Ares and Mars

Mars and Venus United by Love by Paolo Veronese 1570

ARES

In his greek form, he is a blood thirsty, violent god disliked by many. Son of Hera and Zeus, Ares had been brought into the pantheon by birthright alone, other olympians being unable to object. He originates from Thrace.

While not often celebrated by the greeks, they still paid respects as Ares remained an olympian, and was seen as powerful. He was worshipped out of fear in the Greek society. 

{Family}

Infamously, Ares' parents are Hera and Zeus themselves. However, he tended to have a better relationship with Hera than he did with Zeus, as his father tended to show disdain for his bloodthirsty nature. Ares had three notable sisters, Eris the goddess of discord, and Hebe the goddess of youth, along with the better known goddess, Athena. While there is not much notable relations between Eris and Ares, and Athena and Ares. 

Famously, Athena and Ares involved themselves in the Trojan war, Ares taking up the side wof Sparta, taking the side of his lover Aphrodite, and Athena on the opposing end. With the loss of the war, and a spear guided by Athena killing Hector, Ares fled the scene, going to Zeus, ironically, complaining of Athena's violence. 

Lesser known, Ares and Eris born a child together, Enyalios, another god of war, albeit a sort of minigod of such. While Ares had cihldren that were majority mortal, there are a few notable deities he has created, notably with Aphrodite. 

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{Divine Children}

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{Anteros and Phobos}

Two gods that often followed Ares into battle was Aneteros and Phobos. Anteros is the god of fear, Phobos the god of panic. Two emotions that could commonly be felt on the battlefield. Both of these gods are the sons of Ares and Aphrodit

{Eros}

Eros by alfred Guilbert 1893

Often referred to as 'Cupid' around Valentine's day, Eros is the god of love. Unlike the modern depictions, this god is not a cute little cherub in a diaper with a toy bow and arrow. Instead, he was much more inline with the standards of greek society. This god, despite being very different from Anteros and Phobos, is also the offspring of Ares and Aphrodite. 
 

The Amazons, the fierce woman-only warriors, daughters of the nymph Harmony, were the children of Ares as well. The tale of them are famous enough, and extensive enough that there is not enough expansiveness in Ares' domain to cover this group. 

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{Lovers}

Famously, Ares took Aphrodite as a lover despite her marriage to Hephaestus. Often enough, Ares took his lover's side in conflict, especially seen in the Trojan war when he took the side of the Trojans, and fought for Hector.

A second lover is his sister, Eris. However, the only notable thing about that relationship was the mini war god that had been produced. 

While Ares lacked immortal lovers and offsprings, he had significantly more mortal lovers and children.

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{Mortal Lovers and Demigods}

Ares had plenty of demigod children and plenty of mortal lovers. However, there are only a few notable children that most will know, and fewer that are notable enough to dedicate more than a paragraph to. 

Capitoline Wolf 5th Century B.C.E

{Remus and Romulus}

The twin demigods between an affair of Ares and Ilia. Their story is famous, found floating down the river and found by the she-wolf, Lupa, and taken in as her own. The picture to the left is a famous statue of the twins feeding from Lupa. 

Eventually, the twins grew and founded Rome. Remus became a barbaric king of a Thrakian tribe. His twin, Romulus, became king of Latium. 

{Alkippe} 

Alkippe may be a slightly lesser known demigod of Ares born in Athens to her mother Agraulos. She was raped by Hallirhothios, a son of Poseidon. As a result, Ares klled him. 

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Ares in Pop Culture

Lore Olympus Ares by Rachel Smythe

There are not many myths of Ares by the Greeks, as they feared him more than anything. However, the modern day seems to show off Ares much more than the Greeks. 

One example of Ares in modern day/pop culture, is the online comic "Lore Olympus" by Rachel Smythe. The comic follows a modern retelling of the love story between Hades and Persephone, but of course, it is impossible to tell such a tale without including the other gods as well. 

A second example is, famously, the Percy Jackson series, written by Rick Riordan, in which he plays the villain for the first book, admittedly foolishly, fighting a 12 year old Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, on the beach. He also makes multiple appearances throughout the 'PJO' series and the spin off series "Heroes of Olympus" amongst other spin offs. 

