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| Gods & Goddesses
Ares/Mars
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Copyright (C) Isca Lox,Abyss of Lox Image used with permission |
Ares/MarsGod of WarPantheon: Olympian Element: Fire Sphere of Influence: Retribution and Conflict Preferred colors: Red, Crimson Associated symbol: Spear Animals associated with: Vulture , Dog Best day to work with: Tuesday Strongest around March Associated Planet: Mars |
Ares is the God of War and of battle. He is the wrath of evil men, the bringer of swift and savage justice. He rushes in where angels fear to tread, and leaves chaos and destruction in his wake. | |
Additional Information on Ares from WikipediaInformation is unedited and uncheckedAries (Latin for "ram"), the constellation and Zodiac sign is unrelated to Ares, the Greek god of war described below.Ares Galaxy, the peer-to-peer file sharing program, is also unrelated to Ares. ---- Greek myth (Olympian) Ares ("man," "male, "strife"), in Greek mythology, is the god of war and son of Zeus and Hera. Also called Mars (god)| Mars by the Romans. When Halirrhotius raped Alcippe, Ares daughter by Aglaulus, Ares murdered him, for which he was tried in a court -- the first murder trial in history. He was acquitted. His companions included his sister Eris, his sons Phobos (god)|Phobos and Deimos (god)|Deimos and Enyo. Ares was followed by a retinue including Pain, Panic, Famine and Oblivion. Though immortal, he was very sensitive to pain and went running to his father, Zeus, whenever he got wounded. He was worshipped primarily in Thracia. Otus and Ephialtes were two brothers and giants. The brothers at one point wanted to storm Mt. Olympus. They managed to kidnap Ares and hold him in a jar for thirteen months. He was only released when Artemis offered to sleep with Otus. This made Ephialtes envious and the pair fought. Artemis changed herself into a doe and jumped between them. The Aloadae, not wanting her to get away, threw their spears and killed each other. Ares gave Hippolyte the girdle that Heracles took. One night, while having sex with Aphrodite, Ares put a youth named Alectryon by his door to guard them. He fell asleep and Helios, the sun, walked in on the couple. Ares turned Alectryon into a rooster, which never forgets to announce the arrival of the sun in the morning. During the Trojan War, Diomedes fought with Hector and saw Ares fighting on the Trojans side. Diomedes called for his soldiers to fall back slowly. Hera, Ares mother, saw Ares interference and asked Zeus, Ares father, for permission to drive Ares away from the battlefield. Hera encouraged Diomedes to attack Ares and he threw his spear at the god. Athena drove the spear into Ares body and he bellowed in pain and fled to Mt. Olympus, forcing the Trojans to fall back. In some versions of the story of Adonis, Artemis or Ares (her lover in this story) sent a wild boar to kill Adonis. This version is suspect because it implies that Artemis had sex with Ares and by virtually all accounts, she remained chaste throughout time. Although important in poetry and myth, Ares was only rarely the recipient of cult worship. Even then, he was venerated most often in conjunction with other gods; for example, he shared a temple with Aphrodite at Thebes, Greece|Thebes. Ares Enyalius was sometimes used as an epithet for Ares. Interestingly, the Mycenean Greek Linear B tablets list a god Enyalios, while ares seems to be a common noun meaning "war". By Classical times, however, Enyalios has been demoted to the status of hero (as in the Iliad) and Ares promoted to god. Enyalios survives as a cult-title in only a few settings, most notably in the oath of the ephebes at Athens. This text is made available under the GNU Free Documentation License Agreement. The full text of this article is available for download here. (Ares) | |