（Ἄρης), the god of war and one of the great Olympian gods
of the Greeks. He is represented as the son of Zeus and
Hera. (Hom. Il. 5.893, &c.; Hes. Th. 921; Apollod. 1.3.1.) A
later tradition, according to which Hera conceived Ares by
touching a certain flower, appears to be an imitation of the
legend about the birth of Hephaestus, and is related by
Ovid. (Fast. 5.255, &c.) The character of Ares in Greek
mythology will be best understood if we compare it with that
of other divinities who are likewise in some way connected
with war. Athena represents thought-fulness and wisdom in
the affairs of war, and protects men and their habitations
during its ravages. Ares, on the other hand, is nothing but
the personification of bold force and strength, and not so
much the god of war as of its tumult, confusion, and
horrors. His sister Eris calls forth war, Zeus directs its
course, but Ares loves war for its own sake, and delights in
the din and roar of battles, in the slaughter of men, and
the destruction of towns. He is not even influenced by
party-spirit, but sometimes assists the one and sometimes
the other side, just as his inclination may dictate ; whence
Zeus calls him ἀλλοπόσαλλος. (Il. 5.889.) The destructive
hand of this god was even believed to be active in the
ravages made by plagues and epidemics. (Soph. Oed. Tyr.
185.) This savage and sanguinary character of Ares makes him
hated by the other gods and his own parents. (Il. 5.889-
909.) In the Iliad, he appears surrounded by the
personifications of all the fearful phenomena and effects of
war (4.440, &c., 15.119, &c.); but in the Odyssey his
character is somewhat softened down. It was contrary to the
spirit which animated the Greeks to represent a being like
Ares, with all his overwhelming physical strength, as always
victorious; and when he comes in contact with higher powers,
he is usually conquered. He was wounded by Diomedes, who was
assisted by Athena, and in his fall he roared like nine or
ten thousand other warriors together. (Il. 5.855, &c.) When
the gods began to take an active part in the war of the
mortals, Athena opposed Ares, and threw him on the ground by
hurling at him a mighty stone (20.69, 21.403, &c.); and when
he lay stretched on the earth, his huge body covered the
space of seven plethra. The gigantic Aloadae had likewise
conquered and chained him, and had kept him a prisoner for
thirteen months, until he was delivered by Hermes. (5.385,
&c.) In the contest of Typhon against Zeus, Ares was
obliged, together with the other gods, to flee to Egypt,
where he metamorphosed himself into a fish. (Antonin. Lib.
28.) He was also conquered by Heracles, with whom he fought
on account of his son Cycnus, and obliged to return to
Olympus. (Hesiod, Scut. Herc. 461.) In numerous other
contests, however, he was victorious. This fierce and
gigantic, but withal handsome god loved and was beloved by
Aphrodite : he interfered on her behalf with Zeus (5.883),
and lent her his war-chariot. (5.363; comp. APHRODITE.) When
Aphrodite loved Adonis, Ares in his jealonsy metamorphosed
himself into a bear, and killed his rival. [ADONIS.]
According to a late tradition, Ares slew Halirrhotius, the
son of Poseidon, when he was on the point of violating
Alcippe, the daughter of Ares. Hereupon Poseidon accused
Ares in the Areiopagus, where the Olympian gods were
assembled in court. Ares was acquitted, and this event was
believed to have given rise to the name Areiopagus. (Dict.
of Ant. s. v.）
The warlike character of the tribes of Thrace led to the
belief, that the god's residence was in that country, and
here and in Scythia were the principal seats of his worship.
(Hom. Od. 8.361, with the note of Eustath.; Ov. Ars Am.
2.585 ; Statius, Stat. Theb. 7.42; Hdt. 4.59, 62.) In
Scythia he was worshipped in the form of a sword, to which
not only horses and other cattle, but men also were
sacrificed. Respecting the worship of an Egyptian divinity
called Ares, see Herodotus, 2.64. He was further worshipped
in Colchis, where the golden fleece was suspended on an oak-
tree in a grove sacred to him. (Apollod. 1.9.16.) From
thence the Dioscuri were believed to have brought to Laconia
the ancient statue of Ares which was preserved in the temple
of Ares Thareitas, on the road from Sparta to Therapnae.
(Paus. 3.19.7, &c.) The island near the coast of Colchis, in
which the Stymphalian birds were believed to have dwelt, and
which is called the island of Ares, Aretias, Aria, or
Chalceritis, was likewise sacred to him. (Steph. Byz. s. v.
Ἄρεος νῆσος; Apollon. 2.1047; Plin. Nat. 6.12; Pomp. Mela,
2.7.15.)
In Greece itself the worship of Ares was not very general.
At Athens he had a temple containing a statue made by
Alcamenes (Paus. 1.8.5); at Geronthrae in Laconia he had a
temple with a grove, where an annual festival was
celebrated, during which no woman was allowed to approach
the temple. (3.22.5.) He was also worshipped near Tegea, and
in the town (8.44.6, 48.3), at Olympia (5.15.4), near Thebes
(Apollod. 3.4.1), and at Sparta, where there was an ancient
statue, representing the god in chains, to indicate that the
martial spirit and victory were never to leave the city of
Sparta. (Paus. 3.15.5.) At Sparta human sacrifices were
offered to Ares. (Apollod. Fragm. p. 1056, ed. Heyne.) The
temples of this god were usually built outside the towns,
probably to suggest the idea that he was to prevent enemies
from approaching them.
All the stories about Ares and his worship in the countries
north of Greece seem to indicate that his worship was
introduced in the latter country from Thrace; and the whole
character of the god, as described by the most ancient poets
of Greece, seems to have been thought little suited to be
represented in works of art : in fact, we hear of no
artistic representation of Ares previous to the time of
Alcamenes, who appears to have created the ideal of Ares.
There are few Greek monuments now extant with
representations of the god; he appears principally on coins,
reliefs, and gems. (Hirt, Mythol. Bilderb. i. p. 51.) The
Romans identified their god Mars with the Greek Ares.
[MARS.] - A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and
mythology, William Smith, Ed.
Read More
