Ares: God of War
... the myth, it is clear that the Olympians, including his parents, have an aversion to Ares because of his warlike nature. Although he was never officially married, Ares slept with many goddesses and nymphs and had a good deal of famous ancestors. Some of these include Romulus and Remis, the founders of Rome, and others claim Theseus, and Hippolytus are his decedents. One of the most famous myths involving Ares describes his affair with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty and husband of Hephaestus. Aphrodite was not happy with her marriage because Hephaestus was unattractive and lame. Because of her unhappiness, she had many lovers, but her favorite was Ares. Ares brought Aphrodite many gifts and the two often slept together when her husband departed. Ares put a boy named Alectryon by the door to guard them, but one night he fell asleep. Helios, god of the sun, spied the pair in Hephaestus’ bed, and reported the matter to Hephaestus. Hephaestus was outraged, so he constructed an unbreakable net to snare the lovers in his bed. Just as Ares and Aphrodite were embracing in his bed, the net was sprung and they were caught. Hephaestus invited the gods and goddesses to witness the humorous sight. The goddesses declined his invitation, but the gods all came and ridiculed the pair. His sons Deimos and Phobos are the result of this affair. Additionally, Ares turned Alectryon into a rooster, and he never forgot to announce the coming of the sun again. Ares also intervened in the Trojan War. He had originally promised Hera and Artemis that he would fight on side of the Greeks. Despite this promise, Ares changed sides later in the war and fought alongside of the Trojans. Diomedes and his Greek troops saw Ares and had to fall back because of the god’s power. Hera witnessed his interference and asked Zeus for permission to drive Ares from the battle. After getting permission, Hera encouraged Diomedes to attack her son. Consequently, he threw his spear at the god and Athena helped drive it into Ares’ shoulder. Ares cried out in pain and fled to Mt. Olympus, causing the Trojan troops to fall back. In addition, Ares had another child with a nymph named Aglaurus, whom they named Alcippe. Alcippe was raped by Halirrhotius, one of Poseidon’s sons. Ares was furious and quickly murdered Halirrhotius. Poseidon became very upset due to the murder of his son, and striped Ares of his powers. Ares was then the first god tried for murder before the twelve gods in the Areopagus, which is translated as “the Hill of Ares.” The gods took sympathy upon him, and acquitted him of the charges. He was then reinstated as a god and regained his powers. In another myth, Ares was kidnapped by the two giant brothers Otus and Ephialtes,...