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Goddess of love and beauty
Relationship to Zeus: the daughter of Zeus
3 Adjectives beautiful accomplished and heavenly
Symbol Venus, dove

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aphrodite-Greek-mythology

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Aphrodite, ancient Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty, identified with Venus by the Romans. The Greek word aphros means "foam," and Hesiod relates in his Theogony that Aphrodite was born from the white foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus (Heaven), after his son Cronus threw them into the sea. Aphrodite was, in fact, widely worshipped as a goddess of the sea and of seafaring; she was also honoured as a goddess of war, especially at Sparta, Thebes, Cyprus, and other places. However, she was known primarily as a goddess of love and fertility and even occasionally presided over marriage. Although prostitutes considered Aphrodite their patron, her public cult was generally solemn and even austere.

Some scholars believe Aphrodite's worship came to Greece from the East; many of her attributes recall the ancient Middle Eastern goddesses Ishtar and Astarte. Although Homer called her "Cyprian" after the island chiefly famed for her worship, she was already Hellenized by the time of Homer, and, according to Homer, she was the daughter of Zeus and Dione, his consort at Dodona. In Book VIII of the Odyssey, Aphrodite was mismatched with Hephaestus, the lame smith god, and she consequently spent her time philandering with the handsome god of war, Ares (by whom she became the mother of Harmonia, the warrior twins Phobos and Deimos, and Eros, the god of love).

Of Aphrodite's mortal lovers, the most important were the Trojan shepherd Anchises, by whom she became the mother of Aeneas, and the handsome youth Adonis (in origin a Semitic nature deity and the consort of Ishtar-Astarte), who was killed by a boar while hunting and was lamented by women at the festival of Adonia. The cult of Adonis had underworld features, and Aphrodite was also connected with the dead at Delphi.

Aphrodite's main centres of worship were at Paphos and Amathus on Cyprus and on the island of Cythera, a Minoan colony, where in prehistoric times her cult probably originated. On the Greek mainland, Corinth was the chief centre of her worship. Her close association with Eros, the Graces (Charites), and the Horae (Seasons) emphasized her role as a promoter of fertility. She was honoured by the Roman poet Lucretius as Genetrix, the creative element in the world. Her epithets Urania (Heavenly Dweller) and Pandemos (Of All the People) were ironically taken by the philosopher Plato (in the Symposium) to refer to intellectual and common love; rather, the title Urania was honorific and applied to certain Asian deities, while Pandemos referred to her standing within the city-state. Among her symbols were the dove, pomegranate, swan, and myrtle.

Representations of Aphrodite in early Greek art are fully dressed and without distinguishing features that differentiate her from other goddesses. She first attained individuality at the hands of the great 5th-century-bce Greek sculptors. Perhaps the most famous of all statues of Aphrodite was carved by Praxiteles for the Cnidians. The first full-scale female nude, it later became the model for such Hellenistic masterpieces as the Venus de Milo (2nd century bce).

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Aphrodite, ancient Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty, identified with Venus by the Romans. The Greek word aphros means "foam," and Hesiod relates in his Theogony that Aphrodite was born from the white foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus (Heaven), after his son Cronus threw them into the sea.

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Apollo | Facts, Symbols, Powers, & Myths

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God of sun and light
Relationship to Zeus: son of Zeus
3 Adjectives healing, serene, calm
Symbol a bow and a lyre.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Apollo-Greek-mythology

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Apollo, byname Phoebus, in Greco- Roman mythology, a deity of manifold function and meaning, one of the most widely revered and influential of all the ancient Greek and Roman gods. Though his original nature is obscure, from the time of Homer onward he was the god of divine distance, who sent or threatened from afar; the god who made men aware of their own guilt and purified them of it; who presided over religious law and the constitutions of cities; and who communicated with mortals through prophets and oracles his knowledge of the future and the will of his father, Zeus (Roman: Jupiter). Even the gods feared him, and only his father and his mother, Leto (Roman: Latona), could easily endure his presence. He was also a god of crops and herds, primarily as a divine bulwark against wild animals and disease, as his Greek epithet Alexikakos (Averter of Evil) indicates. His forename Phoebus means "bright" or "pure," and the view became current that he was connected with the Sun. See Helios.

