Ares
- the war-god Mars (in Plaut. jocosely made to correspond with bellator, warrior): si tu ad legionem bellator clues, at ego in culinā Ares, Plaut. Truc. 2, 7, 54 (604). (For the A, which is always short in Lat., cf. Lucil. ap. Scaur. Orth. p. 2255 P., and Mart. 9, 12, with reference to Hom.Il. 5, 31.)
(Ἄρης), the god of war and one of the great Olympian gods of the Greeks. He is represented as the son of Zeus and Hera. (Hom. Il. 5.893, &c.; Hes. Th. 921; Apollod. 1.3.1.) A later tradition, according to which Hera conceived Ares by touching a certain flower, appears to be an imitation of the legend about the birth of Hephaestus, and is related by Ovid. (Fast. 5.255, &c.) The character of Ares in Greek mythology will be best understood if we compare it with that of other divinities who are likewise in some way connected with war. Athena represents thought-fulness and wisdom in the affairs of war, and protects men and their habitations during its ravages. Ares, on the other hand, is nothing but the personification of bold force and strength, and not so much the god of war as of its tumult, confusion, and horrors. His sister Eris calls forth war, Zeus directs its course, but Ares loves war for its own sake, and delights in the din and roar of battles, in the slaughter of men, and the destruction of towns. He is not even influenced by party-spirit, but sometimes assists the one and sometimes the other side, just as his inclination may dictate ; whence Zeus calls him ἀλλοπόσαλλος. (Il. 5.889.) The destructive hand of this god was even believed to be active in the ravages made by plagues and epidemics. (Soph. Oed. Tyr. 185.) This savage and sanguinary character of Ares makes him hated by the other gods and his own parents. (Il. 5.889-909.) In the Iliad, he appears surrounded by the personifications of all the fearful phenomena and effects of war (4.440, &c., 15.119, &c.); but in the Odyssey his character is somewhat softened down. It was contrary to the spirit which animated the Greeks to represent a being like Ares, with all his overwhelming physical strength, as always victorious; and when he comes in contact with higher powers, he is usually conquered. He was wounded by Diomedes, who was assisted by Athena, and in his fall he roared like nine or ten thousand other warriors together. (Il. 5.855, &c.) When the gods began to take an active part in the war of the mortals, Athena opposed Ares, and threw him on the ground by hurling at him a mighty stone (20.69, 21.403, &c.); and when he lay stretched on the earth, his huge body covered the space of seven plethra. The gigantic Aloadae had likewise conquered and chained him, and had kept him a prisoner for thirteen months, until he was delivered by Hermes. (5.385, &c.) In the contest of Typhon against Zeus, Ares was obliged, together with the other gods, to flee to Egypt, where he metamorphosed himself into a fish. (Antonin. Lib. 28.) He was also conquered by Heracles, with whom he fought on account of his son Cycnus, and obliged to return to Olympus. (Hesiod, Scut. Herc. 461.) In numerous other contests, however, he was victorious. This fierce and gigantic, but withal handsome god loved and was beloved by Aphrodite : he interfered on her behalf with Zeus (5.883), and lent her his war-chariot. (5.363; comp. Aphrodite.) When Aphrodite loved Adonis, Ares in his jealonsy metamorphosed himself into a bear, and killed his rival. [Adonis.] According to a late tradition, Ares slew Halirrhotius, the son of Poseidon, when he was on the point of violating Alcippe, the daughter of Ares. Hereupon Poseidon accused Ares in the Areiopagus, where the Olympian gods were assembled in court. Ares was acquitted, and this event was believed to have given rise to the name Areiopagus. (Dict. of Ant. s. v.)
