Ares
God of war, son of Zeus and Hera. Homer's Ares is wounded by Diomedes, told by Zeus "most hateful to me art thou of all gods", felled by Athena with a boundary stone, and caught in Hephaestus's net with Aphrodite; he was once shut in a bronze jar for thirteen months. Hesiod makes him father of Panic and Fear; Apollodorus and Pausanias record his trial on the Areopagus.
Why this wins its question: Shows, passage by passage, that the "brutal war god" is Homer's verdict and not the only ancient one — and gives the Areopagus trial from the two texts that record it.
Key takeaways
- Homer's Ares loses every encounter — to Diomedes, to Athena twice, to Hephaestus's net, to two giants with a jar.
- Zeus's "most hateful to me" (Il. 5.890) is the sentence the whole Homeric portrait hangs on.
- The Hymn to Ares is the exception, a prayer for restraint that makes him a guardian of cities and a planet.
- Panic, Fear and Harmonia are his children by Aphrodite in Hesiod; the Odyssey treats the same liaison as adultery.
Claims
Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.
Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera: from Hera, Zeus's last wife, came "Hebe and Ares and Eileithyia" (Theog. 921–923; Apollod. 1.3.1). Zeus says the same when he heals him: "thou art mine offspring, and it was to me that thy mother bare thee" (Il. 5.895–896).
With Aphrodite ("Cytherea") he fathered "the shield-piercer Panic and Fear, terrible gods who drive in disorder the close ranks of men in numbing war", and Harmonia, whom Cadmus married (Theog. 933–937).
Wounded by Diomedes with Athena guiding the spear "against his nethermost belly", Ares "bellowed loud as nine thousand warriors or ten thousand", fled to Olympus and complained; Zeus answered, "Most hateful to me art thou of all gods that hold Olympus, for ever is strife dear to thee and wars and fightings", blaming Hera's spirit in him, yet had Paeeon heal him (Il. 5.855–906).
In the Theomachy Ares begins the fray, strikes Athena's aegis, and she fells him with a boundary stone so that "over seven roods he stretched in his fall"; Aphrodite tries to lead him off and is struck down too (Il. 21.391–433).
Demodocus's song in the Odyssey: Ares lay with Aphrodite "in the house of Hephaestus secretly"; Helios told the smith, who forged bonds "fine as spiders' webs" over the bed and caught them; the gods laughed that "the slow catches the swift", Poseidon stood surety for the adulterer's fine, and Ares went off to Thrace (Od. 8.266–366).
Dione recalls that Otus and Ephialtes, the sons of Aloeus, "bound him in cruel bonds, and in a brazen jar he lay bound for thirteen months", and would have perished had their stepmother Eeriboea not told Hermes, who "stole forth Ares" (Il. 5.385–391).
The Homeric Hymn to Ares is a different god from Homer's: "Saviour of cities", "ally of Themis", "leader of righteous men", asked to "restrain also the keen fury of my heart" and to give "boldness to abide within the harmless laws of peace"; it also makes him whirl a "fiery sphere among the planets" (HH8 1–17).
The Areopagus is his court: Ares killed Halirrhothius, son of Poseidon, for trying to violate his daughter Alcippe, and "impeached by Poseidon, Ares was tried in the Areopagus before the twelve gods, and was acquitted" (Apollod. 3.14.2). Pausanias: "the Hill of Ares, so named because Ares was the first to be tried here" (Paus. 1.28.5).
Questions answered
- Who are the parents of Ares?
- Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera: from Hera, Zeus's last wife, came "Hebe and Ares and Eileithyia" (Theog. 921–923; Apollod. 1.3.1). Zeus says the same when he heals him: "thou art mine offspring, and it was to me that thy mother bare thee" (Il. 5.895–896). source
- Who are the children of Ares and Aphrodite?
- With Aphrodite ("Cytherea") he fathered "the shield-piercer Panic and Fear, terrible gods who drive in disorder the close ranks of men in numbing war", and Harmonia, whom Cadmus married (Theog. 933–937). source
- Why does Zeus hate Ares?
- Wounded by Diomedes with Athena guiding the spear "against his nethermost belly", Ares "bellowed loud as nine thousand warriors or ten thousand", fled to Olympus and complained; Zeus answered, "Most hateful to me art thou of all gods that hold Olympus, for ever is strife dear to thee and wars and fightings", blaming Hera's spirit in him, yet had Paeeon heal him (Il. 5.855–906). source
- How did Hephaestus trap Ares and Aphrodite?
- Demodocus's song in the Odyssey: Ares lay with Aphrodite "in the house of Hephaestus secretly"; Helios told the smith, who forged bonds "fine as spiders' webs" over the bed and caught them; the gods laughed that "the slow catches the swift", Poseidon stood surety for the adulterer's fine, and Ares went off to Thrace (Od. 8.266–366). source
- Why is the Areopagus named after Ares?
- The Areopagus is his court: Ares killed Halirrhothius, son of Poseidon, for trying to violate his daughter Alcippe, and "impeached by Poseidon, Ares was tried in the Areopagus before the twelve gods, and was acquitted" (Apollod. 3.14.2). Pausanias: "the Hill of Ares, so named because Ares was the first to be tried here" (Paus. 1.28.5). source