Among Apollo's other Greek epithets was Nomios (Herdsman), and he is said to have served King Admetus of Pherae in the lowly capacities of groom and herdsman as penance for slaying Zeus's armourers, the Cyclopes. He was also called Lyceius, presumably because he protected the flocks from wolves ( lykoi); because herdsmen and shepherds beguiled the hours with music, scholars have argued that this was Apollo's original role. In art Apollo was represented as a beardless youth, either naked or robed. Distance, death, terror, and awe were summed up in his symbolic bow. A gentler side of his nature, however, was shown in his other attribute, the lyre, which proclaimed the joy of communion with Olympus (the home of the gods) through music, poetry, and dance.

Though Apollo was the most Hellenic of all gods, he derived mostly from a type of god that originated in Anatolia and spread to Egypt by way of Syria and Palestine. Traditionally, Apollo and his twin, Artemis (Roman: Diana), were born on the isle of Delos. From there Apollo went to Pytho ( Delphi), where he slew Python, the dragon that guarded the area. He established his oracle by taking on the guise of a dolphin, leaping aboard a Cretan ship, and forcing the crew to serve him. Thus, Pytho was renamed Delphi after the dolphin ( delphis), and the Cretan cult of Apollo Delphinius superseded that previously established there by Earth ( Gaea). During the Archaic period (8th to 6th century bce), the fame of the Delphic oracle spread as far as Lydia in Anatolia and achieved Panhellenic status. The god's medium was the Pythia, a local woman over 50 years old who, under his inspiration, delivered oracles in the main temple of Apollo. The oracles were subsequently interpreted and versified by priests. Other oracles of Apollo existed on the Greek mainland, on Delos, and in Anatolia, but none rivalled Delphi in importance.

Of the Greek festivals in honour of Apollo, the most curious was the octennial Delphic Stepterion, in which a boy reenacted the slaying of the Python and was temporarily banished to the Vale of Tempe.

Although Apollo had many love affairs, they were mostly unfortunate: Daphne, in her efforts to escape him, was changed into a laurel, his sacred shrub; Coronis (mother of Asclepius) was shot by Apollo's twin, Artemis, when Coronis proved unfaithful; and Cassandra (daughter of King Priam of Troy) rejected his advances and was punished by being made to utter true prophecies that no one believed.

In Italy Apollo was introduced at an early date and was primarily concerned, as in Greece, with healing and prophecy; he was highly revered by the emperor Augustus because the Battle of Actium (31 bce) was fought near one of his temples.

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Apollo | Facts, Symbols, Powers, & Myths

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Apollo, byname Phoebus, in Greco-Roman mythology, a deity of manifold function and meaning, one of the most widely revered and influential of all the ancient Greek and Roman gods.

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God of war
Relationship to Zeus: first child
3 Adjectives Magnanimous, unconquered, boisterous
Symbol boar, dog, wolf, spear, sword, and vulture.

https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/AresGod.html

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Greek Gods >> Olympian Gods >> Ares >> Ares God of

Statue of Ares-Mars, Greco-Roman fresco from Pompeii C1st A.D., Naples National Archaeological Museum

ARES was the Olympian god of war, battlelust and manliness.

This page describes the god's various divine roles including war and battle, civil order and rebellion, violence and rage, courage and fear, and his identification with foreign gods.

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

GOD OF WAR & BATTLE

Ares was the god of war who presided over battlefields and armies. He was also in a sense the god of peace, in that if placated, he would keep away war.

I. GOD OF WAR & BATTLES

Ares was the god of the works of warfare - he presided over troop formation, the driving forward and rallying of troops, and the struggle of battle.

