The ancient Greeks loved to fight and considered the battle to be difficult, in connection with this they had different gods in charge of it. True, they invented a special god for each type of war (offensive, defensive, fair, unfair). But Athena ruled over the fighting, conducted wisely and ending in victory, and the son of Zeus, Ares, led the blind, furious battle with an incomprehensible outcome.
Intro
This god ruled over a bloodthirsty war filled with rage, where people killed each other on the battlefield with particular cruelty. The son of Zeus and Hera adored the process itself and the action itself, he was not interested in the causes and ending of the battle. Ares was brought joy by the cries of warriors, the sounds of weapons, and he received true pleasure both from the courage of the fighters and from their death. All these characteristics of his did not cause positive emotions either in people or in other gods. He is the unloved son of Zeus, whom he wanted to throw into Tartarus, but could not because of family ties.
Alas, but the facts about Ares are fragmentary and inconsistent. For most historians and other scientists, the son of Zeus was not of particular interest, since the ancient Greeks were not inclined to revere this god, they were simply afraid of him. But the poets of Ancient Greece sang of Ares in their poems and odes. In this article, we will try to assemble a holistic image of a strong and aggressive god of war.
Who is this Ares?
The son of Zeus personifies fierce militancy, primordial savagery and ferocious cruelty. A fiery torch belongs to the attributes of Ares, and such weapons as a spear or animals (a dog or a kite). On the Mount of Olympia, from time to time there was a council of the twelve gods, and the son of Zeus, Ares, was the third in it.
Childhood of God
Ares had little resemblance to other inhabitants of Olympus, distinguished by wisdom and prudence. The origin of the god was shrouded in mystery and controversy. It was believed that the son of Zeus and Hera was born in Thrace, where a harsh climate prevailed and harsh people lived. He spent his childhood in this country. Young Ares was not as handsome and charming as Apollo. The son of Zeus had his own special beauty. Dark hair, light skin, burning eyes, the correct oval of the face - all this created an image of severity and equanimity.
Ares Character
The son of God (Zeus) looked after his appearance, elegantly dressed in elegant outfits. Hera's capricious pet did not know refusal, he was allowed everything or almost everything. Such improper maternal upbringing affectedthe fact that the negative traits of character manifested themselves in full.
Boasting, aggressiveness, authoritarianism, rudeness, intemperance, cruelty to human weaknesses and defenselessness, fear of pain - all these qualities were possessed by the unloved son of Zeus. You can draw an analogy of this god with a furious dog, whose hair stands on end, has a terrible grin, loud barking and who is ready to instantly bite the victim, but as soon as he feels a rebuff, he immediately tucks his tail and runs away.
The story of Ares' shameful flight
The least favorite son of Zeus preferred birds as victims. When he was a child, he lay in wait for his father's eagle or mother's peacock, Apollo's raven, Athena's owl or Aphrodite's dove and wanted to shoot a bird with a slingshot. And the other sons of Zeus came up with a punishment for Ares. The names of Apollo, Dionysus and Hephaestus made the supreme god proud.
Apollo offered the young Ares a bet that he would not be able to get out on the western slope of Mount Olympus and break at least one egg of the gulls nesting there. The martial god accepted the bet, because the slope, in his opinion, was not very steep and difficult to climb, and the gulls seemed cute and not at all aggressive. Ares quickly climbed to the top, but the cute and calm seagulls were not so defenseless. Hearing the cry of one bird whose egg was stolen by Ares, the whole flock flocked around the young god. Seagulls screamed piercingly and threw white sparse droppings at the kidnapper. Ares gaspedstinking smell, blinded by the flapping of thousands of bird wings. There was nothing he could do about it, and so running away was shameful, but the only option. Apollo accompanied the escape with sharp ridicule.
Zeus could not think of anything to do with such a bully son who did not have any talents and did not want to study at all. The boy's mother stood up for her beloved son and asked the ruler of Olympus for the position of Minister of Military Affairs, because her son was an ideal candidate. So Ares (son of Zeus) became the god of war, slicing through space on a shiny chariot with a pair of magnificent horses that breathed fire.
Martial God Maturity
Fierce Ares only rejoices when violence flourishes on the battlefield. It is said that he, dressed in glittering robes and with a huge shield, rushes with great fury in the thick of the battle, where the air is filled with screams, groans, and the roar of weapons.
