Ares (Άρης) is the god of War in Greek mythology. He is the son of Zeus and Hera. Homer portrayed him as a terrible, murderous barbarian who was disliked by his parents and all others; in contrast with the wise, reasonable war goddess, Athena.
Curiously, Homer's version of the character was considered a coward, shown in the Iliad screaming and retreating to Mount Olympus whenever he was wounded. He was born in Thrace, the home of a people just as warlike as he was. His bird has been identified as the vulture. His attendants included his sister Eris (discord), a battle goddess named Enyo, and his sons Deimos and Phobos.
Aphrodite, the enchanting goddess of beauty and love, was married to the ugly, deformed god of fire, Hephaestus, Ares Brother. Ares and Aphrodite fell in love and had an affair. Hephaestus discovered his wife's infidelity had trapped the two lovers in an invisible net. There, he held them captive for all the other Olympians to see until Poseidon intervened.
Naming of the Areopagus
On a hill on the Athenian Acropolis, Ares was put on trial by the Olympians for the very first murder case. Ares had killed Halirrhothius, a son of Poseidon, for raping (or attempting to) a daughter of his, Alcippe. The goddesses (Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena and Artemis) voted for his innocence, whereas the gods (Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, Apollo and Dionysus) declared him guilty. Ares was thus acquitted. The hill later came to be known as the Areopagus (Rock of Ares) and functioned as the site of a Court of Appeal in ancient Athens. Another mythological case tried their was the murder of Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus by Orestes, who was acquitted after the intervention of Athena and Apollo.
Ares was affiliated with the Amazons, a tribe of warrior women. Two of its queens; Hippolyta (whose famous girdle was retrieved by Heracles) and her sister Penthesilea (who fought and died at Troy) were his daughters. Their mother was Otrera, another Amazon queen and daughter of Eurus.
Ares was called Mars in Roman mythology. Mars, in contrast to Ares, was said to have been the most revered Roman god. He was particularly important there because his sons by Rhea Silvia, Romulus and Remus, were the founders of the city of Rome, making Mars the city's patriarch. He was also associated with agriculture and his sacred month, the beginning of spring, is now called March after him.
Ares appears in the ongoing comic series God is Dead, published by Avatar Press.
Ares is a recurring character, an anti-hero and former Avenger in the Marvel Universe of comics. He was killed by The Sentry.
Immortal's version of Ares appears in the 100-pages graphic novel Immortals: Gods and Heroes. In the comic, he tricks the titan Cyclopes into crafting the Epirus' bow, item which later plays a major role on the 2011 film.
Films
Ares makes an appearance in the 2011's epic film Immortals . He aids Theseus and Stravos against minions of Hyperion. Zeus punishes Ares by killing him, as Zeus had declared previously that gods should not interfere in human's confrontations.[1]
Ares appears as the second main antagonist in Wrath of the Titans (2012). In Wrath of the Titans, Ares teams up with Hades in a scheme to siphon Zeus' godly energies and empower Kronos. Perseus travels to Tartarus to save his father, Zeus, but Ares battles him and the other argive soldiers. Ares kills Hephaestus, Korrina and other argive soldiers, but Perseus, Andromeda and Agenor escape his grasp. Perseus frees Zeus, but still needs the Zeus' thunderbolt to complete the Spear of Triam. Perseus knows Ares has the thunderbolt and so bets him to a duel to prove who is better. Perseus wins the battle by impaling Ares with Zeus' thunderbolt, Ares subsequently turns into dust and vanishes.
Ares appears in the God of War video game series. He dies by been impaled by his demi-god brother Kratos. After his death, Kratos became the new god of war, and Ares' soul was confined to a small chamber in Kratos' throne room, to be forever tormented by an unknown force.[3]
Ares as he appears in Injustice.
Ares appears in the DC comics-based fighting game Injustice: gods among us as a playable character.