Homer, Iliad 5. 27 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"Ares, manslaughtering ( brotoloigos), blood-stained ( miaiphonos), stormer of strong walls ( teikhesipletes)."

Homer, Iliad 5. 427 ff :
"[Zeus addresses Aphrodite :] 'No my child, not for you are the works of warfare . . . this shall be left to Athene and sudden Ares.'"

Homer, Iliad 5. 699 ff :
"[Zeus addresses Ares :] 'To me you are the most hateful of all the gods who hold Olympos. Forever quarrelling is dear to your heart, wars and battles.'"

Homer, Iliad 13. 127 ff :
"The Akhaians battalions formed in strength about the two Aiantes, battalions Ares could not find fault with, coming among them, nor Athene lady of storming armies."

Homer, Iliad 20. 358 ff :
"Not Ares, who is a god immortal, not even Athene could take the edge of such masses of men and fight a way through them."

Homeric Hymn 8 to Ares (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic B.C.) :
"Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of cities, harnessed in bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear."

Aeschylus, Agamemnon 638 ff (trans. Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"When a messenger with gloomy countenance reports to a people dire disaster of its army's rout--one common wound inflicted on the State, while from many a home many a victim is devoted to death by the two-handled whip beloved of Ares, destruction double-armed, a gory pair."

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 41 ff :
"Seven warriors, fierce regiment-commanders, slaughtered a bull over a black shield [before the commencement of battle], and then touching the bull's gore with their hands they swore an oath by Ares, by Enyo, and by Phobos (Rout) who delights in blood, that either they will level the city and sack the Kadmeans' town by force, or will in death smear this soil with their blood."

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 87 ff :
"Chorus [of Argive women pray at the onset of war]: Ah, ah, you gods (theoi) and goddesses ( theai), raise your war cry over our walls to drive away the onrushing evil! . . . I see the clash--it is not the clatter of a single spear. What will you do? Will you betray your own land, Ares, where you have dwelt since long ago? God of the golden helmet ( khrysopêlêx), look, look upon the city that you once cherished!."

Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 630 ff :
"The wanton lord of war, insatiate of battle-cry, Ares, who reaps a human harvest in alien fields, destroy[s] this Pelasgian land by fire."

Plato, Cratylus 400d & 407d (trans. Fowler) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :
"[Plato constructs philosophical etymologies for the names of the gods :]
Sokrates : Ares, then, if you like, would be named for his virility and courage, or for his hard and unbending nature, which is called arraton; so Ares would be in every way a fitting name for the god of war."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 8. 260 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) :
"Who is of more avail for war than Ares, when he aideth men hard-fighting?"

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 21 (trans. Celoria) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"The small owl whose voice is heard at night [is sacred to Ares] . . . She is a portent of war and sedition for mankind."

Orphic Hymn 65 to Ares (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"Magnanimous, unconquered, boisterous Ares, in darts rejoicing, and in bloody wars; fierce and untamed, whose mighty power can make the strongest walls from their foundations shake: mortal-destroying king, defiled with gore, pleased with war's dreadful and tumultuous roar. Thee human blood, and swords, and spears delight, and the dire ruin of mad savage fight. Stay furious contests, and avenging strife, whose works with woe embitter human life."

Orphic Hymn 38 to the Curetes :
"Brass-beating Kouretes, ministers of Ares, who wear his arms the instruments of wars."

Oppian, Halieutica 2. 24 (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd A.D.) :
"The gifts of Ares are swords and brazen tunics to array the limbs and helmets and spears and whatsoever things Enyo delights in."

Ovid, Heroides 3. 87 ff (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"Seize up your armour [Akhilleus], O child of Aeacus . . . and with the favour of Mars [Ares] rout and overwhelm their ranks."

Ovid, Heroides 7. 160 ff :
"[On Aeneas and the Trojan refugees :] May those rise above fate whom savage Mars [Ares] has saved saving from out your race, so may that cruel war be the last of misfortunes to you."

