Ares (Mythology)

Greek god of war and courage — specifically the physical, brutal, untamed aspect of war, in contrast to his sister Athena's martial functions of strategy and intelligence. His Roman counterpart is Mars, who received a far more dignified position in Roman religion as ancestral protector of Rome. Planet correspondence: mars-planet. Crossing note: crossing-mars-ares.

Character

Ares embodies sheer bloodlust rather than heroic war. His epithets tell the story:

• *miaifonos* — "blood-stained"
• *andreifontēs* — "man-slaying"
• *aatos polemoio* — "insatiate at war"
• *brotoloigos* — "plague of man"
• *mainomenos* — "malignant"
• *tykton kakon* — "complete evil"

Most tellingly: Zeus himself calls him "the most hateful of all gods who hold Olympus" in the *Iliad*, adding "forever quarrelling is dear to your heart." When Ares returns wounded from battle, Zeus rebukes rather than comforts him.

Humiliation as a Pattern

Ares is repeatedly humiliated in myth — unusual for a major Olympian:

• Wounded by the mortal Diomedes in the *Iliad*, fleeing to Olympus screaming
• Trapped in a bronze urn for thirteen months by the giants Otus and Ephialtes (Hermes rescued him)
• Caught in Hephaestus's net during his affair with Aphrodite, exposed to the mockery of all the gods
• Fought on the losing Trojan side; his sister Athena helped the Greeks win

This mythological pattern of defeat and chaos maps directly onto the astronomical behaviour of Mars — see crossing-mars-ares.

Attendants and Children

His attendants: Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Dread) — who are also his sons by Aphrodite. These names are not coincidental: Mars's two small moons are named Phobos and Deimos, one of the clearest deliberate mythology-astronomy pairings.

Also by Aphrodite: Harmonia (Harmony — the union of war and love) and Eros.

Calendar

Ares's day is Tuesday — *hemera Areos* in Greek → Latin *Martis* → French *Mardi* → Spanish *Martes* → English "Tuesday" via Norse *Tyr* (the Germanic equivalent of Ares/Mars).