Long time ago, When the choices and blind actions of paris led to the trojan war, the
war goddess athena took the side of the greeks, while the war god ares rallied behind the
trojans.
The trojan war was not just a battle between the mortal men of troy and greece, it was
also a battle between the deathless gods, a rivalry between two war gods, a conflict
between the two natures of war, that of justice, against that
of bloodlust and lawlessness.
It all began when the nymph - thetis invited all the gods to her wedding, except eris goddess
of discord.
Furious at being ignored, eris threw a golden apple through the door, a gift to the fairest
one, so she said.
When a young man named paris was given the apple to choose who among hera, athena and
aphrodite, was the fairest, he could not come to a decision, for the three goddesses were
all lovely.
And so it turned to a game of bribery, hera offering him power, athena offering him wisdom,
and aphrodite offering him love.
Paris chose aphrodite as the fairest, who in turn gave him the love of helen of troy,
the beautiful wife of the spartan king Menelaus.
Paris would abduct helen, causing a rift between the kingdom of troy and the greeks.
And ares would stand with the insolent trojans, at the persuasion of aphrodite.
On the side of the trojans, ares led his five terrors onto the battlefield, phobos reprensenting
terror, deimos representing fear, eris representing hate, enyo representing destruction, and the
keres, representing cruel death.
While on the side of the greeks, athena fought beside diomedes, the king of anatolia, and
implemented her strategies through odysseus, the king of ithaca.
Once, Diomedes saw ares on the battlefied, covered in the blood of the slain, and fearing
he stood little chance against the god, he prayed to athena for assistance.
Athena urged him on against the bloodthirsty god, for she would be by his side to aid him
every step of the way.
And as promised when diomedes engaged ares in battle, the war goddess was right beside
him, invisible to any mortal eye.
Ares recognized diomedes, for it was him who wounded aphrodite, when she tried to save
her son - aeneas from death at his hands.
Mad with fury, the war god lunged forth to impale diomedes with his spear, eager to take
the life from him, but athena caught the spear in her hand, casting it away, so it stabbed
aimlessly.
she guided the hand of diomedes, as he drove his bronze spear into the belly of ares, piercing
him so deeply, that immortal blood poured out profusely, as he wrenched out the spear.
Ares was forced to his knees by the pain of his wound, and bellowed furiously as his strength
left him.
Taking him by the arm, athena dragged him away, back to olympus where zeus tended to
his wounds, rebuking him for his insatiable bloodlust.
ARES: ‘Father Zeus, are you not angry looking on these acts of violence?
It is your fault that we fight, since you brought forth this maniac daughter, who forever
favors unjust action.
Why do you do nothing to check this girl, since you begot this child of perdition.
See now, she has led diomedes, son of tydeus to lash out against the immortal gods.
First he stabbed Aphrodite, and now even me.
Were it not for my swift feet that got me out of the, I would long be lying there in
pain among the stark dead men, because of that spear.’
ZEUS: ‘Do not sit beside me and whine, you double-faced liar.
To me you are the most hateful of all the gods who hold Olympos.
wars and battles are forever dear to your heart, 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.
If you were born of some other god, if you were not my son, you would have been dropped
beneath the gods of the bright sky, in the depths of tartaros'.
As soon as ares healed however, he returned to the side of the trojans, just when the
greeks were about to break through the gates of troy.
Stirring up an elite group, he led aeneas and the trojans, to repel the greek forces,
led by neoptelemus.
Remembering his defeat at the hands of diomedes, he then rose up against athena.
ARES: Do you not remember how you set on Diomedes, Tydeus' son, to spear me, and yourself laying
hold of the pike, pushed it straight into me and tore my skin in its beauty.
Now I shall pay you back for all you have done to me.’
ATHENA: ‘You child; have you not thought even this time how much stronger I am than
you, when you match your fury against me.
You are paying atonement to your mother's furies.
She wishes you ill, because you abandoned the Akhaians, and have given your aid to the
insolent Trojans.’
With this, the two engaged in battle, ares with a long spear, cursing and stabbing viciously,
and athena with her ghastly aegis, evading and blocking his every attack.
Gaining the upper hand, athena struck ares a huge blow at the neck, and sent him crashing
to the ground.
when aphrodite appeared to get her lover out of harm's way, athena struck the delicate
goddess at the chest with her mighty fist, watching in amusement as she sprawled beside
ares on the ground.
Satisfied with her triumph, athena stood above the couple, taunting them ceaselessly.
She then advised odysseus and the greeks to build a large wooden horse, and hide inside
its belly till dusk, as part of their plan to capture the city of troy.
Aggreived by the death of his Amazonian daughter, Penthesilia and his son, Ascalaphus in the gruesome war, ares later returned to the battlefield, in one last attempt to stop the greeks and destroy the trojan horse,
but athena descended from the heavens once again and restrained him, up until the king
god zeus intervened, commanding all the gods to withdraw from the battle, and leave the
mortal men to their fate.
The Greeks emerged victorious in the war thereafter.
Ares and his trojan allies had been defeated by athena and the greek forces.