The warlike character of the tribes of Thrace led to the belief, that the god's residence was in that country, and here and in Scythia were the principal seats of his worship. (Hom. Od. 8.361, with the note of Eustath.; Ov. Ars Am. 2.585 ; Statius, Stat. Theb. 7.42; Hdt. 4.59, 62.) In Scythia he was worshipped in the form of a sword, to which not only horses and other cattle, but men also were sacrificed. Respecting the worship of an Egyptian divinity called Ares, see Herodotus, 2.64. He was further worshipped in Colchis, where the golden fleece was suspended on an oak-tree in a grove sacred to him. (Apollod. 1.9.16.) From thence the Dioscuri were believed to have brought to Laconia the ancient statue of Ares which was preserved in the temple of Ares Thareitas, on the road from Sparta to Therapnae. (Paus. 3.19.7, &c.) The island near the coast of Colchis, in which the Stymphalian birds were believed to have dwelt, and which is called the island of Ares, Aretias, Aria, or Chalceritis, was likewise sacred to him. (Steph. Byz. s. v. Ἄρεος νῆσος; Apollon. 2.1047; Plin. Nat. 6.12; Pomp. Mela, 2.7.15.)
In Greece itself the worship of Ares was not very general. At Athens he had a temple containing a statue made by Alcamenes (Paus. 1.8.5); at Geronthrae in Laconia he had a temple with a grove, where an annual festival was celebrated, during which no woman was allowed to approach the temple. (3.22.5.) He was also worshipped near Tegea, and in the town (8.44.6, 48.3), at Olympia (5.15.4), near Thebes (Apollod. 3.4.1), and at Sparta, where there was an ancient statue, representing the god in chains, to indicate that the martial spirit and victory were never to leave the city of Sparta. (Paus. 3.15.5.) At Sparta human sacrifices were offered to Ares. (Apollod. Fragm. p. 1056, ed. Heyne.) The temples of this god were usually built outside the towns, probably to suggest the idea that he was to prevent enemies from approaching them.
All the stories about Ares and his worship in the countries north of Greece seem to indicate that his worship was introduced in the latter country from Thrace; and the whole character of the god, as described by the most ancient poets of Greece, seems to have been thought little suited to be represented in works of art : in fact, we hear of no artistic representation of Ares previous to the time of Alcamenes, who appears to have created the ideal of Ares. There are few Greek monuments now extant with representations of the god; he appears principally on coins, reliefs, and gems. (Hirt, Mythol. Bilderb. i. p. 51.) The Romans identified their god Mars with the Greek Ares. [Mars.] [L.S]
(Ἄρης). The Greek name for the god of war, son of Zeus by Heré, whose quarrelsome temper Homer supposes to have passed over to her son so effectively that he delighted in nothing but battle and bloodshed. His insatiable thirst for blood makes him hateful to his father and to all the gods, especially Athené. His favourite haunt is the land of the wild and warlike Thracians. In form and equipment the ideal of warlike heroes, he advances, according to Homer, now on foot, now in a chariot drawn by magnificent steeds, attended by his equally bloodthirsty sister Eris (strife), his sons Deimos and Phobos (fear and fright), and Enyo, the goddess of battle and waster of cities (he himself being called Enyalios), rushing in blind rage through indiscriminate slaughter. Though fighting on the Trojan side, the bloodshed only is dear to his heart. But his unbridled strength and blind valour turn to his disadvantage, and always bring about his defeat in the presence of Athené, the goddess of ordered battalions; he is also beaten by heroes fighting under her leadership, as by Heracles in the contest with Cycnus, and by Diomede before Troy. And this view of Ares as the bloodthirsty god of battles is, in the main, that of later times also. As early as Homer he is the friend and lover of Aphrodité, who has borne him Eros and Anteros, Deimos and Phobos, as well as Harmonia, wife of Cadmus the founder of Thebes, where both goddesses were worshipped as ancestral deities. He is not named so often as the gods of peace; but, as Ares or Enyalius, he was doubtless worshipped everywhere, notably in Sparta, in Arcadia, and (as the father of Oenomaüs) in Elis. At Sparta young dogs were sacrificed to him under the title of Theritas. At Athens the ancient site of a high court of justice, the Areopagus (q.v.), was consecrated to him. There, in former days, the Olympian gods had sat in judgment on him and absolved him when he had slain Halirrhothius for offering violence to Alcippé, his daughter by Agraulos. His symbols were the spear and the burning torch. Before the introduction of trumpets, two priests of Ares, marching in front of the armies, hurled the torch at the foe as the signal of battle.
