Goddess Enyo. Deity of Wanton Destruction or Wisdom in Warfare?
Summary of Contents: Goddess Enyo in Mythology | Arrival and Appearance | Goddess Destroyer of Cities | Why Warrior Deities are Important | War Beyond Worlds | Enyo's Gift | War of this World
Festival Day - 17 March
Olympian Goddess Enyo in Mythology
Goddess Enyo features in no legends, and references to her are few even in the Iliad: only that she supported Ares in fighting for the Trojans.
In some she is related as Ares’ sister, in others his partner. Her Greek epithet was “Destroyer of Cities”. Roman legend named her as Bellona, the battlefield companion of Mars.
Classification note: Enyo is not strictly an Olympian goddess, according to Hesiod's list of Goddesses and Gods. Since that classification cannot be independently confirmed, this site regards all Gods as Olympians.
Mythological references to Goddess Enyo
Goddesses, Gods and You
What kind of Heaven do you expect. Soft fluffy paradise of eternity, or oblivion of nothingness? Out-of-body survival expert Margo Williams discovered a surprisingly simple system of management and afterlife recycling.
There are many goddesses and gods in the community. Speaking their name aloud evidently sends a signal; creates a link to wherever they are at any given moment. If it works for you as it worked for Margo, and they respond, be respectful but be yourself. Honesty and thoughtfulness are appreciated.
Sacrifice nothing but your time. Most of them seemed approachable and appreciated being remembered.
The ancient temples that still can be found in some places, although mostly broken, are huge monumental structures; impressive sacred spaces, their scale designed to impress, to be worthy of divine visitation.
However, it is not the size and splendour of any sacred space but the sincerity of the person seeking contact.
Anywhere can be a temple.
"Hopeful members in the community assume the world population increasingly prefers peaceful coexistence - Make Trade not War."
"Imperialist ground-taking is mostly a thing of the past. So why does the modern world need warrior deities like Enyo, Athena and Ares? Homer portrays them as hungry for war. Do they have a place in the 21st century?" Nick Hammond asked out-of-body survivalist Margo Williams.
Enyo's Arrival and Appearance
"Enyo expressed her opinion on war. She arrived from a vivid red light. Tall and muscular; light brown skin tone. She wore a short tunic cut across one shoulder, ending at her thighs in a pleated battle skirt.
She stood barefoot, big feet, big hands; strong chin, thin lips, not a pretty face. Dark hair worn loose down her back. Carried a heavy spear, jabbed it at me.
"You welcome me, this I am pleased over." She didn’t seem or sound pleased. "I see you are not shaking with fear. You are the first mortal who does not tremble. In the past when I was honoured in the old temples, my name only had to be mentioned and mortals would quiver with fear."
She seized harsh hold of my wrist.
"War is important," she said and easily pulled me away. Dragged me backward into a world of devastation, through a bombed-out building. Another explosion rocked the structure shell and tipped an avalanche of bricks and debris down.
Dust caked my eyes and mouth, I was getting weaker.
"You are quite brave." She pulled me through a large hole in a wall then up a steep slope of concrete floor chunk, dislodged from above. The angle of our ascent made my head swim with blood as it banged against hard objects. Then she yanked me upright, and let me wipe the gunge from my eyes.
Goddess Destroyer of Cities
We stood on what remained of a balcony; its metal railings spiked the ruptured concrete. It was my world. Around us a city was dying under bombardment. Enyo, fabled 'Sacker of Cities', dread goddess of war, watched its destruction.
A missile sped through the air and thumped into a building. Chunks of masonry crashed down, spilling over the debris heap. A family’s bedroom opened onto the street; pieces of clothing scattered; a book; a bed; a small toy doll.
Another missile exploded with a fiery red crash; its tiny size disproportionate to the massive damage it did, as the building folded and crumpled in a dust cloud.
We watched the city’s death under bombardment. Its destruction was man-made, neighbour to neighbour. Maybe that was the point she intended.
"Are you afraid of fire?" she asked.
"Yes," I replied.
"Good." She prodded me with the spear-point. I jumped down from the balcony, slid down the debris heap then was forced through a burning doorway, the spear sharp in my back.
We stepped out into the remains of a street, to an unexpected sight of a large white horse, unsaddled, unbridled and apparently unconcerned by the noise of bombardment. It whinnied at sight of Enyo. She swung up onto its bare back; leaned over and prodded me with the spear. "Run!"
I ran.
Why Warrior Deities are Important
Homer portrays warrior Gods Athena and Ares as hungry for war. Enyo was the only one to express opinion on its importance.
Obviously I don't have access to the political reasoning of Gods. I have access to what they chose to share with me, and drew my own conclusions on their attitude to conflict. War hungry?
No. Ares and Athena expressed genuine contempt for it, and I doubted Enyo's mission conflicted with that position.
Fools say we as a species are drawn to war. But that doesn't seem accurate if you really look at human community. People prefer peace and positivity. Take self-checkouts in supermarkets for example; the psychology is that on a percentage basis people mostly are honest.
I guess the same with war, people mostly don't want it.
People are led to war, invariably fired up by lies. That is the obvious truth. And once the cruelty and misery starts, it feeds itself on grievance and suffering until one side or another is exhausted or their rogue leader is removed.
