Ares

This article is about Ares, the Greek god of war. For other possible meanings of the name Ares, see Ares (disambiguation).

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Ares ("man," "male", "strife"; in Greek, Ἄρης), in Greek mythology, is the god of war and son of Zeus and Hera. He is identified with Mars of Roman mythology. He was worshipped primarily in Thracia, although he was also venerated in Sparta and Thebes. Ares's symbols are a spear and a helmet. His animal is the dog and his bird is the vulture. Ares is known as vain, cruel, aggressive, and blood-thirsty. He is notorious with both gods and humans.

Related Topics:
Greek mythology - Zeus - Hera - Mars - Roman mythology - Thracia

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Two giants, the brothers Otus and Ephialtes, put Ares in an urn. To rescue Ares, Artemis changed herself into a deer and caused the brothers to throw their spears at each other.

Related Topics:
Otus - Ephialtes

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Ares gave Hippolyte the girdle that Heracles took.

Related Topics:
Hippolyte - Heracles

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One night, while in bed with Aphrodite, wife of Hephaestus, Ares put a youth named Alectryon by his door to guard them. Both Ares and Aphrodite did not know Hephaestus had rigged the bed with special chains with the power to hold anything in place, including gods. Alectryon fell asleep and Helios, the sun, walked in on the couple. Helios told Hephaestus what he had seen and Hephaestus was angered. Hephaestus caught Ares and Aphrodite, thanks to the chains, and brought the other gods to witness the adultery and humiliated Ares and Aphrodite. Ares turned Alectryon into a rooster which never forgets to announce the arrival of the sun in the morning.

Related Topics:
Aphrodite - Hephaestus - Alectryon - Helios - Sun - Rooster - Morning

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Ares promised Athena and Hera that he would fight on the side of the Greeks in the Trojan War. Later, Aphrodite was able to persuade Ares to fight with the Trojans. During the Trojan War, Diomedes fought with Hector and saw Ares fighting on the Trojans' side. Diomedes called for his soldiers to fall back slowly. Hera, Ares's mother, saw his interference and asked Zeus, his father, for permission to drive Ares away from the battlefield. Hera encouraged Diomedes to attack Ares, so he threw a spear at Ares. Athena then drove the spear into Ares's body, who bellowed in pain and fled to Mt. Olympus, forcing the Trojans to fall back.

Related Topics:
Trojan War - Diomedes - Hector

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Although important in poetry and myth, Ares was only rarely the recipient of cult worship. Even then, he was venerated most often in conjunction with other gods; for example, he shared a temple with Aphrodite at Thebes.

Related Topics:
Aphrodite - Thebes

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Ares Enyalius was sometimes used as an epithet for Ares. Interestingly, the Mycenean Greek Linear B tablets list a god Enyalios, while ares seems to be a common noun meaning "war." By classical times, however, Enyalios has been demoted to the status of hero (as in the Iliad) and Ares promoted to god. Enyalios survives as a cult-title in only a few settings, most notably in the oath of the ephebes at Athens.

Related Topics:
Ares Enyalius - Mycenean Greek - Linear B - Enyalios - Iliad - Ephebe - Athens

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