Ares
（
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
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Head of Ares. (Glyptothek, Munich.)
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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
every
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Ares. (Villa Ludovisi, Rome.)
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where, 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.
