Group Research

Ares 

He is the Greek god of war.  The one of the Twelve Olympians and the son of Zeus and Hera. In literature Ares represents the violent and physical untamed aspect of war, which is in contrast to ATHENA who represents military strategy and generalship as the goddess of intelligence.

Facts about Ares

Ares was most notably referred to as the God of War; he represented the unpleasant aspects of battle.

He was the son of Zeus and Hera, both of whom hated him (according to Homer).

Ares was most often characterized as a coward in spite of his connection to war; he responded to even the slightest injury with outrage.

According to some sources, Ares was described as Aphrodite’s lover and was held in contempt by her husband, Hephaestus. The affair between them was not a secret among the Olympians.

Ares was never very popular—either with men or the other immortals. As a result, his worship in Greece was not substantial or widespread.

He came from Thrace, home of a fierce people in the northeast of Greece.

His bird was the vulture.

The Amazons, warrior women, were his daughters. Their mother was a peace-loving nymph named Harmony.

Otus and Ephialtes, twin giants, imprisoned Ares for a lunar year by binding him with chains of brass; he was eventually rescued by Hermes.

Ares always took the side of Aphrodite in the Trojan War. He fought for Hector (a Trojan) until a Greek warrior pierced him with a spear that was guided by Athena. He then departed the battlefield in order to complain to Zeus about Athena’s violence.

Harmonia, Goddess of Harmony, was the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite.

Eros (more commonly known as Cupid) was also the child of Ares and Aphrodite.

Tereus, a son of Ares, was known to have inherited his father’s abhorrent qualities.

Ares was the biological father of at least three of Hercules’ enemies: Cycnus, Lycaon, and Diomedes.