On the battlefield, the god of war is accompanied by Deimos and Phobos. These are the two sons of Ares. Deimos represents horror, and Phobos represents fear. Also in the retinue of this god you can see Eris (the goddess of discord) and Enyo (the goddess who sows murder). Here such brethren fly among the warriors, they fall, perish, and the god of war rejoices and rejoices. Ares receives ecstasy when a warrior who is hit by his weapon dies, and blood flows from the wound to the ground. Fear, horror, disgust - all these emotions were caused by God in the ancient Greeks.
Terrible was Ares' hatred for the goddess of the world - Eirene. But friendship with Eris was also not smooth, because he rejected that parta goddess who was revered by people as a force that makes them compete in peaceful labor. Even the son of Zeus and Leda, Polydeuces, succumbed to the influence of Ares on the battlefield. The gods loved to watch the lives of mortals, the battles, and when they were bored, they themselves could organize the causes for wars. Some of them even descended from Mount Olympus to help their pets. But for Ares, war was the main meaning of life, he did not think about its causes, about whether it was fair or not. The sight of blood made the god insane, and he began to kill fighters on both sides, not understanding who was right and who was wrong.
It used to happen that Ares, hiding in a crowd of warriors, let out a terrible scream, as if several thousand people were shouting. This cry made an indelible impression on the fighters, and with great fury they began to kill everyone in a row, regardless of gender and age. Warriors did not even take into account the value of the lives of people from the enemy side who could become slaves. Even the animals were not spared. Warriors simply turned into assassins.
Should it be surprising that the ancient Greeks considered the god Ares to blame for all their troubles and misfortunes? Then they came up with a solution. They wanted to get rid of the bloodthirsty god so that happiness and peace would finally come to the mortal world. But ordinary people were not able to cope with the deity. The giants Ephi altes and Otos agreed to help. They captured Ares and put him in a copper prison. For thirteen months there was a bloodthirsty god imprisoned in terrible chains and, probably, could die there, but the stepmother of the giants,Eribey, gave the news to Hermes, and he released the half-dead Ares. All this time there was peace and tranquility on earth. Thirteen months have been the happiest and most fruitful for mortals.
No less than the devastated people, Ares hated the daughter of Zeus, Pallas Athena. The goddess helped the Greek heroes, for example, Perseus, the son of Zeus and Danae, received her attention. She personified an honest and just war, was a craftswoman and skillfully mastered military affairs, because she defeated Ares twice in battle.
The ancient Greek hero Hercules, the son of Zeus, also fought with the god of war, and he fled in fear to the celestials.
War and Love – Ares and Aphrodite
Beautiful Aphrodite was the wife of the limping blacksmith god Hephaestus. But she gave birth to four children (Phobos, Deimos, Harmony, Eros) from Ares, a passionate, pugnacious and violent god. An explosive mixture that is unlikely to bring anything good - crazy love and crazy war.
Secret and hardworking Hephaestus did not suspect Aphrodite's betrayal. But once a couple in love stayed in bed and met together the appearance of the sun (Helios), who told the blacksmith about the betrayal. Offended and angry, Hephaestus forged a strange little thing in his forge - the thinnest and at the same time very strong web, which he attached to the family bed. When the satisfied Aphrodite returned home, her husband informed her of his journey to the island of Lemnos. The wife did not want to go with him, and as soon as Hephaestus left the threshold, she called Ares to her, who appeared very quickly in the halls of Aphrodite.
Loversenjoyed each other the whole night, and in the morning they saw that the bed and they themselves were under the thinnest web. Naked and helpless, they were caught by Hephaestus, who set it all up. He called all the gods to show the betrayal of Aphrodite and Ares. The goddesses remained at home, and the gods decided to look at such an action. The blacksmith god gave an ultimatum to Zeus (her father) to return all the wedding gifts, and only then will he let his wife go. Many gods - both Apollo and Hermes - would like to be in the place of Ares even in such a web, but next to Aphrodite. This is the conversation conducted by the sons of Zeus, whose names were mentioned. But the supreme god was angered by such conversations, he refused to return the wedding gifts of Hephaestus and said that it was not good to interfere in a family conflict. Another god present at this demonstration, Poseidon, seeing the naked body of Aphrodite, immediately fell in love with the charming goddess and burned with sharp envy for Ares. The sea god pretended to sympathize with Hephaestus and offered to help. He claimed that he would do everything to ensure that Ares paid for his freedom a price no less than the wedding gifts of Hephaestus. If the god of war does not do this, then Poseidon himself will give the required amount and marry the beautiful goddess.
After the release of the captives, Ares did not even think to repay the debt, because if the supreme god does not pay, then why should he do it. No one paid the ransom to Hephaestus, but he was not very upset, because he loved his wife and did not want to let her go anywhere, let alone get divorced.
