Ares - Greek God of War

Ares is known as the Greek God of War, but he was more specifically the God of war-like frenzy and bloodlust.

In Greek Mythology, Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera, but neither of them have much sympathy for his activities.

The symbol of Ares is often held to be a dog and a vulture. Ares was often also accompanied by several other Gods into battle. They were: Deimos and Phobos (the spirits of terror and fear), his sister Enyo (the Goddess of bloodshed), and Alala, whose name became his battle war-cry.

The main myth of Ares is about the founding of the city of Thebes. Ares was the father of the water dragon that was killed by Cadmus. The dragon’s teeth were sown into the ground and fully grown Spartans sprung up out of them. These Spartans were held to be the descendants of Ares. Cadmus then married Harmonia, the daughter of Ares and founded the city of Thebes.

Another famous myth about Ares is about his affair with Aphrodite. Apart from war and bloodshed, Ares was reputed to love Aphrodite the best. However, she was married to Hephaistos. They were caught in an embarrassing position and all the Gods came down to watch. But that didn’t stop Ares from continuing his secret liaisons with Aphrodite. He even went to the extent of killing Adonis (another one of Aphrodite’s lovers) by taking on the form of a boar.

There is also another story of Ares being chained inside an urn for thirteen months by the two giants Otus and Ephialtes. Ares remained inside that urn till Hermes came and rescued him, and Artemis tricked Otus and Ephialtes into killing each other.

Ares is also well known for the part he played in the Trojan War. He was on the side of the Trojans, but he was injured by Athena, when she threw a huge boulder on him.

However, not all stories about Ares are that way. There is one story where Ares killed Halirrhotius, the son of Poseidon, because he is raping Ares’ daughter Alcippe.

Later on, when the Romans conquered the Greeks, he was equated with the God Mars. Since Mars was the father of Romulus and Remus, he attained some amount of respect there.