Ares— Greek God"God of War"

The Unloved God

Ares holds a unique position among the Olympians: he is almost universally despised, even by his own parents. Zeus once told him, "You are the most hateful to me of all the gods." This loathing stems from what Ares represents—not honorable combat or defensive war, but slaughter for its own sake, the mindless bloodlust that turns men into beasts.

The Thracian War God

Ares's cult was centered in Thrace, a region the Greeks considered barbaric. To the civilized Greeks, he represented everything brutal about warfare: the screaming chaos of battle, the piles of corpses, the cities put to the torch. He delighted in bloodshed regardless of which side was right or just. In battle, he was accompanied by his sons Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Terror), and his sister Eris (Strife).

The Affair with Aphrodite

Despite his brutishness, Ares won the heart of Aphrodite, goddess of love—or perhaps because of it. Their affair, conducted while Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, was legendary. The smith god eventually caught them in an unbreakable golden net, exposing them to the mockery of all Olympus. Yet their passion continued, producing Eros, Harmonia, and the warrior spirits Phobos and Deimos.

Defeats and Humiliations

Ares is frequently bested in myth, despite being a god of war. Athena regularly defeats him, representing strategy over brute force. The mortal Diomedes wounded him at Troy (with Athena's help). The giants Otus and Ephialtes once trapped him in a bronze jar for thirteen months. These humiliations reinforce the Greek view that mindless violence ultimately loses to wisdom and skill.

Sacred to Ares

Despite his unpopularity, Ares had his sacred animals and places. The vulture and the dog—scavengers of battlefields—were his creatures. The Areopagus ("Hill of Ares") in Athens was where the gods tried him for murder, and where the Athenian court later convened for trials of homicide.