Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the

Greek god The following is a list of gods, goddesses, and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion. Immortals The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the ...

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

and courage. He is one of the

Twelve Olympians upright=1.8, Fragment of a relief (1st century BC1st century AD) depicting the twelve Olympians carrying their attributes in procession; from left to right: Hestia (scepter), Hermes (winged cap and staff), Aphrodite (veiled), Ares (helmet and s ...

, and the son of

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war but can also personify sheer brutality and bloodlust, in contrast to his sister, the armored

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

, whose martial functions include military strategy and generalship. An association with Ares endows places, objects, and other deities with a savage, dangerous, or militarized quality. Although Ares' name shows his origins as

Mycenae Mycenae ( ; grc, Μυκῆναι or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos; and south of Corinth. ...

an, his reputation for savagery was thought by some to reflect his likely origins as a Thracian deity. Some cities in Greece and several in Asia Minor held annual festivals to bind and detain him as their protector. In parts of Asia Minor, he was an oracular deity. Still further away from Greece, the

Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

were said to ritually kill one in a hundred prisoners of war as an offering to their equivalent of Ares. The later belief that ancient Spartans had offered human sacrifice to Ares may owe more to mythical prehistory, misunderstandings, and reputation than to reality. Though there are many literary allusions to Ares' love affairs and children, he has a limited role in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

. When he does appear, he is often humiliated. In the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols inclu ...

, protector of Troy, persuades Ares to take the Trojan's side. The Trojans lose, while Ares' sister Athena helps the Greeks to victory. Most famously, when the craftsman-god

Hephaestus Hephaestus (; eight spellings; grc-gre, Ἥφαιστος, Hḗphaistos) is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire (compare, however, with Hestia), and volcanoes.Walter B ...

discovers his wife

is having an affair with Ares, he traps the lovers in a net and exposes them to the ridicule of the other gods. Ares' nearest counterpart in Roman religion is

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

, who was given a more important and dignified place in ancient Roman religion as ancestral protector of the Roman people and state. During the

Hellenization Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the H ...

Latin literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...

, the myths of Ares were reinterpreted by Roman writers under the name of Mars, and in later Western art and literature, the mythology of the two figures became virtually indistinguishable.

Names

The etymology of the name ''Ares'' is traditionally connected with the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word (''arē''), the Ionic form of the

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

(''ara''), "bane, ruin, curse, imprecation".

Walter Burkert Walter Burkert (; 2 February 1931 – 11 March 2015) was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult. A professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US. He has influenced generations of studen ...

notes that "Ares is apparently an ancient abstract noun meaning throng of battle, war."Burkert
p. 169
R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a

Pre-Greek The Pre-Greek substrate (or Pre-Greek substratum) consists of the unknown pre-Indo-European language(s) spoken in prehistoric Greece before the coming of the Proto-Greek language in the Greek peninsula during the Bronze Age. It is possible that ...

origin of the name. The earliest attested form of the name is the

Mycenaean Greek Mycenaean Greek is the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, on the Greek mainland and Crete in Mycenaean Greece (16th to 12th centuries BC), before the hypothesised Dorian invasion, often cited as the '' terminus ad quem'' for th ...

, ''a-re'', written in the Linear B syllabic script. The adjectival epithet, ''Areios'' ("warlike") was frequently appended to the names of other gods when they took on a warrior aspect or became involved in warfare: ''Zeus Areios'', ''Athena Areia'', even ''Aphrodite Areia''. The warlike, fully armoured and armed

Aphrodite Areia Aphrodite Areia (Ancient Greek: Ἀφροδίτη Ἀρεία) or "Aphrodite the Warlike" was a cult epithet of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, in which she was depicted in full armor like the war god Ares. This representation was found in Sparta and ...

was partnered with Ares in

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

and was represented at

Kythira Kythira (, ; el, Κύθηρα, , also transliterated as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira) is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands ...

's temple to

Aphrodite Urania Aphrodite Urania ( grc, Ἀφροδίτη Οὐρανία, Aphrodítē Ouranía) was an epithet of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, signifying "heavenly" or "spiritual", to distinguish her from her more earthly aspect of Aphrodite Pandemos, "Aphrod ...

. In the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

'', the word ''ares'' is used as a

common noun A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', ''Jupiter'', ''Sarah'', ''Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, ...

synonymous with "battle." One epithet of Ares in the Classical period is

Enyalios Enyalius or Enyalios (Greek: ) in Greek mythology is generally a son of Ares by Enyo and also a byname of Ares the god of war. Though Enyalius as a by-name of Ares is the most accepted version, in Mycenaean times Ares and Enyalius were considered ...

