Ares: The Origins and History of the Greek God of War

by Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures *Includes ancient myths and accounts of Ares and cults that worshiped him *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents Ares, the God of War and personification of all that is reactionary and violent, is remembered today as the hated, unshakeable, and infallible embodiment of the violence prevalent in war and society at large, but surviving evidence suggests that this may not have always been the case. To understand that, it’s necessary to remember that Greek mythology has been filtered and tempered by centuries of editors and zealots and fickle word of mouth. The stories that arrive in the beloved mythology books of today were not necessarily those read and told by the ancients. This is true not only thanks to later mythographers’ overeager shears, wielded in order to strip the ancient Greek myths of much of their “heathenism,” but also because over 2,000 years later, modern society is not privy to much of the cultural strata from which these stories emerged. This book was written in the hope of presenting the modern reader with as much of the latter as possible, so as to provide a more accurate representation of Ares than is found in most modern collections of ancient Greek mythology. Being the “living” representation of the act that killed family members every year is more than enough to attract a certain degree of ignominy, but it is very likely that negative feelings towards Ares were not as pervasive among the ancient Greeks as one might believe today. An important thing to bear in mind when thinking about the stories of Ares is that the thin vein of myth that has come down today most often comes directly from Athenian sources, which were unfavorable towards Ares because they were generally unfavorable towards anything considered un-Athenian. The historian Thucydides, while discussing the Peloponnesian War, which was fought between Athens and Sparta at the end of the 5th century BCE, said that any “future scholar” would no doubt believe that the great city of Sparta was culturally insignificant in comparison with her enemy, Athens. It is well known today that Ares was worshipped by the warlike Spartans, but since they created very few grandiose works of architecture or literature (compared to those that came out of Athens), Sparta’s views on Ares, and most other deities they worshipped, are paltry. Athenian culture, on the other hand, dominated the ancient world’s art and culture, and its influence was felt strongly in the beloved myths and histories of the epoch. For better or worse, then, Athens left subsequent generations their marginalized corpus of ideas on ancient Greek religion, and this can be seen in the paltry occurrences of Ares in modern books on Greek mythology today. That said, being a worshipper of Ares didn’t necessitate the bellicose nature of the Spartans, either. Although Athens left literary and archaeological evidence of their preferences for civic worship, many other poleis (Greek city-states) were loath to openly despise the god of war, despite his macabre associations. After all, war was a facet of yearly life, and Ares was one of the 12 gods of the highest Greek pantheon of deities who commanded worship according to a divine mandate. Ares’s appearances in myths today (his affair with Aphrodite being a strong favourite) seem to be cursed by repeated banality. There’s little of the “War God” in any of his stories other than the odd mention of how horrid he is. However, with a little effort, Ares and his influences can be found, even if only at the fringes of the stories, in the wider literary canon.

68 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 22, 2017

About the author

Charles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.

Reviews

[Cydney Daemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is going to seem like a long review for such a short book, but I have things to say.

(Warning: I swear a lot. If you have problems with that, I don't know what to tell you.)

First, I love Ares. He is my favorite Greek God. [Hades is a close 2nd. My favorite Goddesses are Selene, Hecate, and Nyx.] He gets so much hate and flack, and it pisses me off. Not exaggerating. I get really irritated whenever I read or watch media depictions of him as an evil heartless villain. Or as an enemy of the Amazons??? He was LITERALLY the father of the Amazons! He was proud of them and supported them! Where do you think they learned how to fight?! (Looking at you, Wonder Woman. Xena, I'll give you a pass for your portrayal of Ares because I had a major crush on your portrayal of Ares when I was younger, which is probably why I have such a thing for sassy bad boys dressed in black. [I also had a thing for Xena, but that's not what this is about.] Okay, moving on . . .)

I appreciate that this book highlighted some of the areas (lol. If you get why I'm laughing, you get props.) in which Ares was actually more heroic.

