Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video, we’re going to discuss Ares,
the Greek god of War, known as Mars to the Romans. He was Zeus’ least favorite child - Zeus basically
despising him, based on certain stories. This is expressed by Zeus in no uncertain terms
in the Iliad after Ares’ guts were impaled by the spear thrust of a mortal man - albeit one
whose strength was preternaturally augmented by Athena at the time. The passage reads:
"Then looking at him darkly Zeus who gathers the clouds spoke to him:
‘Do not sit beside me and whine, you double-faced liar.
To me you are the most hateful of all gods who hold Olympus.
Forever quarreling is dear to your heart, wars and battles.
And yet I will not long endure to see you in pain, since
you are my child, and it was to me that your mother bore you.
But were you born of some other god and proved so ruinous
long since you would have been dropped beneath the gods of the bright sky.’"
Alright, let’s get into it. Most of Zeus’ children were
of the extramarital variety, meaning they were conceived out of wedlock, which is to
say that Zeus was an incorrigible philanderer; siring more illegitimate children than a city’s
worth of brothels, defiling the sanctity of his marriage at every turn. But admittedly,
it has to be conceded that, despite his many, many offenses, he did have some legitimate
children that came from his marriage to Hera. Together they had Ares, the god of war, Hebe,
the goddess of youth, described as being a sort of handmaiden to the other Olympians,
serving ambrosia at divine feasts, and Hephaestus, the god of the forge and volcanic fire,
though in some versions he was independently produced by Hera, who made him as a sort of
reproductive rebuttal to Zeus birthing Athena out the side of his skull – a scorn-fueled ‘well,
if you can do it so can I’ situation. Usually portrayed armor-clad and primed
for battle, with sword, spear, and shield at the ready, Ares was one of the 12 Olympians
and the Greek god of war. But perhaps saying that he was a, not the, Greek god of war would be more
accurate, for certain aspects of warfare were more closely associated with other gods. For example,
its defensive and strategic aspects fell beneath Athena’s purview. But nonetheless,
Ares is likely the first name that comes to mind when the phrase ‘Greek god of war’ is heard.
Ares was associated with the brutality of war. He was the patron of aggressors
and instigators. Invaders and conquerors were among those he favored. Slaughter,
bloodlust, fear and panic, the screams of the dying - so many death rattles that
permeated the ranks of embattled armies: this carnage-filled cacophony was his symphony. And
the routing of armies and the sacking of cities were the crescendos he conducted.
Two of Ares’ children, Phobos, meaning Fear, and Deimos, meaning Dread, were always in his train,
constantly attending him. As sons of Aphrodite, they embodied more than just fear and dread over
the prospect of losing life and limb; they also embodied fear of loss pertaining to the
irrevocable severing of connections between people, whether friend, family, or lover.
Ares and Aphrodite had other children together, too. They had Harmonia (Harmony), Anteros,
(Requited Love), and in some versions, Eros (Sexual Desire), though the oldest version has
Eros as one of the first primordial deities to come into existence in the Greek creation myth.
Ares fathered many children with many partners, but his most famous relationship
was the scandalous one he shared with the goddess Aphrodite, for she was the wife of Hephaestus,
making the smith god a cuckold by the loins of his own brother. However,
Hephaestus did exact revenge against them: using all of his skill and subtlety as a smith,
he wrought an indestructible chain link net, so fine that it was virtually imperceptible to the
eye. He came upon the lustful pair mid-passion while they were entangled in bed. Springing his
ambush into action, he ensnared them in a trap they couldn’t escape from,
for they could neither see nor break the net cast over them. He then beckoned the rest of Olympus,
putting the chagrined pair on display in humiliating fashion. He eventually
relented, but not before they were exhibited for all the gods to see.
Ares fought against the Greeks during the Trojan war. This was because his lover, Aphrodite,
supported the Trojans, her allegiance won by Paris, a prince of Troy. Earlier,
Paris was chosen as the arbiter to judge who among Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena was the most
beautiful. The reason for this was that all three of them claimed a golden apple inscribed with the
words, “for the fairest”. It was thought that the one judged the most beautiful was the rightful
recipient. Each goddess endeavored to entice Paris in her own way, but it was Aphrodite’s
offer he found most appealing. She offered him the most beautiful woman in the world,
an offer he couldn’t refuse. In choosing Aphrodite, Paris set in motion events of
such magnitude that, if he had any inkling of what was coming, they surely would have been beyond his
wildest imaginings. Even if the veil of time was drawn back and the future revealed to him,
he scarcely would have believed what he saw. The most beautiful woman in the world was Helen,
the wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta. Paris claiming her started the Trojan War. And as
for his judgment, the repercussions of which he probably didn’t think much about at the time,
he made a very powerful ally and two very powerful enemies. He won the support of the
goddess of love that day, but the cost was more than could be borne, for it wouldn’t be
long before Hera and Athena Sided with the Greeks and sent their divine might against Troy itself.
So Ares, impelled by his loyalty to Aphrodite, sided with the Trojans to repulse the Greeks.
But the Iliad doesn’t paint a very flattering portrait of him. It features Zeus unleashing a
diatribe of vitriol at him, in which he says that Ares is a “double-faced liar”
and “the most hateful of the gods”. And it features two instances in which Athena
dominates him on the battlefield. The first has Athena ride with Diomedes in his chariot,
allowing the Greek hero to bury his spear’s tip in Ares’ bowels. The second has Athena and Ares
square off against each other in single combat. Athena dodges Ares’ attack, then responds by
picking up a boulder off the ground and hurling it at her brother. She scores a direct hit,
smashing Ares in the head. He crumples to the ground in a heap of limbs and armor.
And, I suppose, since Ares’ reputation is being tarnished by us bringing up his unflattering
moments in the Iliad, we might as well kick him while he’s down, and wrap this video up with a
brief summary of his abduction and imprisonment as a child. When Ares was but a fledgling,
still a boy, he was kidnapped by the Aloads, Otus and Ephialtes, a pair of giant demi-god
twins. Without food or drink, they kept him in a bronze jar for months, 13 months to be precise.
It was said that, were it not for Hermes rescuing him, that he would have withered away and died,
isolated and emaciated. Likely this was poetic exaggeration, emphasizing the dire nature of the
situation, for Greek gods were immortal, meaning that, by definition, they were beyond death.
And that’s it for this video! If you enjoy the content please
LIKE the video and SUBSCRIBE to the channel. Thanks for watching!