Ares vs Mars
Are Ares and Mars the same god? In myth, yes — Ovid's Mars is caught in Vulcan's net with Venus exactly as Homer's Ares is caught by Hephaestus. In standing, no — Zeus calls Ares "most hateful to me of all gods", while Mars is the father of Romulus, has his own priests, the Salii, and the Gates of War that Rome opens in his name.
Why this wins its question: Puts the Homeric net and the Ovidian net side by side to show the identity, then puts Zeus's "most hateful" beside Livy's founder-father to show why "Mars is the Roman Ares" is only half true.
Key takeaways
- Same god in the story everyone knows — Vulcan's net is Hephaestus's net, line for line (Od. 8.266–366; Met. 4.167–189).
- Different god in standing — Zeus loathes Ares (Il. 5.888–898); Mars fathers Romulus and gets him into heaven (Livy 1.4.2; Met. 14.772–828).
- The Salii, Gradivus and the Gates of War belong to Mars alone (Livy 1.20.4; Aen. 7.601–622).
Claims
Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.
The parentage is shared: Hesiod makes Ares a son of Zeus and Hera (Theog. 921–923), Apollodorus agrees (Apollod. 1.3.1), and Ovid's Pentheus calls the Thebans "Sons of Mars" while Ovid's Mars addresses Jupiter as "the father of gods and men" whose grandson Romulus is (Met. 3.509–579; Met. 14.772–828).
The chief myth is the same in both languages: in the Odyssey Hephaestus forges bonds "fine as spiders' webs", traps Ares and Aphrodite in bed, and calls the gods to laugh (Od. 8.266–366); in Ovid the Sun reports "the loves of Mars and Venus" to Vulcan, who files "nets invisible, filmy of mesh and airy as the thread of insect-web" and opens the doors to the gods' laughter (Met. 4.167–189).
The esteem is not shared: Homer's Zeus tells the wounded Ares "Most hateful to me art thou of all gods that hold Olympus, for ever is strife dear to thee" (Il. 5.888–898), and the Hymn to Ares prays to be kept from "the ways of blood-curdling strife" (HH8 10–17); Ovid's Mars claims and receives from Jupiter the deification of his son Romulus as Quirinus (Met. 14.772–828).
Mars is the father of Rome's founder, a Roman claim with no Greek parallel: Livy says the violated Vestal "named Mars as their father, either because she really believed it, or because the fault might appear less heinous if a deity were the cause" (Livy 1.4.2), and accepts that Rome "represent[s] Mars as her own and her founder's father" (Livy 1.0.7–8); Virgil's Jupiter foretells "a priestess queen, by Mars conceiving" (Aen. 1.254–296).
The cult is Roman: Numa appointed a Flamen for Mars and "twelve Salii for Mars Gradivus" with the twelve shields called Ancilia, singing and dancing in procession through the City (Livy 1.20.2–4); Virgil describes the "Twin Gates of War … to Mars' fierce godhead vowed", opened by the consul when the senate votes war, "which wide-ruling Rome keeps to this day" (Aen. 7.601–622).
Ares vs Mars
Where they are the same: the net
Nobody doubts the equation when reading the story of the adultery. Homer's Hephaestus, told by Helius that Ares and Aphrodite are lovers, forges "bonds which might not be broken or loosed", spreads them about the bed "fine as spiders' webs", pretends to leave for Lemnos, and returns to call "Father Zeus, and ye other blessed gods" to look at "a laughable matter and a monstrous" (Od. 8.266–366). Ovid's Vulcan, told by the Sun of "the loves of Mars and Venus", files "nets invisible, filmy of mesh and airy as the thread of insect-web", and "opened wide the folding ivory doors and called the Gods, to witness" (Met. 4.167–189). The Latin poet is translating; even the joke that the lighter gods wished themselves in the same disgrace is Homer's.
The parentage travels too: Ares is Hera's son by Zeus in Hesiod (Theog. 921–923) and Apollodorus (Apollod. 1.3.1), and Ovid's Mars speaks to Jupiter as a son to "the father of gods and men" (Met. 14.772–828).
Where they differ: the founder and the Gates
Homer's Zeus, when Ares comes whining from the battlefield, tells him: "Most hateful to me art thou of all gods that hold Olympus, for ever is strife dear to thee and wars and fightings" (Il. 5.888–898). The Homeric Hymn to Ares asks the god for the strength to avoid "the ways of blood-curdling strife" (HH8 10–17). Ares is honoured for what he can withhold.
Mars is honoured for what he gives: Rome. Livy opens his history by conceding that Rome "represent[s] Mars as her own and her founder's father" (Livy 1.0.7–8), and tells how the Vestal Rea Silvia "named Mars as their father" of the twins (Livy 1.4.2); Virgil's Jupiter prophesies "a priestess queen, by Mars conceiving" (Aen. 1.254–296). Ovid then has Mars claim Jupiter's promise and carry Romulus to heaven as Quirinus (Met. 14.772–828). No Greek text makes Ares the father of a city.
The cult is Roman through and through. Numa gave Mars a Flamen and "twelve Salii for Mars Gradivus", who marched through the City with the twelve Ancilia "singing hymns accompanied by a solemn dance in triple time" (Livy 1.20.2–4). Virgil describes the "Twin Gates of War … to Mars' fierce godhead vowed", shut with a hundred brass bars and opened by the consul when the senate votes war — a custom "wide-ruling Rome keeps to this day" (Aen. 7.601–622).
Criteria
| Criterion | Ares | Mars |
|---|---|---|
| Parentage | Zeus and Hera (Theog. 921–923; Apollod. 1.3.1) | Son of Jupiter (Met. 14.772–828) |
| Sphere | War, "strife … dear to thee" (Il. 5.888–898); "father of warlike Victory" (HH8 1–4) | War; "the might of Mars" that Rome stirs (Aen. 7.601–622) |
| Chief myth (Greek) | Caught with Aphrodite in Hephaestus's bonds (Od. 8.266–366) | — |
| Same myth (Latin) | — | Caught with Venus in Vulcan's nets (Met. 4.167–189) |
| Roman-only cult or title | — | Father of Romulus (Livy 1.4.2); Gradivus and the Salii (Livy 1.20.4); Gates of War (Aen. 7.601–622) |
| Where the names differ | "Sacker of towns" (Theog. 936) — feared | "Mars … her founder's father" (Livy 1.0.8) — claimed |
The rule of thumb
In the bedroom of Vulcan, Mars is Ares. In the Forum, at the Gates of War, and in the genealogy of Romulus, he is a god the Greeks never had.