In works of art he was represented as a young and handsome man of strong, sinewy frame, his hair in short curls, and a somewhat sombre look in his countenance; in the early style he is bearded and in armour, in the later beardless and with only the helmet on. He is often represented in company with Aphrodité, and their boy Eros, who plays with his father's arms. One of the most famous statues extant is that in the Villa Ludovisi given above, which displays him in an easy resting attitude, with his arms laid aside, and Eros at his feet. On his identification with the Italian Mars, see Mars.
- in oracles: Hdt. 7.140, Hdt. 8.77
- local cults, in Egypt: Hdt. 2.36, Hdt. 2.59, Hdt. 2.83
- in Scythia: Hdt. 4.59-62
- in Thrace: Hdt. 5.7, Hdt. 7.76
- son of Zeus and Hera: Paus. 2.13.3, Apollod. 1.2.6
- bedded with Dawn: Apollod. 1.4.3
- put in bonds by the Aloads: Apollod. 1.7.4
- rescued by Hermes: Apollod. 1.7.4, Apollod. 1.7.5
- beaten in boxing by Apollo: Paus. 5.7.10
- helps Achelous: Paus. 6.19.12
- loves Aerope: Paus. 8.44.7ff., and Harpina: Paus. 5.22.6
- leads Aphrodite: Paus. 5.18.5
- father of Oxylus by Protogonia: Apollod. 1.7.5
- his children by Demonice: Apollod. 1.7.7
- father of Meleager: Apollod. 1.8.1
- father of Dryas: Apollod. 1.8.2
- father of Alcippe: Paus. 1.21.4, of Ascalaphus and Ialmenus: Paus. 9.37.7, of Melanippus: Paus. 7.22.8, of Oenomaus: Paus. 5.1.6, Paus. 5.22.6, of Phlegyas: Paus. 9.36.1, and of Terror: Paus. 9.36.3
- grove of, in Colchis: Apollod. 1.9.1, Apollod. 1.9.16
- father of Ascalaphus and Ialmenus: Apollod. 1.9.17, Apollod. 1.4.1
- father of Diomedesthe Thracian: Apollod. 2.5.7
- the belt of, worn by Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons: Apollod. E.3.32
- father of Cycnus, champions him against Herakles: Apollod. E.5.7
- father of Cycnus: Apollod. E.6.16
- the spring of, at Thebes: Apollod. 3.11.15
- dragon, offspring of: Apollod. 3.11.15
- Cadmus serves Ares to atone for slaughter of dragon: Apollod. 3.11.17
- father of Harmonia: Apollod. 3.11.17
- father of Phlegyas: Apollod. 3.11.27
- Menoeceus offers himself as a sacrifice to: Apollod. 3.10.167
- father of Parthenopaeus by Atalanta, according to some: Apollod. vol. 2.403
- father of Alcippe by Agraulus: Apollod. 3.14.1
- kills Halirrhothius and is tried for murder in the Areopagus: Paus. 1.21.4, Paus. 1.28.5, Apollod. 3.14.1
- father of Tereus: Apollod. 3.14.7
- gives arms and horses to Oenomaus: Apollod. E.2.5
- father of Penthesilia by Otrere: Apollod. E.4.7
- sacrifices offered to: Paus. 7.22.9
- sacred grove: Paus. 3.22.6
- annual festival Paus. 3.22.7
- fountain: Paus. 9.10.5
- altars: Paus. 5.15.6, Paus. 8.32.3, Paus. 8.37.12
- Temples and sanctuaries-Paus. 1.8.4, Paus. 2.25.1, Paus. 2.32.9, Paus. 3.19.7, Paus. 3.22.6, Paus. 8.44.7ff.
- Images and representations in art-Paus. 1.8.4, Paus. 2.25.1, Paus. 3.19.7, Paus. 5.18.5, Paus. 5.20.3, Paus. 6.19.12, Paus. 7.21.10, Paus. 8.48.4
- Surnames-Aphneus: Paus. 8.44.7ff.
- Entertainer of Women: Paus. 8.48.4
- Horse: Paus. 5.15.6
- Theritas: Paus. 3.19.8