Ares In Myth
Ares was the God of War, son of Zeus and Hera. He was tall and handsome but very vain and cruel. He prided himself on being ruthless. He loved the thrill and rage of war and didn't care who won or lost as long as much blood was shed. All the gods except for Aphrodite who was attracted to his good looks disliked him. Athena, his half sister disliked him more than the other gods because she did not approve of his senseless bloodshed. Even though he was immortal, he did feel pain and would often howl and run home to Olympus like a coward whenever he was wounded. His sacred bird was the vulture and the dog was wronged for being chosen as his animal.
The worship of Ares was said to have originated in Thrace but it was not extensive throughout Greece. Ares was the ancestral deity of Thebes and he had a temple in Athens at the foot of the Areopagus or Hill of Ares. He was honored on March 21 even though most Greeks because of their dislike of war did not favor him. His Roman counterpart was Mars and it seems that he was more liked by the Romans than he was by the Greeks.