, a name which seems to appear on the Mycenaean KN V 52 tablet as , ''e-nu-wa-ri-jo''. Enyalios was sometimes identified with Ares and sometimes differentiated from him as another war god with separate cult even in the same town; Burkert describes them as "doubles almost".

Worship, cult and ritual

In mainland Greece and the Peloponnese, only a few places are known to have had a formal temple and cult of Ares.Burkert
p. 170
Pausanias (2nd century AD) notes an altar to Ares at Olympia, and the moving of a

Temple of Ares The Temple of Ares was a sanctuary dedicated to Ares, located in the northern part of the Ancient Agora of Athens. The Temple was identified as such by Pausanias but the ruins present today indicate a complex history. Ares had a temple somewhat l ...

to the

Athenian agora The ancient Agora of Athens (also called the Classical Agora) is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora, located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill ...

during the reign of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, essentially rededicating it (2 AD) as a

Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of ...

to the Augustan

Mars Ultor In ancient Roman religion and myth, Mars ( la, Mārs, ) was the god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was the son of Jupiter and Juno, and was pre-eminent among the Roman army's military g ...

. The

Areopagus The Areopagus () is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Its English name is the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Hill of Ares" ( grc, Ἄρειος Πάγος) ...

("mount of Ares"), a natural rock outcrop in Athens, some distance from the Acropolis, was supposedly where Ares was tried and acquitted by the gods for his revenge-killing of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ...

's son,

Halirrhothius Halirrhothius (; Ancient Greek: Ἁλιρρόθιος, ''Halirrhóthios'', "sea-foam") was the Athenian son of Poseidon and Euryte or BathycleiaScholia on Pindar, ''Olympian Ode'' 10.83c in Greek mythology. He was also called the son of Perieres an ...

, who had raped Ares' daughter Alcippe. Its name was used for the court that met there, mostly to investigate and try potential cases of treason. Numismatist M. Jessop Price states that Ares "typified the traditional Spartan character", but had no important cult in Sparta; and he never occurs on Spartan coins. Gonzalez observes, in his 2005 survey of Ares' cults in Asia Minor, that cults to Ares on the Greek mainland may have been more common than some sources assert. Wars between Greek states were endemic; war and warriors provided his tribute, and fed his insatiable appetite for battle. Ares' attributes are instruments of war: a helmet, shield, and sword or spear.

Chained statues

Gods were immortal but could be bound and restrained, both in mythic narrative and in cult practice. There was an archaic

n statue of Ares in chains in the temple of

(sometimes regarded as the son of Ares, sometimes as Ares himself), which Pausanias claimed meant that the spirit of war and victory was to be kept in the city. The Spartans are known to have ritually bound the images of other deities, including

and Artemis (cf Ares and Aphrodite bound by Hephaestus), and in other places there were chained statues of Artemis and Dionysos. Statues of Ares in chains are described in the instructions given by an oracle of the late Hellenistic era to various cities of

Pamphylia Pamphylia (; grc, Παμφυλία, ''Pamphylía'') was a region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus (all in modern-day Antalya province, Turkey). It was bounded on the north b ...

(in Anatolia) including Syedra,

Lycia Lycia ( Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is ...

and

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

, places almost perpetually under threat from pirates. Each was told to set up a statue of "bloody, man-slaying Ares" and provide it with an annual festival in which it was ritually bound with iron fetters ("by

Dike Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes ...

and Hermes") as if a supplicant for justice, put on trial and offered sacrifice. The oracle promises that "thus will he become a peaceful deity for you, once he has driven the enemy horde far from your country, and he will give rise to prosperity much prayed for." This Ares ''karpodotes'' ("giver of Fruits") is well attested in Lycia and Pisidia.

Sacrifices

Like most Greek deities, Ares was given animal sacrifice; in Sparta, after battle, he was given an ox for a victory by stratagem, or a rooster for victory through onslaught. The usual recipient of sacrifice before battle was Athena. Reports of historic human sacrifice to Ares in an obscure rite known as the ''Hekatomphonia'' represent a very long-standing error, repeated through several centuries and well into the modern era. The ''hekatomphonia'' was an animal sacrifice to Zeus; it could be offered by any warrior who had personally slain one hundred of the enemy. Pausanias reports that in Sparta, each company of youths sacrificed a puppy to Enyalios before engaging in a hand-to-hand "fight without rules" at the Phoebaeum. The chthonic night-time sacrifice of a dog to Enyalios became assimilated to the cult of Ares. Porphyry claims, without detail, that Apollodorus of Athens (circa second century BC) says the

ns made human sacrifices to Ares, but this may be a reference to mythic pre-history.

