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Hello Whyvillians! Today's next installment of "Behind the Myth" is about the Greek God Ares. Ares is the God of war, and sometimes made out to be a bad guy because of his history; but is he really that bad? Let's take a trip into his history, shall we?
Ares, as previously stated, is the Greek God of war. His parents are Zeus and Hera, and he is one of the Olympians. Some say he conflicts with Athena; because he is the Greek God of war and violence, and she is the Greek Goddess of intelligence, war strategy, and leadership. Another myth is that Ares was involved in the Trojan War, but was in fact on the losing side; while Athena was on the winning Greek side. Funny thing about Ares, is that when he appears in any kind of myth, he is usually being humiliated in some way.
As it was told in the last part of "Behind the Myth", Ares is probably most famed for his affair with Aphrodite, wife of Hephaestus. Ares and Aphrodite had many kids together; such as Harmonia, Eros, Anteros, Phobos, Deimos, and Adrestia. What's ironic about this, is Hephaestus is Ares' brother; born by the same parents. Some other siblings of Ares include Hebe, Enyo, Heracles, and Eileithyia. In Ares' life, he has lived in quite a few places. In Macedonia, the people looked up to him as some divine leader, which he practically is. It was not much different in Sparta. He was seen as a manly soldier, where his physical strength and power were worshiped. In Sparta, sometimes human sacrifices were given up to Ares.
Some of Ares' symbols include the spear and armor, anything that involves fighting a war, really. He is known for being fearless in battle, and doing what it takes to get the job done; though he is not always successful. As I researched about Ares, I found that he really isn't as bad of a guy as some may think he is. Aphrodite is just as much in the wrong as Ares for the affair that took place; but it's natural for the god of fighting and war to be pegged as someone bad.
That's it for this week's "Behind the Myth"! See you all next week!
- dxdxdxdx
Author's Note: Surprisingly, I couldn't find much more about Ares than I already knew, so unfortunately this was a pretty short article. Sorry about that guys, next week's will be longer, guaranteed.
Sources: http://www.theoi.com/Summary/Ares.html
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