commending her, that implacable mistress said, “I know very well that by the aid of another thou hast done this; not yet am I assured that thou hast skill to be of use.