Thrace and Scythia

A Thracian god identified by

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

( – ) as Ares, through ''

interpretatio Graeca ''Interpretatio graeca'' (Latin, "Greek translation") or "interpretation by means of Greek odels is a discourse used to interpret or attempt to understand the mythology and religion of other cultures; a comparative methodology using ancient G ...

'', was one of three otherwise unnamed deities that Thracian commoners were said to worship. Herodotus recognises and names the other two as "Dionysus" and "Artemis", and claims that the Thracian aristocracy exclusively worshiped "Hermes". In Herodotus' ''Histories'', the

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

s worship an indigenous form of Greek Ares, who is otherwise unnamed, but ranked beneath

Tabiti The Scythian religion refers to the mythology, ritual practices and beliefs of the Scythian cultures, a collection of closely related ancient Iranian peoples who inhabited Central Asia and the Pontic–Caspian steppe in Eastern Europe throughout C ...

(whom Herodotus claims as a form of

Hestia In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Hestia (; grc-gre, Ἑστία, meaning "hearth" or "fireside") is the virgin goddess of the hearth, the right ordering of domesticity, the family, the home, and the state. In myth, she is the firstborn ...

), Api and Papaios in Scythia's divine hierarchy. His cult object was an iron sword. The "Scythian Ares" was offered blood-sacrifices (or ritual killings) of cattle, horses and "one in every hundred human war-captives", whose blood was used to douse the sword. Statues, and complex platform-altars made of heaped brushwood were devoted to him. This sword-cult, or one very similar, is said to have persisted among the

Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the A ...

. Some have posited that the " Sword of Mars" in later European history alludes to the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

having adopted Ares.

Asia Minor

In some parts of Asia Minor, Ares was a prominent oracular deity, something not found in any Hellennic cult to Ares or Roman cult to Mars. Ares was linked in some regions or polities with a local god or cultic hero, and recognised as a higher, more prestigious deity than in mainland Greece. His cults in southern Asia Minor are attested from the 5th century BC and well into the later Roman Imperial era, at 29 different sites, and on over 70 local coin issues. He is sometimes represented on coinage of the region by the "Helmet of Ares" or carrying a spear and a shield, or as a fully armed warrior, sometimes accompanied by a female deity. In what is now western Turkey, the Hellenistic city of

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big ci ...

built a monumental temple to Ares as the city's protector, not before the 3rd century BC. It is now lost, but the names of some of its priests and priestesses survive, along with the temple's likely depictions on coins of the province.

Crete

A sanctuary of Aphrodite was established at Sta Lenika, on

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, between the cities of

Lato Lato ( grc, Λατώ, Latṓ) was an ancient city of Crete, the ruins of which are located approximately 3 km from the village of Kritsa. History The Dorian city-state was built in a defensible position overlooking Mirabello Bay betw ...

and

Olus In Greek mythology, the Cercopes ( el, Κέρκωπες, plural of Κέρκωψ, from κέρκος (''n''.) ''kerkos'' "tail") were mischievous forest creatures who lived in Thermopylae or on Euboea but roamed the world and might turn up anywhe ...

, possibly during the

Geometric period Geometric art is a phase of Greek art, characterized largely by geometric motifs in vase painting, that flourished towards the end of the Greek Dark Ages, . Its center was in Athens, and from there the style spread among the trading cities of th ...

. It was rebuilt in the late 2nd century BC as a double-sanctuary to Ares and Aphrodite. Inscriptions record disputes over the ownership of the sanctuary. The names of Ares and Aphrodite appear as witness to sworn oaths, and there is a Victory thanks-offering to Aphrodite, whom Millington believes had capacity as a "warrior-protector acting in the realm of Ares". There were cultic links between the Sta Lenika sanctuary, Knossos and other Cretan states, and perhaps with

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

on the mainland. While the Greek literary and artistic record from both the Archaic and Classical eras connects Ares and Aphrodite as complementary companions and ideal though adulterous lovers, their cult pairing and Aphrodite as warrior-protector is localised to Crete.Millington, Alexander T., "Iyarri at the Interface: The Origins of Ares" in A. Mouton, I. Rutherford, & I. Yakubovich (eds.) ''Luwian Identities: Culture, Language and Religion Between Anatolia and the Aegean'' (Leiden) 2013, pp.555-557Millington, Alexander T., ''War and the Warrior: Functions of Ares in Literature and Cult'', University College, London, 2013, pp. 101-10

/ref>

Aksum

In Africa,

Maḥrem Maher or Maḥrem is a god of the Aksumites and the Himyarites. He was the son of the main god Ashtar, and his counterpart was Beher, god of the sea. He was the deity of war, comparable to Mars or Ares in ancient Greek mythology A major br ...

