Ares

Ares, in the Greek mythology, was the god of the war. His name in the roman mythology was Mars. Her parents were Zeus and Hera. Ares was born in Thrace, the principal place where we can find warlike people. He was one of the Olympian gods. Ares always wears a shield, a lance and a sword. He used to come with his retinue: they were the Pain, the Panic, the Famine and the Oversight. Also he had a bird that was a vulture. Ares loved the war.

When Halirrotio raped Alcipe, Ares’ daughter, he killed him, and for this reason he was judged, the first murder judge of the history. Ares was acquited.

He was force, strength, destructive and vengeful.

Although he was immortal, he was very sensitive to the pain. He has even been accused of coward.

Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus; however Ares and she fell in love and they had an affair. Hephaestus discovered the infidelity of his wife and the god of the fire trapped them in an invisible net. After that, he called all the gods of the Olympus and they could see it with their own eyes.

Other night when he was with Aphrodite, Ares ordered to Alectrión that guarded the door of the room where they were. But appeared other god, Helios, the god of the sun, and he discovered them. For this reason, Ares converted Alectrion in a cockerel, that never forget announce the arrived of the sun every morning.

Ares had a lot of lovers, for example Aphrodite, Cyrene, Eos, Pyrene and Sterope.

The gigantic Aloadae did prisoner him for thirteen months. Finally Ares was released by Hermes.

Once he fought against Heracles, and Ares was defeated. In the other hand, in a lot of others moments, Ares was victorious.

When her mistress Aphrodite loved Adonis, Ares metamorphosed himself in a bear and killed Adonis.

An old tradition tells that Ares kill Poseidon’s son, when this raped the Ares’ daughter.

Although he was an important personage on the mythology and the poetry, Ares didn’t use to be an adored god.

In the roman mythology, Mars was more important that Ares because there he had two sons, Romulus and Remus, who foundered Roma and they did his father the city’s patriarch.

In Athens he had a temple. There, there was a statue of him made by Alcamenes. Also in Sparta there was an old statue, it was a God chained that represented that the victory had never leave Sparta. In Sparta the human sacrifices were offered to Ares like a sign of loyalty. The temples of this God used to be build outside the towns for prevents the enemies.

The stories that speak about Ares and his worship in the different countries of Greece indicate that his devotion was introduced from Thrace.

Nowadays he appears in few Greek monuments, on coins and ornaments.