Reference
- AresAres was one of the twelve great Olympian gods, and the Greek god of war. He was relatively little worshipped by the Greeks, but his Roman equivalent, MARS, was a very important god, second only to JUPITER (ZEUS). While ATHENA presided over the disciplined and rational use of war to protect the community, Ares stood for the bloodlust and mindless frenzy of battle, delighting in the blood and slaughter, and relishing all the tumult, confusion and horror of war. His sons PHOBOS AND DEIMOS (Terror and Fear) often accompanied him on the battlefield, as sometimes did ERIS (Strife) and the war-goddess ENYO (1).
Ares was the son of Zeus and HERA. He himself was not married, but he had many liaisons, most famously with APHRODITE, goddess of love and wife of the crippled smith-god HEPHAESTUS, as recounted by the bard Demodocus in Homer's Odyssey (8.266–366). Hephaestus caught the lovers in the act by trapping them beneath a magical, invisible net, then called in the other gods to witness their humiliation. Poseidon at length persuaded Hephaestus to release them on the understanding that Ares would pay a fine. The war-god disappeared off to Thrace – a favourite country of his, full of warlike peoples – while Aphrodite went to her sacred precinct on Cyprus. - MarsRoman god of war, thus symbol of a society that for centuries was thought of as essentially belligerent. Mars was identical with Greek Ares, although Ares never had a notorious position in the Greek pantheon. One of the most prominent and worshiped gods of Rome, Mars lent his name to a Roman district, the Campus Martius (Field of Mars), which announces even today his status as the city's protector and as father of the Roman people. Romulus, one of his twin sons born to the Vestal virgin Rhea Silvia, legendarily founded the city.
In the postclassical era Servius's commentary on Virgil's Aeneid (1.292) was the major source of knowledge of Mars's dual role as a keeper both of war and of peace. Servius refers to two temples of Mars: one outside the city that served as a temple for warriors, dedicated to Mars Gradivus, the god "that walks in battle"; the other inside the city, charged with guarding tranquility and dedicated to Mars Quirinus. (Originally, in old Italian beliefs, Mars had been associated with fertility, vegetation, and the protection of cattle; he became fused with Quirinus, previously the Sabine god of war.) Vitruvius (2.8.11), writing in the 1st century bce, mentions a colossal acrolithic statue of Mars (a draped or gilded wooden body with marble head and extremities) that stood in a temple atop a hill in Halicarnassus.
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Perspectives
Dictionary of Classical Mythology
Jenny March’s acclaimed Dictionary of Classical Mythology, first published in 1998 but long out of print, has been extensively revised and expanded including a completely new set of beautiful line-drawing illustrations for this Oxbow edition. It is a comprehensive A -- Z guide to Greek and Roman mythology. All major myths, legends and fables are here, including gods and goddesses, heroes and villains, dangerous women, legendary creatures and monsters.
The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology
Now in its eighth edition, this magisterial work offers a comprehensive survey of the stories of Greek myth, from the Olympian gods, through the lesser gods and deities, to the heroes, adventures, and foundation myths of the ancient Greek world. The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology sets out to provide a comprehensive history of the divine order and mythical prehistory of Greece, as systematized on a genealogical basis by Hesiod and the ancient mythographers, while also taking into account the ways in which individual myths have changed and evolved over time in different genres of literature. This new edition has been extensively rewritten and reorganized to make it more accessible to readers who may have no particular knowledge of the ancient world and Greek mythology, and to ensure that information on each myth or mythical figure is easy to find within the book. This new edition of the handbook continues to offer an essential reference resource for all students of Greek mythology, and it provides an accessible and comprehensive overview of these stories for anyone with an interest in the classical world.
Who's Who in Classical Mythology, Routledge
Contains extensive entries, including detailed entries on all the major gods and heroes, from Athena and Zeus to Achilles, Odysseus and Tarquin and biographical listings of all the key authors, such as Homer.
The Influence of the Gods
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
Zeus initially gave strict orders that no god could interfere in the war; however, changed his mind and allowed the gods to intercede.
Ares is Removed
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowWhen Hera saw that Ares was influencing the battle in favor of the Trojans, she asked Zeus if she might drive Ares from the battlefield. Zeus allowed Athena to assist Diomedes. At her words, Diomedes hurled his spear at Ares. Athena drove it home, and it entered Ares' body. The god bellowed in agony and at the awful sound trembling seized the whole battlefield. With Ares away from the battlefield the Trojans were forced to fall back.
Ares, the God of War
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowAres, the God of War was a leading figure in the Trojan War. Zeus blamed Hera for Ares quarrelsome personality.
Great Empires of the Past: Ancient Rome
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowDominant for only 500 years, the Roman empire has influenced the Western world for more than 2,000 years. Founded by the sons of Mars, the god of war, Romans had fertile land, access to waterways, and a fierce army. Julius Caesar was a powerful leader until his assassination. At its largest, the empire included modern day Spain, Portugal and parts of Great Britain, Southeastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Online Resources
- Agamemnon 437: Chrysamoibos Ares, Athens and EmpireThe chorus' depiction of Ares as a ‘gold-changer of bodies’ and trader in precious metals underscores the increased intersection of finances and war in fifth-century Athens. The metaphor's details point to three contemporary developments (in addition to the patrios nomos allusion noted by Fraenkel): the increased conscription of citizens, the institution of pay for military service, and the payment of financial support for war orphans. And as leader of the Delian League, Athens itself resembled the war-god, establishing equivalents between men and money, and profiting from its acceptance of tribute payments in a variety of currencies. Taken together, the metaphor's contemporary dimensions probably had an unsettling effect on the Athenian audience.
- Ares and the Danaids in Aeschylus’ SuppliantsThis article examines references to Ares in Aeschylus’ Suppliants. It argues that these references contribute to the characterization of the Danaids, complicating their portrayal of themselves as victims. They also foreshadow the Danaids’ murder of their husbands. The second part of the article raises the possibility that references to Ares might have figured later on in the trilogy; perhaps the god of war even appeared on stage.
- The Borghese Ares Revisited: New Evidence from the Agora and a Reconstruction of the Augustan Cult Group in the Temple of AresThis article discusses the Borghese Ares, often thought to copy the statue by Alkamenes that Pausanias saw in the Temple of Ares in the Athenian Agora, in the light of an unpublished copy from the Agora, dated by context to the Augustan period. After examining the significance of the ring around the statue's right ankle, with reference to some hitherto unnoticed 5th-century sculptural parallels, ancient texts about chained statues of Ares, and the god's Athenian mythology, the author investigates the type's original purpose, location, and date, and proposes a new reconstruction of the temple's Augustan cult group.