Honorable Mentions include: 

• Wonder Woman (2006 Film and the 2017 television series) 
• God of War I, God of War II, and the 2005 edition of God of War 
• Hercules (1997 animated film and the 1998 television series

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{Worship of Ares}

 Firstly, the symbols of Ares. While important, they deserve their own section for thorough explaination of their importance and symbolism. 

1. The boar: the animal that is linked to its ferocity and its strength, two attributes of Ares' that is most known for besides his blood and battlelust 
2. The vulture: an animal that frequents battlegrounds, circling above
3. The dog: an animal that is meant to symbolize the loyalty that soldiers should possess before and during battle 
4. Anything that is associated with or has a connotation of being violent or is warlike 
1. The spear: the most notable symbol of Ares, it is thought to represent the close up, direct, savage violence of war, the aspect that Ares represents
2. The helmet: another famous symbol of the war god, it is relatively straight forward. As helmets, armor and other weapons are directly tied to war
5. The chariot: a mode of transport that was a common sight in war 
6. A flaming torch: thought to be a means of destruction, used to burn and pillage towns and cities, it became a symbol of Ares through association of war, especially as Ares represents the savagery, bloodlust of war 

Ares is a famous god, one of the first to come to mind to many while thinking of the greek pantheon. Despite this, the Greeks did not widely worship him, most worship coming from aggressive, warlike societies. But even so, there were accounts of festivals in his honor. One festival that excluded women, and another that was exclusively women. However, the Greeks mostly worshipped him due to fear and the power he exhibited. 

Relating to, there is not many myths of Ares in Greek society, but when he did appear in stories, he was often the victim of humiliation. His characterization was often cowardly, unable to handle the slightest injury despite the very thing he controls. With Ares being the god of war, he often recieved pre-battle sacrifices from soldiers. One sacrifice included puppies, soldiers sacrificing them to Ares using the name "Enyalios" of which would be performed before battle-based competitions. 

Temples were also constructed in his name, however they were usually erected on the edges of the main town. This could have been as a way of protection, as having his temple there made that place a place of Ares. A place where a god would look at if the right event occured. Important locations of some of his shrines imcluded: 

• Athens - a man named Alcamenes erected a "cultish statue" in name of Ares here on top of all of the temples
• Sparta - with the temples, a statue of Ares, of which was covered in chains, was put up here. It was thought to symbolize that the military might would never leave the city
• Cities where the Olympics were held 

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{Mars}

Unlike his Greek counterpart Ares, Mars was widely loved and respected by the Romans. He is thought to carry the title as the Ancestor to the Roman People, some calling him the father of the Roman people. 

Personality wise, Mars was thought to be much calmer and understanding than his Greek version. As an extension to this, to his favorable reputation amongst the Romans, lead to widespread worship of Mars. 

An example of this can be seen with Emperor Agustus erecting the Temple of Mars ultor in Rome. The phrase "Mars Ultor" translates to "Mars the Avenger. 

Temple of Mars Ultor erected by Emperor Augustus 2 B.C.E

Works Cited: 

1. ARES • Facts and information on Greek God of War. (2024, January 26). Greek Gods & Goddesses. https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/ares/ 

2. ARES FAMILY - Greek mythology. (n.d.). https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/AresFamily.html 

3. Ares in popular culture. (n.d.). DBpedia. https://dbpedia.org/page/Ares_in_popular_culture 

4. Ares – Mythopedia. (n.d.). Mythopedia. https://mythopedia.com/topics/ares 

5. Ares. (2019, November 24). Ares application. •°Lore Olympus°• | aminoapps.com. https://aminoapps.com/c/loreolymp/page/item/ares-application/g71q_RbuKIqq5JZ45KoYXR2xVo7zdoeqL6 

6. House, C. (2019, January 30). An iconic sculpture of Eros comes to auction | European Sculpture & Works of Art | Sotheby’s. Sothebys.com. https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/an-iconic-sculpture-of-eros-comes-to-auction 

7. Neel, J. (n.d.). Smarthistory – Capitoline She-Wolf. https://smarthistory.org/capitoline-she-wolf/ 

8. Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari) | Mars and Venus United by Love | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (n.d.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437891