Hey everyone, Welcome to another installment of Mythology Explained. In today’s video,
we’re going to take a look at both Ares and Athena, both Olympians and children of
Zeus, to determine which of them is more powerful and, ultimately, which of them would defeat
the other.
We’re going to start things off with a quick overview of the capacity in which both Ares
and Athena function as gods of war; then we’re going to take a look at a few myths that Ares
features in; following that we’re going to examine how both gods factor into the three
great conflicts fought by the Olympians - the Titanomachy, the Gigantomachy, and Zeus’
battle against Typhon; next we’ll look at how Ares and Athena perform when they face
each other during the events of the Trojan war; we’re going to wrap the video up with
a quick summary of each god’s position, crowning a winner.
Let’s get into it.
Both Ares and Athena number among the 12 olympians, and though they are both gods of war, they
represent very different aspects of warfare. Ares embodied the brutal aspects of warfare
- the carnage, its bloodshed, unrestrained violence, the blood-curdling screams of the
dying, and the panic that gripped men’s hearts when the shadow of death fell on them.
Two of his children, Phobos, meaning fear, and Deimos, meaning dread, attended him, sharing
his chariot. By contrast, Athena was the incarnation of the more defensive and strategic elements
of warfare. Slaughter wasn’t under her purview. She’s a deity you would want to invoke when
planning how to repel an assault on your city or in deciding which tactics to employ to
outsmart and outmatch your enemy. Athena was also the goddess of wisdom and of crafts.
Ares was an aggressor, and he was emblematic of unprovoked, wanton violence; Athena was
more of a protector and personified necessary warfare, that of a last-resort nature.
With that quick comparison covered, Let’s dive into a few myths that star Ares but exclude
Athena. The reason for this is that all of the myths about Athena pertinent to this discussion
are also relevant to Ares, involving him in some manner, so we’re going to get the Ares-exclusives
out of the way first.
Ares is the most detested among the Olympians, by Zeus most of all. Saying so isn’t speculative
or the spouting of conjecture. Here’s a quote from the Iliad in which Zeus Harangues
Ares, spitting vitriol, and threatens to condemn him to the depths of Tartarus:
“No more, you lying, two-faced… No more sidling up to me, whining here before
me. You - I hate you most of all the Olympian
gods … If you had sprung from another god, believe
me, And grown into such a blinding devastation,
Long ago you’d have dropped below the Titans, Deep in the dark pit”
For Ares’ sake, I wish I could say that the extent of his’ woes was being viewed
as both a nuisance and an abject failure in the eyes of his father, Zeus, But this was
hardly the case. It’s as if each myth he plays a role in sees him defeated in some
fashion - tricked, incapacitated, injured, or all of the above.
There’s the myth where Hephaestus ensnares Ares and Aphrodite while they're in bed together.
Hephaestus accomplishes this by blanketing them in a chain-link net. Though unbreakable,
the design of the net is so fine that it appears invisible to the eye. The two lovers are hauled,
trapped and naked, to Mount Olympus where Hephaestus puts them on display, humiliating
them. Haphaestus does this because Aphrodite is his wife, so he takes his petty revenge
for being made a cuckold.
There’s the myth in which Ares is abducted by two giants, Ephialtes and Otus, and then
imprisoned in a brass cauldron for 13 months, left to wither away, bereft of both food and
drink.
And there’s the myth in which Hercules and Ares fight each other, which is precipitated
by Hercules killing one of Ares’ sons, Kyknos. Ares engages Hercules, but the exchange doesn’t
go as planned because Athena blesses Hercules so that he becomes impervious to harm. Hercules
sustains no damage, and he even manages to wound Ares.
I think it’s safe to say that Ares doesn’t exactly stroll through life: he more so stumbles
forward on an uneven road, catching his feet on cracks and taking plunging steps into potholes.
Who knows, maybe he had a better time during the three great conflicts fought by the Olympians
- the titanomachy, the gigantomachy, and Zeus’ battle against Typhon. Maybe his true value
really shines through as a god of war when legendary battles between gods were being
fought left and right, but sadly, this isn’t the case.
The only instance I’m aware of in which Ares makes an appearance in any of the great
conflicts is in one of the versions of the Zeus Vs Typhon battle. Per this version, all
of the gods - that is, all of the gods except for Zeus and Athena - transform into animals
and flee to Egypt when the monstrous Typhon comes forward to challenge Zeus. Not a great
look for the god of war, especially when considering that Athena, the goddess Ares is pitted against
in this discussion, was the only god besides Zeus to stand their ground and be a stalwart
presence.