, the principal god of the

kings of Aksum The kings of Axum ruled an important trading state in the area which is now Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, from approximately 100–940 AD.S.C. Munro-Hay, ''Aksum'' (Edinburgh: University Press, 1991), pp. 67f Zenith of the Kingdom of Axum ...

prior to the 4th century AD, was invoked as Ares in Greek inscriptions. The anonymous king who commissioned the

Monumentum Adulitanum The Monumentum Adulitanum was an ancient bilingual inscription in Ge'ez and Greek depicting the military campaigns of an Adulite king. The original text was inscribed on a throne in Adulis ( Ge'ez: መንበር ''manbar'') written in Ge'ez in b ...

in the late 2nd or early 3rd century refers to "my greatest god, Ares, who also begat me, through whom I brought under my sway arious peoples. The monumental throne celebrating the king's conquests was itself dedicated to Ares. In the early 4th century, the last pagan king of Aksum,

Ezana Ezana ( gez, ዔዛና ''‘Ezana'', unvocalized ዐዘነ ''‘zn''; also spelled Aezana or Aizan) was ruler of the Kingdom of Axum, an ancient kingdom located in what is now Eritrea and Ethiopia. (320s – c. 360 AD). He himself employed the ...

, referred to "the one who brought me forth, the invincible Ares".

Characterisation

Ares was one of the

in the archaic tradition represented by the ''

'' and ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

.'' In

Greek literature Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today. Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving writte ...

, Ares often represents the physical or violent and untamed aspect of war and is the personification of sheer brutality and bloodlust ("overwhelming, insatiable in battle, destructive, and man-slaughtering", as Burkert puts it), in contrast to his sister, the armored

, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and generalship. An association with Ares endows places and objects with a savage, dangerous, or militarized quality; but when Ares does appear in myths, he typically faces humiliation.Hansen, ''Classical Mythology'', pp. 113–114. In the Iliad, Zeus expresses a recurring Greek revulsion toward the god when Ares returns wounded and complaining from the battlefield at Troy: This ambivalence is expressed also in the Greeks' association of Ares with the

Thracians The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...

, whom they regarded as a barbarous and warlike people.

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

was considered to be Ares's birthplace and his refuge after the affair with

was exposed to the general mockery of the other gods. A late-6th-century BC funerary inscription from

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean S ...

emphasizes the consequences of coming under Ares's sway:

Hymns

;Homeric Hymn 8 to Ares (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic 7th to 4th centuries BC) :Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of cities, harnessed in bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defence of Olympus, father of warlike Victory, ally of Themis, stern governor of the rebellious, leader of righteous men, sceptred King of manliness, who whirl your fiery sphere among the planets in their sevenfold courses through the aether wherein your blazing steeds ever bear you above the third firmament of heaven; hear me, helper of men, giver of dauntless youth! Shed down a kindly ray from above upon my life, and strength of war, that I may be able to drive away bitter cowardice from my head and crush down the deceitful impulses of my soul. Restrain also the keen fury of my heart which provokes me to tread the ways of blood-curdling strife. Rather, O blessed one, give you me boldness to abide within the harmless laws of peace, avoiding strife and hatred and the violent fiends of death. ;Orphic Hymn 65 to Ares (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns 3rd century BCE to 2nd century CE) :To Ares, Fumigation from Frankincense. Magnanimous, unconquered, boisterous Ares, in darts rejoicing, and in bloody wars; fierce and untamed, whose mighty power can make the strongest walls from their foundations shake: mortal-destroying king, defiled with gore, pleased with war's dreadful and tumultuous roar. Thee human blood, and swords, and spears delight, and the dire ruin of mad savage fight. Stay furious contests, and avenging strife, whose works with woe embitter human life; to lovely Kyrpis phroditeand to Lyaios ionysosyield, for arms exchange the labours of the field; encourage peace, to gentle works inclined, and give abundance, with benignant mind.

Mythology

Birth

He is one of the

, and the son of

and Hera.

Argonautica

In the ''

Argonautica The ''Argonautica'' ( el, Ἀργοναυτικά , translit=Argonautika) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the ''Argonautica'' tells the myth of the voyage of Jason ...

'', the ''Golden Fleece'' hangs in a grove sacred to Ares, until its theft by

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He ...