Considering the fact that he is literally the only Greek God from Mount Olympus who didn't force himself on women, it's absurd that so many things try to portray him as a hateful misogynistic bastard. When one of his daughters was assaulted by one of Poseidon's sons, Ares just straight up killed the evil fucker, and when put on trial for it he said the man received the sentence of a r**ist. That tells you what he thinks of people who do that sort of thing. (Sidenote but not unrelated: I have issues with the Ancient Romans' depiction of Ares as the god Mars.)

There were some things that were left out, certain myths and other information that would've greatly added to the argument for why Ares is not the evil bastard everything tries to portray him as. Also, there were other things that I didn't agree with. (i.e.: In reference to Cadmus, in some resources, Cadmus had no idea the dragon/serpent he slew had been Ares' guardian over the sacred waters, he voluntarily pledged his loyalty and servitude to Ares to make up for what he did, and to honor this, Ares approved of the marriage between Cadmus and Harmonia (Ares' daughter) and he even danced at their wedding (yes, Ares the God of War knows how to dance) thus disputing the idea proposed that Ares hated Cadmus. In an Orphic Hymn, Ares is described as magnanimous, which means generous in forgiving an insult or injury and free from petty resentfulness or vindictiveness; high-minded or noble; proceeding from or revealing generosity or nobility of mind, character, etc. This serves to argue that Ares could actually be forgiving and understanding, but he was ruthless when deserved.)

This also proves that I am a fucking nerd.

I started to type out more concerning the myths of Ares and literally everything about him, but this is already long enough for a book that was only 48 pages. Trust me, I can say a lot more. I could go on and on and on. I could write an entire thesis, but I don't have time for that at the moment and this is hardly the forum for that.

In short, I adore Ares, and one day I will write my own book about him. But for now, I'll bite my tongue and try to contain myself while advising people to reread the Ancient Greek myths with a more discerning eye. It might change some of your original notions.

P.S. I don't like Athena. AT ALL. (I also don't like Aphrodite. AT ALL.) She literally punished Medusa for being r***d by Poseidon in her temple and turned her into a Gorgon. And no, it was not to protect Medusa, as some people like to say. She aided Perseus in the slaying of Medusa and then later took Medusa's head from him to add to her shield until she decided to bury it. (Medusa deserved better. So does Ares.) Athena was not the feminist hero people try to make her out to be. She cared for glory and her ego. Ares cared for courage and bravery in the face of injustice (One of his companions in battle was often Justice, herself, though this often gets overlooked for some reason. Like I said, I could write a thesis.), and he didn't actively push people to worship him and generally didn't care if he was lauded and praised by anyone other than his children. (He was honestly the best father out of all the Greek Gods, but sure let's make him look like a dick.)

[I'm such a fucking nerd. Also, I clearly have issues.]

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A recent trip to Bulgaria (and yes, anticipation of the Wonder Woman movie) sparked an interest in Greek mythology. I've also been listening to Jordan Peterson's interpretations of Biblical narratives, which are interesting but limited by Peterson's dismissal of women. He seems to think we're all frail creatures who have a biological need for Fifty Shades of Grey/ Beauty and the Beast narratives, and argues that god is a male force of order in a chaotic world. Whoah now, poor man's M. Scott Peck. Ever hear of Athena? You know, that rational, strategic warrior foil to Ares' battlefield man tantrums?--Who also had boobs and bested Ares at every turn? Because, you know, he was the emotional one? 
This is a brief but informative look at a god who provides powerful and coherent metaphor for understanding school shootings and terrorist attacks. Don't point the finger at other religions, blame that whiney, assh#le in the helmet.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

In general, these CRE books about gods and mythology have been good. One starred this one because saying Achilles was frightened of Diomedes in the Trojan War is so far out there, I don't even know where to start with how wrong it is.

[AJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for anyone interested in learning more about Ares! Highlights some of the major myths about him, his interactions with other Olympians, as well who worshipped him and how. Very concise and easy to read writing style (which is VERY much appreciated) and contains a lot of information for how short it is. Finished in only 3 sittings. Really wish it had page numbers though.

[Donadee's Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love history and this is a quick way to refresh my memory of course this is only one persons view of the way things were. This also includes photos and additional research resources.