Ares

In classical sources Ares is presented as a second-generation Olympian: the son of Zeus and Hera. He appears throughout Greek mythic narrative (for example in episodes connected to the Trojan War and interpersonal tales among the Olympians) and as an object of cult practice. Ancient etymological commentary connects his name to Greek roots meaning 'bane, ruin, curse' and to an early abstract noun for 'throng of battle' (Mycenaean a-re is an early attestation); alternative scholarly proposals (e.g., Pre-Greek origin) are noted by modern linguists but are not settled in the primary source.

Classical iconography and literary description associate Ares with the accoutrements of war: a helmet, shield and sword or spear are his characteristic attributes in cult and representation. Libanius is recorded as making apples sacred to Ares. Beyond these martial attributes, the supplied material treats Ares as an anthropomorphic Olympian god without a single fixed portrait, emphasizing instead his role and attributes rather than a detailed universally agreed physical description.

Ares personifies the physical, violent aspect of warfare: classical sources attribute to him the valor necessary for martial success as well as sheer brutality and bloodlust. An association with Ares is said to lend places, objects, or other deities a savage or militarized quality. In myth he takes sides in human conflicts (notably in Trojan War material), engages in erotic liaisons (the affair with Aphrodite), and can be the subject of ridicule or humiliation among the Olympians (for example, the episode in which Hephaestus traps him). In some local cult contexts he functions as an oracular deity; in civic religion his power is sometimes ritually bound and detained to serve as protector.