Ares’ contributions during the three great conflicts are made all the more pathetic when
compared with those of Athena. In one battle, Athena is locked in combat with Enkelados,
a giant. Overmatched, the giant turns and flees, but he doesn't get far; for Athena
hurles the island of Sicily at him, entombing him in the ground. Another battle has Athena
defeat and then flay Pallas, working her vanquished foe's skin into a shield. There are two versions
of this because Pallas is the name of both a Titan and a Giant, so sometimes it is a
titan whom Athena defeats, others it is a second giant whom Athena Slays. In any case,
Athena either bests two giants or a titan and a giant, which is a sight more than the
zero giants and zero titans that Ares can boast about.
The Trojan war saw Athena and Ares become benefactors of different sides. Athena was
for the Greeks, and Ares was for the Trojans; and because the gods were not merely observers
- they actually played an active role in the war, sometimes even fighting on the front
lines - Ares and Athena inevitably found themselves face to face on more than one occasion.
The first instance has Athena empower Diomedes, a Greek hero. Together in the same chariot,
they race forward, charging directly to Ares’ position on the battlefield. Here’s a quote
from the Iliad that describes this scene:
“The two of them closing fast, charging face-to-face
And the god thrust first, over Tydides yoke and reins,
With bronze spear burning to take the fighter’s life.
But Athena, her eyes afire, grabbed the flying shaft,
Flicked it over the car and off it flew for nothing -
And after him Diomedes yelled his war cry, lunging out
With his own bronze spear and Pallas rammed it home,
Deep in Ares’ bowels where the belt cinched him tight.
There Diomedes aimed and stabbed, he gouged him down
His glistening flesh and wrenched the spear back out
And the brazen god of war let loose a shriek, roaring,
Thundering aloud as nine, ten thousand combat soldiers
Shriek with Ares’ fury when massive armies clash.”
The next instance in which Ares and Athena fight one another is much later in the story.
This time, there’s no mortal involved: it’s simply two gods engaged in combat. Here’s
a quote that gives an account of their battle:
With that he [Ares] stabbed at her [Athena] battle-shield of storm,
Its dark tassels flaring, packing tremendous force -
Not even Zeus’ lightning bolt can break its front.
Bloody Ares lunged at it now with giant lance And Athena backed away, her powerful hand
hefting A boulder off the plain, black, jagged, a
ton weight That men in the old days planted there to
mark off plowland - Pallas hurled that boundary-stone at Ares,
struck his neck, Loosed his limbs, and down he crashed and
out over seven acres Sprawled the enormous god and his mane dragged
in the dust, His armor clashed around him. Athena laughed
aloud, Glorying over him, winging insults: “ Colossal
fool - It never even occurred to you, not even now
When you matched your strength with mine, Just how much greater I claim to be than you!”
Let’s do a quick recap of each God’s position before we crown a winner.
Ares only fails. He’s duped and humiliated by Hephaestus; he’s wounded by two mortals
- albeit, while their powers are divinely augmented by Athena; he’s abducted, pretzeled,
and incarcerated inside a cauldron for over a year by two giants; he has little to no
role in any of the major conflicts that dictate the ruling hierarchy of the cosmos, despite
being the god of war; and - the nail in the coffin - he has his face smashed in by Athena
when she launches a boulder at him.
Athena, by comparison, only succeeds. She triumphs against many foes during the principal
conflicts that determine the power structure of the cosmos, either defeating two giants
or defeating a giant and a titan; of all the gods, she was the only one not to flee, standing
fast, when Typhon came to challenge Zeus for supremacy; there are two instances of her
bestowing a mortal with great power - hercules and Diomedes - so that Ares is wounded by
each; and she soundly defeats Ares when they engage each other in one on one combat during
the events of the Iliad.
At this point, proclaiming Athena as the more powerful of the two almost seems unnecessary,
like saying that water is wet, that fire is hot, or that the sun rises in the East and
sets in the West. Athena is more powerful in every respect, brains and brawn. She can
outsmart Ares; she can outfight Ares; and she can overcome Ares in virtually any combination
of circumstances imaginable. At best, Ares is a wretched, opportunistic coward by comparison
to her. But this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. After all, Athena was born
out the side of Zeus’ skull. An important detail for this comparison. The whole reason
Athena was born out the side of Zeus’ skull was because Zeus swallowed Metis, Athena’s
mother. This was done in an attempt to prevent Metis from having any children, for Zeus had
learned from Gaia that any children begot by him and Metis would be exceedingly powerful:
first a daughter, wise and strong, and then an indomitable son capable of supplanting
even Zeus. Given this prophecy, The fact that Athena became so powerful is actually quite
fitting: she’s merely living up to the potential that was foretold of her.
And that’s it for this video! Who did YOU guys think was more powerful? Which Gods should
we put against each other next? Comment down below