Ares
Ares is the god of war in ancient Greek religion, son of Zeus and Hera. He is documented from the oldest surviving sources — the Homeric poems and Hesiod's Theogony, around the 8th century BCE.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek sources, he is a notably minor and often disliked figure among the Olympians — in Homer's Iliad, Zeus himself tells Ares he is the god he hates most, and a well-known episode (in the Odyssey) has Ares humiliated, caught in an unbreakable net forged by Hephaestus after an affair with Aphrodite, in front of the other gods' laughter.
Interpretation — Greek Tradition (Homer and Hesiod)
Homer portrays Ares as a violent, impulsive god held in little regard even among the gods themselves — associated with the chaotic, brutal aspect of war, in contrast to Athena, who represented military strategy and just warfare. His unpopularity is made explicit in the Iliad, where Zeus declares that Ares is, of all the gods of Olympus, the one he hates most.
Interpretation — Roman Tradition (syncretism)
In Rome, by sharp contrast, Mars was one of the most important gods in the entire pantheon, second in importance only to Jupiter — father of Romulus and Remus (via the priestess Rhea Silvia) in Rome's own foundation myth, making him a direct mythological ancestor of the Roman people and a central figure in Roman state religion and identity, nothing like his diminished status in Greek religion.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Why was Ares held in such low regard among the Greek gods?
- In Greek sources, especially Homer, Ares is associated with the chaotic, brutal side of war, without the strategic prestige attributed to Athena; the Iliad even has Zeus say that Ares is the god he hates most among all the Olympians.
- Why did Mars have such a different status in Rome?
- Unlike the Greek Ares, Mars was the second most important god in the Roman pantheon, behind only Jupiter, and was considered the father of Romulus and Remus — Rome's legendary founders — making him central to Roman identity and state religion.
Sources
- Hesiod. Theogony (c. 700 BCE).
- Homer. The Iliad (c. 8th century BCE).
- Robert Graves. The Greek Myths (1955).
- Walter Burkert. Greek Religion (1985).