After this adventure, Ares returned to his homeland, andAphrodite settled in Cyprus, where she became virgin again after swimming in the sea. The situation described did not affect the goddess in any way, because she continued to feel a strong passionate attraction to the warlike god and always defended him, because of which Athena constantly joked and mocked Aphrodite. Ares also experienced insane jealousy and love.
Ares Jealousy
In the myths of the ancient Greeks, one story is described when the windy Aphrodite fell in love with the wonderful young man Adonis. He also liked Persephone, the wife of the underground patron - Hades. The dispute between the two goddesses was supposed to be decided by Zeus, but he refused to administer such an obscene trial and entrusted the matter to the muses. They decided that two seasons a year Adonis would live with Aphrodite, one season with Persephone, and one - as he himself wanted. But the intelligent goddess of love, by hook or by crook, convinced Adonis to spend the season intended for the young man himself with her. Thus, the young lover spent more time with Aphrodite. It turns out that the muses did not adhere to the decision of the court. Persephone, having learned about this, became indignant and went to talk to Ares. She told the god of war about Aphrodite's love affairs. Blinded by jealousy, Ares turned into a wild boar and killed Adonis while hunting right in front of the goddess of love. That's what Ares was all about! The son of Zeus and Callisto also felt the wrath of the god of war.
Children of the Martial God
Ares became the father of four offspring, whose mother was Aphrodite. Deimos and Phobos were constantly with their father on the battlefield, in the thick of the battle. Daughter Harmony was something likeon the mother and brought people happiness even more than the goddess of love. Son Eros had a father's character and was engaged in his mother's specialization in kindling love. This boy with shiny wings, a golden bow and arrows was distinguished by playfulness, deceit and sometimes even cruelty. It was light as a summer breeze. No one could hide from his arrows of love. Eros is very dexterous and is not inferior in the art of shooting to the god Apollo himself. The arrows of a cute boy bring people not only love and joy, but often suffering, perhaps even death. After the birth, Zeus wanted to kill the baby, knowing about the troubles and sorrows that Eros would bring to the gods and people.
Mother Aphrodite did not give offense to her son and hid him in a dense forest, where he was raised by lionesses. And Eros remained unharmed. Now he flies around the world and brings peace and love, and sorrow, and good, and evil, conquering with his arrows both very young and even old people. The son of Aphrodite and Ares activates the force that attracts people, gods or gods to people to each other. It doesn't matter anymore.
Historians refer to the offspring of Ares as the goddess of bloody revenge Erinia and the terrible dragon. Cadmus met with him in a duel, whose sister was kidnapped. He and several other young men gathered to search. On the way, they lost each other, and Cadmus ended up in Delphi, where the oracle advised him to follow the cow and build a city where it stops. With only a few servants, he was unable to fulfill this prediction. But then it got even worse, because a dragon crawled out of the cave and ate all the servants.
Seeing all this, the young man began an unbearable battle with the dragonand by great effort he won the victory over him. Lying on the grass, without any strength, Cadmus heard the authoritative voice of a woman. He helped the young man to get up and pull out the teeth of the dragon, with which Cadmus then littered the field. From the teeth grew warriors who fought with each other, some of them died, and with those that remained, the young man laid the city. It was named after the hero - Cadmeus.
After Cadmus killed the dragon, he was to become a servant of the bloodthirsty god Ares for many years. At the end of the service, the young man married the daughter of Ares and the goddess of love Aphrodite - Harmony.
Conclusion
In the presented article, an attempt was made to collect a holistic image of the warlike god Ares. Born in harsh Thrace, he was ferocious and cruel. This is the favorite son of Hera's mother, but hated by his own father. Ares inspired fear in mortal people and disgusted the immortal gods. The meaning of the life of this god was war, its very process, battles and battles, the cries of warriors, the clang of weapons, the cries of victims. But in the face of a greater force, Ares gave in and walked away, although, of course, he did not like it at all.
Another element into which Ares plunged completely was love for the incredibly beautiful and feminine goddess Aphrodite. Jealousy for her incinerated God, and he, captivated by this violent feeling, swept away everything in his path. Rage, deceit, cruelty are the qualities of the bloodthirsty Ares, who will stop at nothing. The god of war is most attracted to blood and death.
It is simply impossible to list all the sons of Zeus, this is noteven historians can do. Let's name the most famous of them. These are Ammon, Hercules, Dardanus, Dodon, Karius, Locrius, Meliteus, Perseus, Tantalus, Epaphus and others.