. The Birds of Ares (''Ornithes Areioi'') drop feather darts in defense of the Amazons' shrine to Ares, as father of their queen, on a coastal island in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

Founding of Thebes

Ares played a central role in the

founding myth An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have sto ...

of Thebes, as the progenitor of the water-dragon slain by Cadmus. The dragon's teeth were sown into the ground as if a crop and sprang up as the fully armored autochthonic

Spartoi In Greek mythology, Spartoi (also Sparti or Spartae) (Ancient Greek: Σπαρτοί, literal translation: "sown en, from σπείρω, ''speírō'', "to sow") are a mythical people who sprang up from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus and were ...

. Cadmus placed himself in the god's service for eight years to atone for killing the dragon.Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010). To further propitiate Ares, Cadmus married

Harmonia In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; grc, Ἁρμονία /Ancient Greek phonology, harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Rome, Roman counterpart is Concordia (mythology), Concordia. Her Greek op ...

, a daughter of Ares's union with Aphrodite. In this way, Cadmus harmonized all strife and founded the city of Thebes. In reality, Thebes came to dominate

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its ...

's great and fertile plain, which in both history and myth was a battleground for competing polities. According to Plutarch, the plain was anciently described as "The dancing-floor of Ares".

Aphrodite

In Homer's ''

'', in the tale sung by the bard in the hall of

Alcinous In Greek mythology, Alcinous (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκίνους or Ἀλκίνοος ''Alkínoös'' means "mighty mind") was a son of Nausithous and brother of Rhexenor. After the latter's death, he married his brother's daughter Arete who bo ...

, the Sun-god Helios once spied Ares and Aphrodite having sex secretly in the hall of

, her husband. Helios reported the incident to Hephaestus. Contriving to catch the illicit couple in the act, Hephaestus fashioned a finely-knitted and nearly invisible net with which to snare them. At the appropriate time, this net was sprung, and trapped Ares and Aphrodite locked in very private embrace. But Hephaestus was not satisfied with his revenge, so he invited the Olympian gods and goddesses to view the unfortunate pair. For the sake of modesty, the goddesses demurred, but the male gods went to witness the sight. Some commented on the beauty of Aphrodite, others remarked that they would eagerly trade places with Ares, but all who were present mocked the two. Once the couple was released, the embarrassed Ares returned to his homeland, Thrace, and Aphrodite went to Paphos. In a much later interpolated detail, Ares put the young soldier Alectryon, who was Ares companion in drinking and even love-making, by his door to warn them of Helios's arrival as Helios would tell Hephaestus of Aphrodite's infidelity if the two were discovered, but Alectryon fell asleep on guard duty. Helios discovered the two and alerted Hephaestus. The furious Ares turned the sleepy Alectryon into a

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

which now always announces the arrival of the sun in the morning, as a way of apologizing to Ares. The Chorus of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

' '' Suppliants'' (written 463 BC) refers to Ares as Aphrodite's "mortal-destroying bedfellow". In the ''Illiad'', Ares helps the Trojans because of his affection for their divine protector, Aphrodite; she thus redirects his innate destructive savagery to her own purposes.

Giants

In one archaic myth, related only in the ''Iliad'' by the goddess Dione to her daughter Aphrodite, two chthonic giants, the

Aloadae __NOTOC__ In Greek mythology, the Aloadae () or Aloads (Ancient Greek: Ἀλωάδαι ''Aloadai'') were Otus or Otos (Ὦτος means "insatiate") and Ephialtes (Ἐφιάλτης "nightmare"), Thessalian sons of Princess Iphimedia, wife of Aloe ...

, named Otus and Ephialtes, bound Ares in chains and imprisoned him in a bronze urn, where he remained for thirteen months, a

lunar year A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gr ...

. "And that would have been the end of Ares and his appetite for war, if the beautiful Eriboea, the young giants' stepmother, had not told

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...

what they had done," she related. In this, urkertsuspects "a festival of licence which is unleashed in the thirteenth month."Burkert
p. 169
/ref> Ares was held screaming and howling in the urn until Hermes rescued him, and

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

tricked the Aloadae into slaying each other. In

Nonnus Nonnus of Panopolis ( grc-gre, Νόννος ὁ Πανοπολίτης, ''Nónnos ho Panopolítēs'', 5th century CE) was the most notable Greek epic poet of the Imperial Roman era. He was a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Theb ...

's '' Dionysiaca'', in the war between Cronus and Zeus, Ares killed an unnamed giant son of

Echidna Echidnas (), sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the family Tachyglossidae . The four extant species of echidnas and the platypus are the only living mammals that lay eggs and the ...

who was allied with Cronus, and described as spitting "horrible poison" and having "snaky" feet.

