Understanding war as the deployment of a mythical force opens new possibilities for the Social Sciences and the production of knowledge regarding the belligerent condition that persists in western civilization. Using the figure of the Greek god Ares, this text describes the way in which the relation between love and war is configured through the study of mythological narratives, pictorial images and sculptural works that indicate the triumph of eroticism over agonism. Using a mixed methodology in which myth analysis and aesthetic hermeneutics converge, this article aims to bring the reader to two conclusions: that war begins where love is impossible and that love is the only mythical force that can curb the horror of war.