Ares was the god of brutal, bloody, and chaotic war, embodying the savage violence and mindless destruction of battle. Unlike Athena, who represented the strategic and disciplined aspects of war, Ares was the spirit of the berserker rage that took hold of soldiers in combat. He was the son of Zeus and Hera, the lover of Aphrodite, and the father of many fearsome children. The Romans identified him with Mars, and through that identification he became one of the most important gods of Roman state religion.
Ares is the god of the violent, blood-lust aspect of war — distinct from Athena, who represents the strategic and disciplined aspect. The Iliad treats him with a kind of contempt: he is the only major Olympian who is wounded by a mortal in the poem (by Diomedes, with Athena’s help, in Book V), he is imprisoned by the Aloadae for thirteen months, and he is depicted in the poem as bickering, defeated, and mocked by the other gods. The standard scholarly reading is that Ares was less worshipped in Greece than Mars was in Rome.
The Nature of Ares
Ares was one of the Olympian gods, a son of Zeus and Hera, both of whom were the parents of Hephaestus as well. His sister was Athena, but the two had little in common. Athena was the goddess of strategic warfare, of the disciplined army, of the wise general. Ares was the god of the rage and bloodlust of individual combat, of the frenzied battle, of the horrors that soldiers commit in the heat of the moment.
The Greeks were not particularly fond of Ares. He was not widely worshipped, and the myths portray him as dangerous, unpredictable, and often a loser. He is frequently wounded by mortals in the epics, he is imprisoned for thirteen months by the giant brothers Otus and Ephialtes (the Aloadae) in Book V of the Iliad, and he is humiliated by the calmer, wiser Athena.
Ares is most powerful in the company of his sister Eris (Strife) and his sons Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Terror). Together, they form the retinue of the war-god, stirring up violence wherever they go.
The Symbols of Ares
Ares was associated with several symbols:
- The Spear and Helmet: As a war god, Ares was typically depicted in full armor.
- The Dog: The dog, a scavenger of battlefields, was sacred to Ares. The Greeks were fond of comparing the god to a hunting dog, savage and untamed.
- The Vulture: The vulture, which feasted on the dead, was another of his sacred birds.
- The Boar: The wild boar, a fierce and dangerous animal, was sacred to Ares.
- The Blood-Red Cloak: Ares was often depicted wearing a red cloak, symbolizing blood.
- The Chariot: Ares rode a chariot drawn by fire-breathing horses.
The Domains of Ares
As god of war, Ares presided over:
- The Violence of Battle: Ares was the spirit of the rage and bloodlust that possessed soldiers in combat.
- Civil Strife: In some traditions, Ares was also the god of civil war and violent conflict more generally, not just foreign war.
- The Defense of Cities: Despite his chaotic nature, Ares was sometimes worshipped as a defender of cities, particularly in Thrace and Scythia.
- Manly Valor: In Sparta especially, Ares was associated with the courage of the warrior.
The Major Myths of Ares
The Affair with Aphrodite
The most famous myth of Ares is his love affair with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, the lame god of the forge, but she loved Ares, who was more beautiful and more passionate. Their affair was eventually discovered by Hephaestus, who fashioned an invisible net of bronze that he set over his bed. When Ares and Aphrodite lay down together, they were trapped in the net, and Hephaestus called the other gods to witness his wife’s infidelity. The gods laughed rather than condemned the lovers, and Hephaestus was mocked for his trouble.
From this union came several children, including Eros (Cupid), the god of love; Anteros, the god of requited love; Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Terror), who accompanied their father in battle; and Harmonia, the goddess of harmony, who married Cadmus of Thebes.
The Wounding of Ares
In Book V of the Iliad, the Greek hero Diomedes, fighting at the height of his aristeia (his moment of greatest glory), wounded both Aphrodite and Ares. When Aphrodite came to the battlefield to rescue her son Aeneas, Diomedes struck her on the wrist with his spear, and the goddess fled to Olympus in tears. Later, when Ares himself came to the battle to support the Trojans, Diomedes, with the help of Athena, struck Ares in the belly. The war-god bellowed like ten thousand soldiers and fled to Olympus, complaining to Zeus that the gods suffered too much for the sake of mortal men.
The Imprisonment of Ares
In a later myth, Ares was imprisoned for thirteen months by the giant brothers Otus and Ephialtes, who wanted to populate Olympus with gods. He was finally freed by Hermes, who came to the cave where Ares was chained and tricked the giants into leaving. The story is told in the Iliad (Book V), and it reflects the Greek view of Ares as a god of raw power who could be overpowered by cunning.
The Cadmus Myth
Ares was the father of the dragon that guarded the spring of Ares at Thebes, and the slayer of the dragon was Cadmus, the founder of the city. Cadmus served Ares for eight years as penance, and at the end of his service, he was given Harmonia, the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, as his bride. The marriage was marked by a cursed necklace, given by Hephaestus, which brought disaster to the descendants of Cadmus. The Theban cycle of myths ends with the destruction of the house of Cadmus, including the war of the Seven Against Thebes and the tragedy of Antigone.
The Children of Ares
Ares fathered many children, mostly violent or fearsome:
- Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Terror), by Aphrodite
- Eros (Love), by Aphrodite, in some traditions
- Harmonia (Harmony), by Aphrodite
- Cycnus, the killer of many travelers, slain by Heracles
- Diomedes of Thrace, the owner of man-eating mares, slain by Heracles
- The Amazons, the warrior women
- Clytus, a giant
- Tereus, the king of Thrace
- Pentheus, the king of Thebes who was torn apart by the Maenads
The Worship of Ares
The worship of Ares was not as widespread as that of the other Olympian gods. The Greeks had a wary respect for his power, but they did not particularly like him. He was, however, worshipped in certain regions:
- Sparta: Ares was one of the principal war gods of Sparta, and young Spartan warriors sacrificed to him before battle. The Spartan colony of Taras (modern Taranto) in southern Italy worshipped him particularly.
- Athens: Ares had a temple in the Agora of Athens, and his trial, the Areopagus, was the famous court of homicide.
- Thrace: The wild region of Thrace, north of Greece, was considered the home of Ares, and the Thracian tribes worshipped a war-god similar to him.
- The Amazons: The warrior women of Greek myth were said to be daughters of Ares, and they worshipped him as their father.
The Romans identified Ares with Mars, one of the most important gods of Roman state religion. Mars was the father of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome, and the symbol of the Roman state. The Campus Martius, the field of Mars, in Rome was named for him, and the Roman army marched under his standard. The month of March, originally the first month of the Roman year, was sacred to him.
The Legacy of Ares
Ares is a central character in the Percy Jackson series, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (where he is a recurring villain), and the God of War video game franchise, where his brutality is the source of the central conflict. His Roman equivalent Mars remains the namesake of the planet, the month of March, and the Mars confectionery company. For the broader modern reception, see our guide to Greek mythology in modern culture.
A Note on Reading This Profile
A note on reading this profile. Ares is the god of Greek myth who has been the most unfairly treated in the modern popular reception, which has tended to read Homer’s contempt for the god as a Greek contempt for war in general. The reading is not the right one: the Greeks admired Ares in the way that they admired a storm or a wildfire, and the major cult centres (Athens, where the Areopagus was the rock of Ares; Thebes, where the Cadmea was the citadel of Ares; Sparta) treated the god with serious respect. The Homeric contempt is a literary stance, not a religious one.