Ares

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

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ares gave Hippolyte the girdle that Heracles took.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greek mythology: Greek mythology comprises the collected narratives of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. Our surviving sources of mythology are literary reworkings of this oral tradition, supplemented by interpretations of iconic imagery, some...

Zeus: :Alternate meanings: See Zeus (web server) or Zeus (computer game)...

Hera: :This article is about the Greek goddess. For the asteroid, see 103 Hera, and also 1 Ceres, which briefly bore the name Hera. For the particle accelerator see Hadron Elektron Ring Anlage. For the missile system, see Hera missile....

Ares related Images and Photos (experimental)

Ares #1 Cover: Ares Stretching	Secret Warriors #10 Cover: Phobos Ares and Thor	Attic Red Figure Amphora Depicting Ares and Aphrodite in a Chariot Fighting the Giants	DC Classic Confrontations Wonder Woman vs. Ares Statue
War Machine #4 Cover: War Machine and Ares Fighting	The Roman God of War Similar to the Greek God Ares But Not Identical	Assault on New Olympus Prologue #1 Group: Hercules Zeus Amatsu-Mikaboshi Ares and Phobos