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Grygoriy Vrooman
Dr. Celia Campbell
CLT 3370
September 30, 2019
Ares: The God of War
Ares, who is the son of Zeus and Hera, is the Olympian god of war of Greek mythology,
along with Athena who is the goddess of war. However, Ares is way more demented and violent
than Athene when it comes to showing his destructive capacity. This resulted in him not being
loved by the gods or by humans, with the exception being Aphrodite who had many children
with him.
Ares is the Greek version of the god’s name. The Roman version of his name is Mars.
Ares is given the name Mars in Roman mythology due to Mars being associated with bloodshed
and war based on its red blood-like color. According to BehindTheName, Ares’ name means
“bane, ruin, and male”. Ares, as stated previously, is the god of war and one of the Twelve
Olympian gods and the son of Zeus and Hera. The reason why Athena and Ares go hand in hand,
both being the respective god and goddess of war, is that Athene is the calmer and more
nonviolent one while Ares is brutal and ruthless when it comes to punishing his enemies. Due to
this ruthless and deranged warfare, his fellow gods and even his parents were not fond of him
and the way he acted. Ares was always accompanied in battle by his sister Eris and his sons
Phobos and Deimos (Britannica). Other than the people that were related to him, excluding his
parents, there were two other deities that associated themselves with him. They were known as
Enyalius, who is almost identical to Ares himself, and Enyo, who is the female counterpart to
Enyalius.
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Ares’ Roman counterpart was named Mars and they are very similar; however, they do
contain some differences. Both of them were gods of war in their respected forms of mythology
(Greek and Roman). Unlike Ares, who was not a favorite god of the Greeks due to his brutality,
Mars was the second most important god of the Roman, behind Jupiter. Mars was originally the
god of agriculture and then later on became a god of war. This was the time when the Romans
associated him with the Greek god Ares. Therefore, the only difference between Mars and Ares
is that Mars started off as being the god of agriculture and then transitioned into being the god of
war while Ares was always the god of war in his respected form of mythology.
There are a number of reasons why I chose to study Ares, the Greek god of war. I have
been fascinated with Greek mythology since I first moved to the United States in my elementary
years and I remember the two gods that really caught my attention were Ares and Poseidon.
While Poseidon is one of the most well-known gods, being one of the three main brother
Olympians, Ares did not get nearly as much recognition. However, I never understood that since
Ares being the god of war and so brutal with his war methods, I could never see why he wasn’t
talked about more. Ares made sure that if he was going into war, he always had a must win
mentality and that failure was not an option. This was one of the things that made me admire him
and made him one of my favorite gods. Ares did not care who he was facing as an opponent, the
only thing he focused on was coming out on top and completely destroying his opposition.
One of the best-known stories about Ares is known as “The Dragon of Ares and the
Foundation of Thebes”. The story stated that when Zeus kidnapped Europa, her brother Cadmus
was looking for her all over. He first reached the city of Delphi and met the god Apollo, who told
Cadmus to stop his search quest and to follow a cow. Wherever Cadmus witness the cow kneel,
he was supposed to establish a city. When they reached the area of Thebes, Cadmus went up
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against a dragon and killed it. The dragon was a son of Ares and the spring of Ares was guarded
by the Nymph Telphousa. Ares was infuriated when he discovered that someone killed his
dragon. This resulted in Cadmus being forced to become a slave for Ares for eight years in order
to become purified. To make up for it, Ares gave Cadmus his daughter’s, Harmonia, the hand in
marriage. All the gods attended their wedding and gave them beautiful and precious gifts. Athene
gave Cadmus the advice to sow the dragon’s teeth in the earth, and Cadmus followed that advice.
This resulted in full armed warriors to rise from the earth known as the Spartoi. The Spartoi were
aggressive and extremely angry. Cadmus got frightened and decided to try and defeat them by
throwing stones at them. In the meantime, the Spartoi believed that they were attacking each
other and fought disorderly until all of them died in battle, except five. The only five warriors
that survived were Echion, Oudaios, Chthonius, Hyperenor, and Pelorus. Those five warriors
were the ones that founded the city of Thebes together with Cadmus and became the first official
citizens that lived in Thebes. Therefore, if it wasn’t for Ares, the city of Thebes would have
technically never been built according to Greek mythology.
In conclusion, Ares was never one of the main gods in Greek mythology, however, he
played many important roles in the mythology, especially when it came to war. Ares always
provided an insane advantage in war due to him being very brutal and explosive while fighting.
While many of the gods and humans were either intimidated or disgusted by Ares, I admire him
for his ruthless aggression and think he is one of the most intriguing Greek/Roman gods.
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Works Cited
Campbell, Mike. “Meaning, Origin and History of the Name Ares.” Behind the Name,
www.behindthename.com/name/ares.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Ares.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Ares-Greek-mythology.
“Ares/Mars.” Roman and Greek Mythology,
romanandgreekmythology.weebly.com/aresmars.html.
“Greek Stories about Ares-The Dragon of Ares and the Foundation of Thebes.” Greek Gods,
www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/ares/myths/dragon-of-ares-thebes/.