''Iliad''

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

's ''

'', Ares has no fixed allegiance. He promises Athena and Hera that he will fight for the Achaeans but

persuades him to side with the

Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * '' Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...

. During the war, Diomedes fights

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

and sees Ares fighting on the Trojans' side. Diomedes calls for his soldiers to withdraw. Zeus grants Athene permission to drive Ares from the battlefield. Encouraged by Hera and Athena, Diomedes thrusts with his spear at Ares. Athena drives the spear home, and all sides tremble at Ares's cries. Ares flees to

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...

, forcing the Trojans to fall back. Ares overhears that his son Ascalaphus has been killed and wants to change sides again, rejoining the Achaeans for vengeance, disregarding Zeus's order that no Olympian should join the battle. Athena stops him. Later, when Zeus allows the gods to fight in the war again, Ares attacks Athena to avenge his previous injury. Athena overpowers him by striking him with a boulder.

Attendants

Deimos ("Terror" or "Dread") and Phobos ("Fear") are Ares' companions in war, and according to

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet ...

, are also his children by

. Eris, the goddess of discord, or

Enyo Enyo (; grc, Ἐνυώ, Enȳṓ) is a goddess of war in Greek mythology. She frequently is associated with the war god Ares. Description She is called the "sister of War" by Quintus Smyrnaeus, in a role closely resembling that of Eris, the ...

, the goddess of war, bloodshed, and violence, was considered the sister and companion of the violent Ares. In at least one tradition, Enyalius, rather than another name for Ares, was his son by Enyo. Ares may also be accompanied by

Kydoimos In Greek mythology, Kydoimos or Cydoemus (Ancient Greek: Κυδοιμός ''Kudoimós'') was the personification of the din of battle, confusion, uproar and hubbub. He was probably numbered amongst the Makhai, daimones of the battlefield. Kydoim ...

, the daemon of the din of battle; the

Makhai In Greek mythology, the Machae or Machai (; Ancient Greek: Μάχαι ''Mákhai'', "battles"; singular: ''Mákhē'') were the daemons (spirits) of battle and combat. Family The Machai were the children of Eris and siblings to other vicious ...

("Battles"); the "Hysminai" ("Acts of manslaughter");

Polemos In Greek mythology, Polemos or Polemus ( grc-gre, Πόλεμος ''Pólemos''; "war") was a daemon; a divine personification or embodiment of war. No cult practices or myths are known for him, and as an abstract representation he figures mai ...

, a minor spirit of war, or only an epithet of Ares, since it has no specific dominion; and Polemos's daughter,

Alala Alala ( Ancient Greek: (alalá); "battle-cry" or "war-cry") was the personification of the war cry in Greek mythology. Her name derives from the onomatopoeic Greek word (alalḗ), hence the verb (alalázō), "to raise the war-cry". Greek s ...

, the goddess or personification of the Greek war-cry, whose name Ares uses as his own war-cry. Ares's sister Hebe ("Youth") also draws baths for him. According to

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

, local inhabitants of

Therapne Therapne ( grc, Θεράπνη) was a town in ancient Laconia, within the territory of Sparta. According to Greek mythology, its name comes from a daughter of Lelex. The place was distinguished for housing the Menelaion, a temple to Menelaus, w ...

, recognized

Thero ''Thero'' (commonly appearing in the masculine and feminine forms ''thera'' and ''therī'' respectively) is an honorific term in Pali for senior bhikkhus and bhikkhunis (Buddhist monks and nuns) in the Buddhist monastic order. The word literally ...

, "feral, savage," as a nurse of Ares.

Offspring and affairs

Though Ares plays a relatively limited role in

as represented in literary narratives, his numerous love affairs and abundant offspring are often alluded to. The union of Ares and Aphrodite created the gods

Eros In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the ear ...

, Anteros, Phobos, Deimos, and

. Other versions include Alcippe as one of his daughters.

Cycnus :''The butterfly genus ''Cycnus'' is now synonymized with ''Panthiades. In Greek mythology, multiple characters were known as Cycnus (Ancient Greek: Κύκνος) or Cygnus. The literal meaning of the name is "swan", and accordingly most of them end ...

(Κύκνος) of Macedonia was a son of Ares who tried to build a temple to his father with the skulls and bones of guests and travellers.

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

fought him and, in one account, killed him. In another account, Ares fought his son's killer but Zeus parted the combatants with a thunderbolt. Ares had a romantic liaison with

Eos In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Eos (; Ionic and Homeric Greek ''Ēṓs'', Attic ''Héōs'', "dawn", or ; Aeolic ''Aúōs'', Doric ''Āṓs'') is the goddess and personification of the dawn, who rose each morning from her home at ...

