Ares (in ancient Greek Arês or Areôs) is the god of war and destruction in Greek mythology. Son of Zeus and Hera, he is identified with Mars among the Romans.
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- Arès statue
- Location:Euripe Basin, Villa Hadriana, Tivoli
Author:Jastrow (2003)
Licence:
Public domain This work is part of the public domain, either because its author has waived his rights (copyright), or because his rights have expired. It is therefore freely distributable and/or modifiable.
Roles
God of War
Ares is the god of brutality and carnage. He goes into battle accompanied by his sister, Eris (Discord), his sons Deimos (Terror) and Phobos (Panic), as well as Enyo, goddess of battles. He himself is often called Enyálos. Traditionally, the Greeks interpret his name as a derivative of the word "killer", anaírês.
As such, he is hated by the other gods, in particular Zeus, who declares to him in the Iliad (V, 872-873):
"I hate you more than any of the gods who live on Olympus
Because you only dream of discord, wars and fights. »
Hera, his mother, does not appreciate him much more, disappointed as she is to see him take sides with the Trojans during the Trojan War. She similarly declares about him (VII, 756-761):
"Father Zeus, are you not outraged at the abuse of Ares?
How many brave Achaeans did he not kill
Right and wrong! I'm sorry, and yet
Cypris and Apollo with the silver bow are very happy
For letting go of this madman who knows no laws. »
Athena, goddess of war like him, represents ordered battle, while he represents carnage. The two gods particularly hate each other. In front of Troy, she incites Diomedes to strike him, and herself throws a large block of stone at him, which hits him in the neck. It must be said that, alone among the gods, Ares takes part personally in the fight, and does not disdain to strip Periphas of his weapons (Iliad, V, 842-844), like a mortal.
Only Aphrodite shows affection for her "good brother" (Iliad, V, 359) who according to other legends is also her lover. In his Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles can thus proclaim him "the god to whom all honor is denied among the gods" (v. 210).
Its name designates any form of violent death, and more particularly the plague. The war is nicknamed "dance of Ares" in the epics. The Greeks see in him the "god of tears" (Aeschylus, the Suppliants, v. 681). Only the Homeric Hymn dedicated to him, probably late, shows him in a benevolent light and names him:
“Bold heart, shield bearer, savior of cities, crowned with brass,
Strong-handed, tireless, strong by the spear, rampart of Olympus,
Father of Victory, happy conclusion of wars, auxiliary of Themis;
Absolute master of the adversary, guide of the most righteous men. »
(trans. Renée Jacquin)
It is interesting to compare the hatred that the brute force of Ares inspired in the Greeks with the respect that the Romans had for its counterpart Mars:we can see the contrast in values between these two ancient civilizations.
Oathkeeper
Ares is also the avenging god. As such, his name is used in solemn oaths. This is for example the case in the oath taken by the young Athenians during their ephebia.
Vicissitudes
His blind strength does not make him an invincible fighter:in the Shield of Heracles of the pseudo-Hesiod (v. 357-167; 424-466), he is defeated twice by Heracles and in the Iliad, he must admit defeat to Diomedes. The Iliad also relates that the Aloades lock him up for thirteen months in a bronze jar. According to the scholiast (SbT Iliad V, 385), it is for having caused the death of Adonis, placed under the charge of the Aloades. He is delivered, exhausted, by Hermès.
According to Euripides (Electra, 1258-1262) and Hellanicos (4F38), when Halirrhothios, son of Poseidon, violent Alcippe - his daughter and that of Aglaure, daughter of Cecrops -, he kills him. For this murder, Ares is brought before the tribunal of the Olympian gods, on the hill which takes his name (cf. Areopagus). According to Euripides, he is acquitted. According to Panyasis (fgt. 3 PEG) however, it seems that Ares must serve among mortals, presumably as the price for this murder.
Love and posterity
Presented in the Iliad as purely fraternal, the relationship between Ares and Aphrodite becomes in the Odyssey (VIII, 266-366) both amorous and adulterous, since the goddess of love is married there to Hephaestus - the latter being the husband of a woman named Charis in the Iliad. Once again, Ares is ridiculed:denounced by Helios, the sun, the lovers fall into the trap of the deceived husband who captures them in a net and exhibits them to the hilarious gods. Ashamed, Ares must take refuge at home, in Thrace.
According to the Theogony (933-937) - where Hephaestus is the husband of Aglaea, one of the three Charites - Aphrodite gives Ares three children:Deimos, Phobos and Harmonia, wife of Cadmos, the founder of Thebes. The authorship of Eros and Anteros appears for the first time in the lyric poet Simonides and seems to be attributed to him rather for convenience.
His other children are often criminals or madmen :
Phlegias, who tries to take revenge on Apollo, who has just killed his daughter Coronis;
Tereus, persecutor of Procne and Philomela;
Diomedes, who feeds his mares with human flesh;
Cycnos, challenging Heracles to a duel.
Places of worship
His favorite residence is Thrace - the Thracians, for the Greeks, were a warlike and fighting people. He is revered by the peoples of Colchis and Scythia. In Greece, there are only a few places of worship. A fountain is dedicated to him in Thebes, in memory of the legend of Cadmus, who had sown there the teeth of a dragon, son of Ares, who gave birth to the Spartans. The relationship between Ares and Thebes is fortified by the marriage of Cadmos to Harmonia.
It is especially in Sparta that he is the object of a cult. The ephebes sacrifice a dog to him at Therapne, in Laconia. In Geronthrai, located north of Helos, still in Laconia, it is celebrated in festivals excluding women. In Sparta itself, a sanctuary is dedicated to him under the name of Ares Theritas, that is to say "the savage", epiclesis sometimes attached to Thera, his nurse.
In Attica, he has a sanctuary at Acharnes. A stele, currently preserved at the French School of Athens, undoubtedly reproduces the statue of the cult. In the 1st century, the sanctuary was transferred to the Agora of Athens and a new statue was erected, of which the Ates Borghese is undoubtedly a copy.
In Tegea, in Arcadia, women celebrate it in festivals reserved for them, and commemorate their valor against the Spartans. Near Trézene, a sanctuary is dedicated to him in memory of the Amazons, his daughters. In Athens, he is worshiped in association with Aphrodite. Finally, it has temples in Argos and Salamis.
In total, his place in ancient Greek religion is far from equaling that of Mars among the Romans.
Epicleses, attributes &sanctuaries
attributes:torch and spear, helmet;
Homeric epithets:
- scourge of men (brotoloigos),
- stained with blood (miaiphonos),
- assailor of ramparts (teikhesiplêtês),
- brutal (maleros);
sanctuaries:Sparta, Acharnes (Attica), Thebes.