Ares was the Greek god of War. The Romans had a similar figure in their religion, whom they called Mars. Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera. Hebe, Hephaestus, and Epis were his siblings. Ares was hated by most of the gods for his cruel and violent manner. Being the god of war, he would ride into battle on his chariot pulled by his horses, flame and terror.
Also accompanying him in battle was his sister Epis (Goddess of Discord) and Hades (Lord of the dead).
There is one goddess who loved him, and that was Aphrodite. He was the father of Deimos (Fear) and Phobos (Terror), among others. One of which, Kyknos, was killed by Herakles. Unfortunately for Ares, he could not avenge his son’s death because Zeus would not let his least favorite son (Ares) harm his favorite son (Herakles).
As you can see, Ares was not very good with personal relations.
Only one god loved him, and he was very violent and ruthless when it came to battle. He was the god of action and determination, which gave him the perfect qualities to be the god of war. To represent this god, he was given the symbol of the vulture. This suited him well as he killed the weak in battle, such as a vulture does to its prey. It was also given the symbol of the dog, for reasons that I do not know. One example of a myth that Ares had a part in is the Trojan War.
When he was fighting on the side of the Trojans, he was wounded by Pallas Athene. After deflecting his spear, she hurled a boulder and knocked Ares senseless. He needed to be assisted from the battle by Aphrodite. Another example from the same war is when Ares swooped down in his chariot to protect Aphrodite’s son, Aineias.
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He saved him from sure death at the hands of Achaeans. While Ares protected Aineias with his shield, Aphrodite fled to mount Olympus to heal her wounds. Although Ares was despised by most, he was honored by all great warriors, including Herakles (the killer of Ares’s on).
There were no cities that worshiped Ares, however.
Since most people feared him, they did not think it was possible to satisfy his violent temper or find any way to please him. There is some information about Ares coming from the city of Thrace, but if they worshipped him or not is unknown. Some rituals regarding Ares are known, such as that done by a warrior. “Seven warriors, fierce regiment-commanders, slaughtered a bull over a black shield, and then touching the bull’s gore with their hands they swore an oath by Ares” (Aeschylus).
As you can see, worshiping Ares involves many sacrifices and very violent behavior, which reflects upon the god’s personality. Today, there are many words that pertain to the god Ares, but by his Roman name, Mars.
The word martial means of or pertaining to battle, which relates directly to the god Mars. Also, when the military authority takes over the power of civil authority, the population is said to be under martial law. The name of the month March is also derived from Mars (Classical… ).
As you can see, Ares was a very important and unique part of Greek mythology.
He was much needed to fill the gap of symbolizing the spirit of war in ancient times. Although some thought him to be cowardly, he was still honored and treated like a true god.