, the goddess of the dawn. Aphrodite discovered them, and in anger she cursed Eos with insatiable lust for men. By a woman named Teirene he had a daughter named

Thrassa In Greek mythology, Thrassa ( grc, Θράσσα, Thrássa, Thracian), was the daughter of Ares and Tereine, daughter of the river-god Strymon. Hipponous, son of Triballos (eponym or god of the Triballoi (Τριβαλλοί) tribe of Thrace), ma ...

, who in turn had a daughter named

Polyphonte Polyphonte (Ancient Greek: means 'slayer of many') is a character in Greek mythology, transformed into a strix. Family Polyphonte was the daughter of Hipponous and Thrassa; her grandparents on her mother's side were the war god Ares and Terein ...

. Polyphonte was cursed by Aphrodite to love and mate with a bear, producing two sons, Agrius and Oreius, who were hubristic toward the gods and had a habit of eating their guests. Zeus sent

to punish them, and he chose to chop off their hands and feet. Since Polyphonte was descended from him, Ares stopped Hermes, and the two brothers came into an agreement to turn Polyphonte's family into birds instead. Oreius became an eagle owl, Agrius a vulture, and Polyphonte a strix, possibly a small owl, certainly a portent of war; Polyphonte's servant prayed not to become a bird of evil omen and Ares and Hermes fulfilled her wish by choosing the woodpecker for her, a good omen for hunters. Antoninus Liberalis
21

List of offspring and their mothers

Sometimes poets and dramatists recounted ancient traditions, which varied, and sometimes they invented new details; later

scholia Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of t ...

sts might draw on either or simply guess. Thus while Phobos and Deimos were regularly described as offspring of Ares, others listed here such as

Meleager In Greek mythology, Meleager (, grc-gre, Μελέαγρος, Meléagros) was a hero venerated in his ''temenos'' at Calydon in Aetolia. He was already famed as the host of the Calydonian boar hunt in the epic tradition that was reworked by Ho ...

, Sinope and

Solymus In Greek mythology, Solymus or Solymos (Ancient Greek: Σολύμου) may refer to two individuals: * Solymus, an ancestral hero and eponym of the Milyas, Solymi, who inhabited Milyas (i.e the area around Solyma), in south-west Anatolia. He was ...

were sometimes said to be children of Ares and sometimes given other fathers.

Mars

The nearest counterpart of Ares among the

Roman gods The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts (see ''interpretatio graeca''), integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin lite ...

, a son of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...

and

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

, pre-eminent among the Roman army's military gods but originally an agricultural deity. As a father of Romulus, Rome's legendary founder, Mars was given an important and dignified place in ancient Roman religion, as a

guardian deity A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a Nature spirit, spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concep ...

of the entire Roman state and its people. Under the influence of Greek culture, Mars was identified with Ares,''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'',

The Book People The Book People Ltd was a UK online bookseller founded in 1988. It went into administration in 2019 and was formally dissolved in 2022. History The Book People started business in 1988, initially in the Guildford, Surrey area. It expanded rap ...

, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. but the character and dignity of the two deities differed fundamentally. Mars was represented as a means to secure peace, and he was a father ''(pater)'' of the Roman people. In one tradition, he fathered Romulus and Remus through his rape of

Rhea Silvia Rhea (or Rea) Silvia (), also known as Ilia (as well as other names) was the mythical mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, who founded the city of Rome. Her story is told in the first book of ''Ab Urbe Condita Libri'' of Livy and in Cassius D ...

. In another, his lover, the goddess

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

, gave birth to

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons ...

, the Trojan prince and refugee who "founded" Rome several generations before Romulus. In the

, the myths of Ares were reinterpreted by Roman writers under the name of Mars. Greek writers under Roman rule also recorded cult practices and beliefs pertaining to Mars under the name of Ares. Thus in the

classical tradition The Western classical tradition is the reception of classical Greco-Roman antiquity by later cultures, especially the post-classical West, involving texts, imagery, objects, ideas, institutions, monuments, architecture, cultural artifacts, ritua ...

of later Western art and literature, the mythology of the two figures later became virtually indistinguishable.The scene in which Ares and Aphrodite are entrapped by Hephaestus' net (Homer, ''Odyssey'' VIII: 166-365 is also in Ovid's Latin language ''Metamorphoses'' IV: 171-189

/ref>

Renaissance and later depictions

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

and Neoclassical works of art, Ares's symbols are a spear and helmet, his animal is a dog, and his bird is the

vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

. In literary works of these eras, Ares is replaced by the Roman

, a romantic emblem of manly valor rather than the cruel and blood-thirsty god of Greek mythology.

