Ares
God of the brutal, savage side of war. Unlike Athena's strategic warfare, Ares represented the raw violence and chaos of battle.
The Myth of Ares
Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, perhaps the least loved Olympian. Where Athena embodied strategy, Ares represented the blind frenzy of slaughter. Even Zeus called him the most hateful of all gods. In the Trojan War, Ares fought for Troy but was humiliated when Athena guided Diomedes' spear to wound him, and he fled Olympus howling. The giants Otus and Ephialtes trapped him in a bronze jar for thirteen months until Hermes freed him. His affair with Aphrodite, wife of Hephaestus, was legendary — the smith god ensnared the lovers in an invisible net and shamed them before the gods. Ares fathered the Amazons, who fought at Troy under Penthesilea, and sired Phobos and Deimos, personifications of fear who accompanied him into battle. The Areopagus in Athens bore his name.
Parents
Zeus and Hera
Symbols
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Ares
⚡ godGod of brutal, bloodthirsty warfare
The god of the savage violence of battle — feared, hated, and necessary, embodying the bloodlust that the Greeks recognised but did not admire.
Enyo
⚡ godGoddess of war and destruction
Enyo was a goddess of war who delighted in bloodshed and the destruction of cities — she accompanied Ares and Eris into battle.
Phobos
⚡ godGod of fear and panic in battle
Phobos was the god of fear who accompanied his father Ares into battle, spreading terror before the armies.
Deimos
⚡ godGod of terror and dread
Deimos was the personification of dread and terror — the brother of Phobos who accompanied Ares into war.
Hysminai
⚡ godCombat, fray, hand-to-hand fighting
The daimones of close combat and the chaotic violence of the battlefield melee
Hera
⚡ godQueen of the gods, marriage, family, childbirth
Queen of the Olympian gods and goddess of marriage. Known for her jealous rages against Zeus's lovers and their children.
God of War
💭 conceptWar, bloodlust, battle rage, courage
Ares embodies the brutal, violent side of warfare and was feared even by his fellow Olympians.
Alecto
⚡ godUnderworld
One of the three Erinyes whose name means "Unceasing" and who embodies relentless anger
Bellona
⚡ godWar, destruction, battlefield fury
Roman goddess of war and destruction, companion or sister of Mars, equivalent to the Greek Enyo
Kydoimos
⚡ godBattle confusion, the din of war
The daimon of the uproar and bewildering chaos that overwhelms warriors in the thick of combat
Mars
⚡ godWar, agriculture, guardianship
Roman god of war and agriculture, second in importance only to Jupiter, far more honoured than his Greek counterpart Ares
Diomedes
🗡 heroKing of Argos who wounded gods
Diomedes was the only mortal in the Iliad to wound two Olympian gods in a single day.