Aphrodite and Ares in Greek Mythology

In greek mythology, she is still strongly associated with the god of war, ares. She was married to the god of the forge, hephaestus and bore him many children. The greek travel writer pausanius hints at this when he tells us that in a temple in athens, there were two statues of aphrodite, and one was of ares. This is a weird, kind of a confusing comment that has been interpreted to suggest that aphrodite and ares were essentially male and female aspects of the same deity. Is it possible that this is the way aphrodite's more ancient association with war was carried forward in classical greece?