Eno: The Overlooked Greek Goddess of Slaughter and Bloodshed
In the pantheon of Greek gods, violent deities like Ares and terrifying beings like the Furies may first spring to mind when imagining the forces behind the vicious battles that define Ancient Greek myths and history. However, there exists an even more ruthless supernatural agent of chaos and destruction – the virtually unknown goddess Eno.
Shrouded in obscurity today, Eno was in fact an prominent and influential figure closely intertwined with notions of all-encompassing warfare, cruelty and suffering. Mentioned over 20 times in Greece‘s oldest works of epic literature like Homer‘s Iliad and Hesiod‘s Theogony, the marked absence of this once-prominent goddess in modern consciousness represents a profound gap in understanding the true breadth of Greek mythological thought.
So who exactly was Eno and why has this embodiments of bloodlust been so unjustly relegated to the sidelines of Greek lore?
The Goddess Who Thirsts for Blood
Emerging from the primordial shadowy depths of Nyx (Night), Eno took form alongside the equally fearsome twin Fates, Doom, Death, Sleep and Dreams. Hesiod describes her and her sister Ays, the goddess of battle-strife, as:
"…sisters and companions in the vile works of Ares… They set men to fighting when they have entered the sorrowful battle, and they make groan aloud all the earth and the well-built sky above."
Thus from her very inception, Eno has been envisioned as an intimate and enthusiastic participant in war‘s utter desolation. Hesiod emphasizes the joy this gruesome goddess derives from scenes of widespread suffering and death in battle, attributing to her all the ugly brutality and mercilessness lacking even in consummate combatants like Ares.
The Iliad offers further detail into Eno‘s role in warfare, stating that:
"Strife whose wrath is relentless, she is the sister and companion of murderous Ares, she who is only a little thing at the first, but thereafter grows until she strides on the ground with her head striking heaven. She then hurls down bitterness equally between both sides as she walks through the onslaught making men’s pain heavier."
So while quick skirmishes may erupt from relatively trivial disputes, it is Eno who fans the flames and transforms such conflicts into protracted, increasingly violent wars where men descend into bitter viciousness and retaliate heinously against one another.
Homer also describes her wandering battlefields in the guise of a hideous immortal spirit of death alongside counterparts like Keres, feasting on the blood and flesh of fallen soldiers. Such savage and gruesome behavior exceeds even Ares‘ appetite for the fight.
A Fickle Force of Nature
Interestingly, while undeniably ruthless, Eno is regarded as more a force of nature than villain – chaotic neutral rather than evil. As Hesiod muses:
“It is not possible to deceive or go beyond the will of Zeus: for not even the goddess Eno… escapes the rule of Zeus who holds the bonds of death.”
She may capitalize on opportunities to incite new feuds and transform small fights into epic wars, but ultimately even Eno is subordinate to Zeus‘ authority. Thus like natural disasters or illnesses, the destruction left in Eno‘s wake – while intensely disruptive and painful – is recognized as an inevitable phenomenon inherent to mortal existence that the gods sporadically harness in order to check overly prideful human ambitions.
Yet make no mistake that on occasions where she is permitted free reign to "walk the earth”or “breathe fierce flames of bright fire” and fan men‘s hatreds, cities burn and civilizations collapse under the tremendous force of unbridled violence and chaos. The Trojan War marks one such occasion.
Eno at Troy
Perhaps Eno‘s most (in)famous appearance comes in Quintus Smyrnaeus’ Posthomerica, which chronicles the concluding events of the decade-long legendary war between the Greeks and Trojans. Having breached Troy‘s formidable walls with their iconic wooden horse, the Greek champions devolve into vicious and emotional infighting over spoils of war, woman and pride:
"But upon these men risen up from all sides Eno flung the firebrand of warfare…In that hour might men seemanifest the dread names of Death and Destruction, and carnage all confused, blood streaming; shrieks, shouts, death-rattles, were heard everywhere."
Madness and mayhem consume all involved to the point even battle-hardened kings lose themselves in the chaos. Eno‘s abilities to rapidly amplify grievances makes her instrumental in igniting and sustaining the initial stages of this gruesome sacking of Troy that finally ends the epic conflict.
An Enduring Legacy
Though modern audiences may rarely encounter Eno in pop culture today beyond obscure academic circles, she still leaves an impression as one of Greek mythology‘s most merciless and literally blood-chilling personifications of humanity‘s capacity for extreme violence against itself. Any deep analysis of the themes underlying Ancient Greece‘s legendary stories of war and conflict remains incomplete without acknowledging Eno‘s symbolism of how quickly seemingly contained skirmishes can plunge into depths of bitter heartless brutality when the lesser angels of our nature take hold.