When homer was writing the Iliad he added in a set of dialogue between Zeus and Aphrodite that essentially had Zeus saying that someone like Aphrodite does not belong on the battle field. It really did not fit the scene so we can guess that he was making a point with saying that. If he was trying to make a point we can guess that that was a argument during the time of writing. Aphrodite did come from a war(and many other things) goddess but was only worshiped as one in Sparta and the place where the cult first settles down.
I agree that Rick could have done better building with that but for the most part other then Piper and maybe Silena were background characters. I also agree that Drew was not really written the best but Aphrodite was kinda only portrayed as a loving mother or as a vengeful love goddess in the myths so Rick kinda passed it onto the kids. But yah give us more good Aphrodite kids writing.
i will forever be disappointed at how the Aphrodite cabin is portrayed in the books.
Silena was an exception I guess but it wasn't enough tbh. I really dislike the way wearing makeup or dressing up fancy is seen as "shallow" or "too much". There's nothing wrong in wanting to dress extravagantly, it's a form of self prep. Fancy ≠ shallow. And the only "good" member of the cabin after silena was a girl who didn't like her own cabin and was seen as super "cool" simply because she rejected all the "girly" stuff by rebelling. Why can't we have both "girly" and non girly girls as cool people?
Drew was genuinely very shallow, but every time she's brought up in the books, instead of soley describing her personality, her tendency to wear makeup is shown as a bad thing. And it's not just because she's seen in piper's pov, she wasnt really described any better in Sadie Kane's povs either. When Sadie described drew wearing "awful pink eyeliner" upon seeing her + plus saying her perfume was 'too much' or something like that.
Reading about Drew's character description just gives me a headache lol because the way Rick wrote her as being shallow while ironically making other people judge her in a shallow way is just off putting. Like, no need to bitch on her for wanting to be more 'feminine' and "princess-y" ?
Give me an Aphrodite kid who sees wearing makeup as an art form (because it is) and not simply just to impress other people, like drew.
Give me an Aphrodite kid who uses fashion as a coping mechanism from their shitty life.
Give me an Aphrodite kid who loves knitting other people cute scarves as presents.
Give me an Aphrodite kid who loves doing younger camper's hair for them as their love language.