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Ares: God of War in Greek Mythology

10/07/2020
     Ares is the Greek God of War and was one of the Greek gods that became more popular in our culture, especially after the saga of God of War games ... Check out everything about Ares by reading the article.

Ares in Greek Mythology:

     Ares, is a Greek god, son of the king and queen of the gods, Zeus and Hera in the ancient Greek religion. The cult of Ares was not very large, being centered in the northern region of Greece and in Sparta, one of the most important city-states in Ancient Greece. Although often referred to as the Olympic god of war, he is more exactly the god of wild war, bloodlust, or personified killing. The Romans identified him as Mars, the Roman god of war and agriculture (which they had inherited from the Etruscans). 

     Among the Hellenes there was always mistrust of Ares and he was detested by Zeus. Ares was generally diminished in the name of his half-sister, Athena, who although she was a goddess of war, Athena's position was one of strategic war, while Ares tended to be the unpredictable violence of war. His birthplace and his real home were placed very far away, among the warlike barbarians and Thracians (Iliad 13,301; Ovid, Ars Amatoria, II.10;), from where he withdrew after his affair with Aphrodite was revealed. Although Aphrodite is best known as the wife of Hephaestus in late myths, she was more portrayed with Ares, than for representing virility and her ideal lover in the classical imagination.

Ares Mythology:

     In the tale sung by the bard in Alcínoo's room, the sun god Helio once spied Ares and Aphrodite secretly loving each other in Hephaestus's room, and he promptly reported the incident to Aphrodite's Olympic spouse. Hephaestus caught the couple in the act, and to do so, he made a special net, thin and sturdy like diamond to catch illicit lovers. At the appropriate time, this net was thrown, and cornered Ares and Aphrodite in a passionate embrace. But Hephaestus was still not satisfied with his revenge - he invited the Olympian gods and goddesses to examine the unhappy couple. 

     Because of modesty, the goddesses doubted, but the gods witnessed the sight. Some commented on the beauty of Aphrodite, others thought of changing places eagerly with Ares, but all mocked them both. Once the couple was released, Ares, embarrassed, fled away to his homeland, Thrace. In a much later interpolated detail, Ares put the young Alectrião at his door to warn them of Hélio's arrival, as Hélio would say to Hephaestus of Aphrodite's infidelity if the two were discovered, but Alectrião fell asleep. Hélio discovered both and alerted Hephaestus. Ares was furious with Alectrião and turned him into a rooster, which now never forgets to announce the arrival of the sun in the morning.

Check: True Kratos from God of War

Your War Companions:

     Deimos, "the terror", and Phobos "fear", were his companions in the war, children born of Aphrodite according to Hesiod. Ares's sister and murder companion was Eris, the goddess of discord or nnio, the goddess of war, bloodshed and violence. He was also assisted by the lesser war god Enyalios, his son with Ênio, whose name ("bellicose", the same meaning as nio) also served as a title for Ares himself. The presence of Ares was accompanied by Kydoimos, the demon of the battle boom, as well as the Makhai (Battles), the Hysminai (Carnage), Polemos (a lesser spirit of the war; probably an epithet of Ares, as he had no dominion) Polemos' daughter, Alala, the goddess / personification of the Greek battle cry, whose name Ares used as her own battle cry. His sister Hebe also performed baths for him.

Ares and the Giant:

     In an archaic and obscure myth related in the Iliad by the goddess Dione to her daughter Aphrodite, two chthonic giants, the Aloidas, called Oto and Efialtes, cast Ares in chains and put him in a bronze urn, where he remained for thirteen months, a lunar year. "And it would have been the end of Ares and his appetite for war, if the beautiful Eriboea, the stepmother of the young giants, had not told Hermes what they had done," she reported (Iliad 5.385-391). "In one of these suspects a festival of leave that is done in the thirteenth month." Ares screamed and howled in the urn until Hermes rescued him and Artemis tricked the Aloids into murdering each other.
Their children are: Erus, Anterus, Phobus, Deimus, Phlegias, Harmonia and Adrestia and Rômulo and Remo.

Ares in Current Culture:

  • Ares is the main comic book antagonist of DC Comics, in the story of the superheroine Wonder Woman. He also makes an appearance in the animated series Justice League - Unlimited. He is voiced by Michael York. In the episode "Gavião e Pombo".
  • In Knights of the Zodiac, the "Grand Master" received the name of the god Ares, where he was the commander of the twelve gold knights, each in armor of a sign of the Greek zodiac, being the great rival group of the five bronze knights led by Saori Kido, reincarnation of the goddess Athena, in the anime Shrine. Later, too, it appeared as Mars at Saint Seiya omega and a battle was described in mythological times between Ares and Athena.
  • In the game Empire Earth, one of the robotic units that can be built in the digital age is called Ares.
  • Ares is also the main antagonist in the God Of War game series. The main anti-hero, Kratos, was Ares' warrior, but he was betrayed when Ares made Kratos kill his own wife and daughter. With the help of other gods, Kratos kills Ares and becomes the new god of war.
  • Ares also appears in Marvel Comics comics as a prominent member of the Mighty Avengers. He plays the role of "Wolverine and Thor" having both the traces of violence and the strength of Thor. He is also a major antagonist of Marvel's comic version, Hercules.

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