But war happens in our world. Sometimes if all the appeals to peaceful resolution are denied and ill-treatment of the vulnerable continues then there may be no alternative than to fight that evil.
War is important.
Wars Beyond Worlds
Enyo, Ares and Athena showed me evil is not abstract. In their dimensions it has form and agency. And maybe, my guess here, has influence into ours.
Occasionally I got access to witness unexpected environments in which battles were fought.
Ares explained as best he could our entry into a wholly different dimension of existence, wherein armies resembling figures from fantasy literature - bestial demonic creatures - fought. In those dimensions, Athena and Ares were engaged in combat or marshalled combatants to counter those forces.
Enyo too. From my limited time in her company I saw something of what she does and what concerns her. She is a warrior goddess; a commander of armies.
In fact, so far as I was aware, she commands two armies. One irregular, comprised of tough, cruel-looking men and women. Their armour unpolished and mostly unkempt; as if Enyo had, post-death, recruited the fiercest fighters from all of history’s wars.
The second army was quite different. It was spotless clean and bright-armoured; perfect precision in its movements and discipline. And looked just as deadly in delivering violence. Maybe one army was Enyo’s weapon for dirty fighting, the other for destroying an enemy’s hope, though she didn’t confirm that to me.
At first I assumed those demonic enemy hordes were symbolic, because information-sharing was mostly presented in this form. Engaging with them soon corrected that. Enyo, like Ares and Athena expected me to fight.
Enyo's Gift
"You must be hardened for battle." Enyo glared down, pulled me by my wrists.
We entered a marble-floored cavern, in the centre of which stood a big tub of hot steaming liquid. Two African females, tall as goddesses, stood ready beside the tub, both dressed in red cloak and red mask, robes open to the waist.
They fastened my arms outstretched to chains attached to the ceiling, my feet to the floor with chains at my ankles. I felt nervous but not uncomfortable. The females each fetched a long handled ladle and dipped it into the thick steaming liquid and poured it over my arms, body and thighs. It burned, then cooled to set hard like wax.
They didn’t let it get past my knees or elbows or neck, though they put some on the top of my head. When they had finished, Enyo circled me to inspect their work.
"This gives you protection, a shell. Go now and fight," she said.
She deposited me out into open ground then instantly vanished; left me alone holding only a stick. But I wasn’t alone. Twenty or so dark-clad creatures stood in a group. Size and shape of human males but frighteningly wrong-looking, as if their transition from human to ferocious beast was interrupted mid way.
All of them now fully alerted to my arrival.
The stick measured only long as my arm, not even a club compared to the blades those creatures had. Momentarily they stared at me, like my appearance was an intolerable insult, then they ran at me.
"I am not afraid of you!" I yelled, but deep down felt petrified.
I slashed at them; the stick stayed in my hand. For every lunge I made, most of theirs passed my defence but they only knocked me back a half pace or so. Their thrusts didn’t pierce the hard wax armour. I was buffeted and hammered but none cut me; and the more that didn’t happen the more confidence it gave me.
Knocked one down and it didn’t get up; and then another and another. I moved forward through them, exhausted but they retreated. Each step I advanced they stepped backwards, nervous of their footing.
Through a gap I saw they backed toward a cliff. So I quickened my pace, hacked and slashed until the half dozen that were left fell over the edge.
I hadn’t fainted. Scratches and dents on the wax armour, but that was all. I tapped its shell, a blinding flash of light returned me to the marble-floored cavern.
The two females approached, this time each held a clawed implement. Starting at my neck, back and front, they worked down my body, peeling the casing away but from thighs to knees and upper elbow they had to chip it away, and that hurt.
Enyo watched them, heavy spear still in hand. "I have found you worthy of serving me," she gestured with the blade. "That is good."
War Of This World
Do we need warrior Gods? Yes. In the bigger hidden picture of existence evidently conflict is happening. On a local our-world perspective, so long as some community leaders insist their cause for war is important and other peoples' lives are not, assessments have to be made. Athena and Ares both gave clear indication of that as their function.
In other dimensions, the fight continues. Enyo aware of its importance and its influence to affect our own beautiful world.
What Enyo next showed me did not look like war, no human casualties. It looked like peace. She escorted me through fields of wheat ripening in warm sunlight; no sounds of gunfire or explosion, or sights of bloody carnage; only an irritating noise of light aircraft spraying pesticide on the crops.
Insect life died, massacred in millions.
In all my time with Enyo not once did I see any evidence of her engaged in city-destruction but she did show me this unexpected conflict. The broken landscapes where forests were cleared, scarred by the tyre tracks of tree-destroying vehicles; and rivers heaped with plastic debris and piles of rubbish.
Sometimes she showed me the oil-slicked beaches where sea birds struggled and fish lay dead. There were no human casualties to be seen but the death and destruction was immeasurable and catastrophic.
"Mortals are at war with their own world." She jabbed finger hard into my chest. "You have to fight. Fight for the rights of all creatures."
Thank you for your company on this short introduction to goddess Enyo. If you would like to know more about Margo Williams' experiences and suggestions for how to survive in the hereafter, read this book. Now available from Amazon.