In popular culture

Genealogy

Footnotes

Notes

References

* Antoninus Liberalis, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A Translation with a Commentary'', edited and translated by Francis Celoria, Routledge, 1992.
Online version at ToposText
*

Apollodorus Apollodorus (Ancient Greek, Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: ...

, ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Burkert, Walter, ''Greek Religion'',

, 1985.
Internet Archive
* ''

Etymologicum Magnum ''Etymologicum Magnum'' ( grc, Ἐτυμολογικὸν Μέγα, ) (standard abbreviation ''EM'', or ''Etym. M.'' in older literature) is the traditional title of a Greek lexical encyclopedia compiled at Constantinople by an unknown lexicogra ...

'', Friderici Sylburgii (ed.), Leipzig: J.A.G. Weigel, 1816
Internet Archive
* Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). * Grimal, Pierre, ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology'', Wiley-Blackwell, 1996.
Internet Archive
* Hansen, William, ''Handbook of Classical Mythology'', ABC-CLIO, 2004.
Internet Archive
* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004.
Google Books
*

, ''

Theogony The ''Theogony'' (, , , i.e. "the genealogy or birth of the gods") is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contain ...

'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts,

; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital LibraryInternet Archive
*

, ''The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes''. Cambridge, Massachusetts,

; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

, ''The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes''. Cambridge, Massachusetts,

; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* ''

Homeric Hymn The ''Homeric Hymns'' () are a collection of thirty-three anonymous ancient Greek hymns celebrating individual gods. The hymns are "Homeric" in the sense that they employ the same epic meter—dactylic hexameter—as the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'', ...

'' 8 ''to Ares'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts,

; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Hyginus, Gaius Julius, ''

De Astronomica ''De Astronomica'', or the ''Astronomy'', also known as ''Poeticon Astronomicon'', is a book of stories whose text is attributed to "Hyginus", though the true authorship is disputed. During the Renaissance, the work was attributed to the Roman ...

'', in ''The Myths of Hyginus'', edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960
Online version at ToposText
* Hyginus, Gaius Julius, ''

Fabulae Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...

'', in ''The Myths of Hyginus'', edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960
Online version at ToposText
*

, '' Dionysiaca, Volume II: Books 16–35'', translated by W. H. D. Rouse, Loeb Classical Library No. 345, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1940
Online version at Harvard University Press

Internet Archive (1940)
* ''

Oxford Classical Dictionary The ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (''OCD'') is generally considered "the best one-volume dictionary on antiquity," an encyclopædic work in English consisting of articles relating to classical antiquity and its civilizations. It was first pub ...

'', revised third edition, Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth (editors),

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2003.
Internet Archive
*

, ''Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Peck, Harry Thurston, ''

Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities ''Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities'' is an English-language encyclopedia on subjects of classical antiquity. It was edited by Harry Thurston Peck and published 1898 by Harper & Brothers in New York City. (advertisement ...

'', New York, Harper and Brothers, 1898
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Pseudo-Plutarch Pseudo-Plutarch is the conventional name given to the actual, but unknown, authors of a number of pseudepigrapha (falsely attributed works) attributed to Plutarch but now known to have not been written by him. Some of these works were included in s ...

, ''De fluviis'', in ''Plutarch's morals, Volume V'', edited and translated by

William Watson Goodwin William Watson Goodwin (May 9, 1831June 15, 1912) was an American classical scholar, for many years Eliot professor of Greek at Harvard University. Biography He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, the son of Hersey Bradford Goodwin and Lucretti ...

, Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1874
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Smith, William, ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...

'', London (1873)
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Stephanus of Byzantium, ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnica: Volumen I Alpha - Gamma'', edited by Margarethe Billerbeck, in collaboration with Jan Felix Gaertner, Beatrice Wyss and Christian Zubler, De Gruyter, 2006.
Online version at De GruyterGoogle Books
* Tripp, Edward, ''Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology'', Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970).
Internet Archive
{{Subject bar , portal1=Ancient Greece, portal22=Myths, commons=y , wikt=y Greek war deities War gods Martian deities Consorts of Aphrodite Children of Hera Metamorphoses characters Deities in the Iliad Children of Zeus Characters in Greek mythology Deeds of Poseidon Dog deities Characters in the Odyssey Consorts of Eos Greek mythology of Thrace Twelve Olympians