\paperw3990 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \cf7 The son of \b \cf15 \ATXht8 Zeus\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 and \b \cf15 \ATXht3 Hera\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , Ares belonged to the second genera
tion of Olympians and was numbered among the twelve main deities. He was the god of war, identified with the Italic Mars and represented wearing armor, a helmet and bearing a shield, spear, and sword. He usually fought alone, but sometimes on a chariot d
rawn by four fiery horses and accompanied by his sons Deimos (Fear) and\cf0 \b \cf15 \ATXht11623 Phobos\b0 \ATXht0 \cf7 (Fright); the sisters\b \cf0 \ATXht10512 \cf15 Eris\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 (Discord) and \b \cf15 \ATXht10505 Enyo\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 ,
a lover of massacres and destroyer of cities whom the Romans called Bellona, also fought alongside him.\par
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Ares never favored one side or another in battle and, as the whim took him, fought first against one and then against the other. For him i
t was sufficient to provoke slaughter and plunder, to see blood flow and hear the sound of clashing arms. For this reason and the contempt that he showed for the law, Ares was disliked by the other gods, including his parents. However, he was much apprec
iated by \b \cf15 \ATXht1 Hades\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , who was happy to receive those who fell in battle. \b \cf15 \ATXht2 Aphrodite\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 also nursed a strong passion for him that roused the ire of \cf0 \b \cf15 \ATXht7 Hephaestus\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 . The goddess of love bore him (in addition to the already mentioned Phobos and Deimos)\cf0 \b \cf15 \ATXht10802 Harmonia\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , (The Unifier),\b \cf0 \ATXht10513 \cf15 Eros\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 and Anteros (Love and Love returned, respecti
vely). The \b \cf15 \ATXht10124 Amazons\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 were also considered to be his offspring.\par
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The majority of the myths that feature Ares are tales of war or armed challenges and duels, but the god did not always emerge the victor.
\b \cf15 \ATXht10408 Diomedes\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , with the help of \b \cf15 \ATXht6 Athena\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , defeated him beneath the walls of\cf0 \b \cf15 \ATXht12019 Troy\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , and the gigantic\b \ATXht10121 \cf15 Aloadae\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 twins succeeded in capturing him and holding him prisoner for thirteen months in a bronze vessel, until \b \cf15 \ATXht12 Hermes\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 came to free him.\cf0 \b \cf15 \ATXht5 Poseidon \b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 even brought a suit against him for will
ful murder, though he was acquitted.\par
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The various myths reveal two aspects of Ares: on the one hand, he was seen as greedy for war and destruction and, on the other as the young athlete and lover of Aphrodite. This apparent duplicity can be tra
ced back to an original unity, if we remember that in the setting where the god's cult first developed, before moving from Asia Minor to the archaic and classical Greek world. Ares was probably conceived as the tutelary deity of female fertility. This m
ay be the source of the tradition of warlike rites sacred to the god, which were in reality ritual combats linked with initiation and fertility. When the cult of Ares reached the Greek world through Thrace, his characteristics underwent a change over the
course of time, until they assumed the apparently twofold connotations attributed to the god in the classical era.
