Phobos and Deimos: The Greek War Companions

09/04/2021

     Phobos and Deimos are, in Greek Mythology, companions of war and both are sons of the God Ares. Both mean Terror and Fear. Learn more about these deities below.

Who is Phobos?

     Phobos means "Fear" and in Greek Mythology he is the son of Ares and Aphrodite. Deimos' twin brother, he symbolizes fear and accompanies Ares on the battlefields, injecting cowardice and fear into the hearts of enemies.

     In classical Greek Mythology, Phobos is yet another personification of the fear brought on by war and does not appear as a character in any myth. Timor or Tímoro is equivalent to him in Roman mythology, he was also referred to as Dread.


But who was Ares?

     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.

     Among the Hellenics there was always mistrust of Ares and he was detested by Zeus. Ares was generally belittled 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.

An interesting fact is that Zeus did not like Ares at all, just as Ares detested him, that is, the feeling of contempt was mutual. Later the God of Thunder would replace Ares with Cratos as the newest God of War, but Ares was extremely irritated and to avoid being replaced, sent Cratos to the Underworld never to return. From this story, the God of War game saga was developed.


What about Deimos?

     Deimos means "Panic" and in Greek Mythology, it is the god of terror. In Hesiod's Theogony, he is one of the three sons of Ares and Aphrodite, being the brother of Phobos, fear. The terrible Deimos is the personification of panic and accompanied his father and brother Fobos, causing the troops to abandon the formation and flee in disorder.

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