Ares.
The fury of battle
Ares: Greek God of Waris the heat of battle made immortal: fierce, impulsive, and a reminder that even gods can be wounded.
More than a myth.
is the son of and . Where often embodies calculated strategy, Ares is closely associated with the danger, force, and tumult of combat. The distinction is a useful way to read many stories, though the gods’ powers are never perfectly exclusive.
His union with produces Phobos and Deimos, Fear and Terror, as well as Harmonia in ’s . The combination is striking: warfare and desire give rise both to panic and to harmony. Epic can make suffer humiliations, but hymnic poetry can also invoke him as a source of strength and self-command.
There’s more to the myth.
Lesser-known moments, places of worship, and stories that change with the storyteller. Follow each reference to the ancient voices behind it.
Asking War for peace
The hymn to asks for courage but also for restraint: the speaker wants the strength to resist destructive anger and live within peaceful laws. Addressing the war god this way separates courage from uncontrolled aggression. It offers a different voice from the terrifying battlefield portraits familiar from epic.
READ THE SOURCEHomeric Hymn 8 to AresThirteen months in bronze
The recalls the giants Otus and Ephialtes imprisoning in a bronze vessel for thirteen months. Their stepmother alerts , who rescues the exhausted god. The episode makes the embodiment of martial force dependent on an informant and a clever rescuer: sheer strength cannot undo every kind of captivity.
READ THE SOURCEHomer, Iliad 5.385 onwardGrief for Ascalaphus
When learns that his son Ascalaphus has died at , he prepares to return to battle despite ’s command. stops and reasons with him. For a moment, the god’s relationship to war is parental grief, and the losses suffered below threaten the order maintained among the immortals above.
READ THE SOURCEHomer, Iliad 15.110 onwardOne figure. Many visions.
Ares, reimagined in 12 art styles. Follow familiar symbols through unfamiliar worlds, and open any artwork for a closer look.
Ares
Echoes in Plaster
Ares
Dreams of the Cosmos
Ares
The Floating World
Ares
Ink & Thunder
Ares
The Gilded Garden
Ares
Small Worlds, Great Myths
Ares
A Cathedral of Light
Ares
Blueprints of Myth
Ares
Threads of Eternity
Ares
Greek Myth, in Print
Ares
Little Figures, Big Legends
Ares
Beyond the Oracle
New AI-created interpretations, inspired by mythology. These are not images of ancient artifacts.
It’s a family affair.
The stories of Ares.
Ancient voices.
Enduring stories.
Myths have many tellings. These are the ancient works behind this profile, linked to freely available English translations.
Theogony
Lines 921–923, 933–937
Hymn to Ares
Hymn 8
Explore the collected passages
Ancient testimonies, alternative versions and depictions, gathered by Theoi.