Ares is the god of war, and one of the great Olympian gods of the Greeks. He is commonly credited as being the son of Zeus and Hera.
The character of Ares in Greek mythology is best understood if compared with that of other divinities who are likewise in some way connected with war.
Athena represents thoughtfulness 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 (Strife) 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.
The destructive hand of this god was even believed to be active in the ravages made by plagues and epidemics. This savage and sanguinary character of Ares makes him hated by the other gods and his own parents. In the Iliad, he appears surrounded by the personifications of all the fearful phenomena and effects of war; 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. 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; and when he lay stretched on the earth, his huge body covered the space of seven plethra.
This fierce and gigantic, but withal handsome god loved and was beloved by Aphrodite. He interfered on her behalf with Zeus, and lent her his war-chariot. When Aphrodite loved Adonis, Ares in his jealonsy metamorphosed himself into a boar, and killed his rival.
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. In Scythia he was worshipped in the form of a sword, to which not only horses and other cattle, but men also were sacrificed.
He was further worshipped in Colchis, where the golden fleece was suspended on an oak-tree in a grove sacred to him. 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.
In Greece itself the worship of Ares was not very general. At Athens he had a temple containing a statue; 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. He was also worshipped near Tegea, and in the town, at Olympia, near Thebes, 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. At Sparta human sacrifices were offered to Ares. 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. The Romans identified their god Mars with the Greek Ares.
Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
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