Tales of Ares

Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera and was considered to be the most unpopular of all the Olympians. He was loathed by both of his parents and equally disliked by his fellow gods, with the exception of Aphrodite, who for whatever reason found Ares to be quite desirable. Though he was the god of war, he was known to be a bit of a coward and would often be seen hastily retreating when the fighting became too intense. He was usually accompanied onto the battlefield by his sister Eris, the goddess of discord and her son Strife. His other companions were Enyo a war goddess, as well as Terror, Trembling and Panic, all of which were said to be braver than Ares himself.

Ares was prone to change sides often, and was never known to be loyal to one place or to a specific group of people. His worship was not wide spread across Greece, in fact there were no cities where he was celebrated as a patron god.

There were a few places outside of Greece known for Ares worship. Thrace, which the god hailed as his homeland and Scythia, where both men and animals were sacrificed in front of a sword used to represent the god.

The first homicide case ever to be tried in ancient Greece has a direct connection to Ares. It seems that the god accused Poseidon's son Halirrhothius of trying to rape his daughter Alcippe. An altercation took place and Halirrhothius lost his life. There were no witnesses to the incident except for Alcippe, who readily confirmed her father's story.

Ares was acquitted of the crime, and this was the first judgement ever pronounced in a murder trial. From that day forward, the Athenian hill where the court proceedings took place was called the Areopagus or Hill of Ares. It stills bears that name to this day.

Ares never married but he had many affairs and fathered a multitude of children with goddesses and mortals alike. His affair with Aphrodite produced three sons; Eros (love), Deimus (fear) and Phobus (panic), and also a daughter which they named Harmonia. You can learn more about Ares' relationship with Aphrodite by reading my page dedicated to her. The Amazons proclaimed to be the daughters of Ares and it is said that the famous belt of Queen Hippolyte was a gift from the god himself. It was also rumored that though Atalanta was very vocal about her distaste for men and proclaimed herself to be a virgin for life, also gave birth to one of Ares' children.

The dragon seems to be a recurring presence in the tales of Ares. When Jason traveled to Colchis to retrieve the golden fleece, he first had to face a ferocious winged serpent. It seems that the fleece was located in a grove sacred to Ares and the beast was placed there to keep watch over it.

To read more about the golden fleece please have a look at my page dedicated to Medea . Another tale where a dragon takes center stage is the story of Cadmus and Harmonia.

Cadmus and Harmonia

In very early times Ares had a cult center at Dirce. Here a prized dragon belonging to the god watched over a spring that was sacred to him. It came to be that Cadmus, the young son of Agenor, was sent to find his missing sister Europa . Not knowing how he should approach the situation, Cadmus stopped to consult the oracle at Delphi. The priestess advised him to abandon his search and instead focus on founding a city of his own. As Cadmus listened he was told that a cow would rest upon the place where he should begin building. As he left Delphi, a beautiful heifer with the shape of the full moon etched on both of her sides appeared before him.

She traveled on for a while before laying down to refresh herself. Because he wanted to sacrifice the animal to Athena, Cadmus sent his men to the spring of Dirce to retrieve some water for the rite.

To their surprise they were greeted by Ares' dragon, who promptly made the visitors his afternoon meal. Cadmus rushed to the spring and slew the beast, but it was too late. All of his companions were gone.

Knowing he could not build the city on his own he prayed to Athena, who instructed him to sew the teeth of the dragon into the earth. In a few moments an army of armed men sprang forth from the ground. These were known as The Sparti or the Sown-Men because they were born directly from the earth herself. Cadmus then took a stone and threw it into the center of the crowd, causing all the men to turn upon each other.

They fought ferociously until there were only five men left standing. Together with his new helpers Cadmus went on the build the very prosperous city of Thebes. As a punishment for killing Ares' dragon, Cadmus was placed in the service of the god for eight years.

At the end of his sentence Athena proudly crowned Cadmus the king of Thebes. As a reward, Zeus presented him with Ares' daughter Harmonia as his bride. It was a splendid affair, with all the gods in attendence.

Apollo and the Muses provided the music and wonderful presents were given, among them being The Necklace of Harmonia . But in spite of all the merriment, Ares spent the night sulking bitterly in a corner, never being able to forgive Cadmus for slaying his beloved dragon.

In the beginning the gods looked favorably on the couple and they were blessed with five children. But the Olympians were a fickle bunch, and it was not long before misfortune made its way into the house of Cadmus. His daughter Semele met a tragic end after becoming pregnant with Zeus' child Dionysus.

Ino went on to become the wicked step mother to the children Phrixus and Helle. While being in a Dionysian frenzy, Agave took the life of her son Pentheus , and Autonoe lost her son Actaeon to the arrows of Artemis . His only son Polydorus ruled Thebes for a short time before dying of unknown causes.

After the death of Pentheus, Cadmus and Harmonia, who were quite up in age fled Thebes and traveled onto Illyria. There they took part in helping a tribe called the Encheleans fight off masses of intruders. When the Encheleans began plundering the temples of Apollo, they were quickly routed, but Ares stepped in and rescued Cadmus and Harmonia. He then changed the couple into a pair of snakes before placing them to live happily in the Elysian Fields. It is a mystery as to why Ares had a change of heart. Though one can view this transformation as a punishment it is important to remember that in the ancient world the snake was looked upon as a benevolent creature.

It was also a common belief that before returning to the world of the living, a dead hero often first assumed the shape of a serpent. This is another indication that the physical changes of Cadmus and Harmonia were truly honorable.

Medea's Lair Of Greek Mythology © 1999-2009.