Seneca, Phaedra 540 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
"Unholy passion for gain broke up this peaceful life [of the first ages of man], headlong wrath, and lust which sets men's hearts aflame. Next came cruel thirst for power; the weaker was made the stronger's prey, and might took the place of right. At first men fought with naked fists and turned stones and rough clubs to the use of arms. As yet there was no light cornel-shaft, tipped with tapering iron; no long, sharp-pointed sword hung at the side; no helmets crested with plumes gleamed from afar; rage furnished arms. Warlike Mars [Ares] invented new modes of strife and a thousand forms of death. From this source streams of blood stained all lands and the sea grew red."

II. ATTENDANT-GOD OF THE BATTLEFIELD

Ares was described as personally attending the battlefield driving armies in the clash of war. He was usually accompanied by Eris (Strife and Hatred), Deimos (Terror) and Phobos (Fear).

Homer, Iliad 4. 436 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"The cry of the Trojans went up through the wide army. Since there was no speech nor language common to all of them [the Trojans had allies from many lands] but their talk was mixed, who were called there from many far places. Ares drove these on, and the Akhaians grey-eyed Athene, and Deimos (Terror) drove them, and Phobos (Fear), and Eris (Hate) whose wrath is relentless, she the sister and companion of murderous Ares."

Homer, Iliad 5. 27 ff :
"Now as the high-hearted Trojans watched the two [Trojan] sons of Dares, one running away, and one cut down by the side of his chariot [by the Greeks], the anger in all of them was stirred [by Ares]. But grey-eyed Athene took violent Ares by the hand [and removed him from the battle]."

Homer, Iliad 5. 454 ff :
"[Ares] urged onward the god-supported children of Priamos [the Trojans] . . . and stirred the sprits and the strength in each man."

Homer, Iliad 5. 592 ff :
"Hektor [the Trojan prince] . . . drove on against them [the Greeks] crying aloud, and with him followed the Trojan battalions in their strength; and Ares led them with the goddess Enyo, she carrying with her the turmoil of shameless hatred while Ares made play in his hands with spear gigantic and ranged now in front of Hektor and now behind him."

Homer, Iliad 5. 699 ff :
"The Argives under the strength of Ares and bronze-armoured Hektor did not ever turn their backs and make for their black ships nor yet stand up to them in fighting, but always backward gave way, as they saw how Ares went with the Trojans. Who then was the first and who the last that they slaughtered, Hektor, Priamos' son, and Ares the brazen?"

Homer, Iliad 7. 208 ff :
"When he [Aias] had girt his body in all its armour, he strode on his way, as Ares the war god walks gigantic going into the fighting men whom [Zeus] the son of Kronos has driven to fight angrily in heart-perishing hatred."

Homer, Iliad 18. 516 ff :
"[Depicted on the shield of Akhilleus a city at war:] Their beloved wives and their little children stood on the rampart to hold it, and with them the men with age upon them, but meanwhile the others went out. And Ares led them, and Pallas Athene. These were gold, both, and golden raiment upon them, and they were beautiful and huge in their armour, being divinities, and conspicuous from afar, but the people around them were smaller."

Homer, Iliad 20. 38 ff :
"Ares in the likeness of a dark stormcloud bellowed, now from the peak of the citadel urging the Trojans sharply on, now running beside the sweet banks of Simoeis. So the blessed gods stirring on the opponents drove them together."

Hesiod, Theogony 934 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th B.C.) :
"[Aphrodite] to Ares, stabber of shields, bore Phobos (Panic) and Deimos (Terror), dreaded gods, who batter the dense battalions of men embattled in horrible war, they say with Ares, sacker of cities."

Hesiod, Works and Days 106 ff :
"They [the Bronze race of men] loved the lamentable works of Ares and deeds of violence . . . These were destroyed by their own hands."

Hesiod, The Shield of Heracles 191 ff :
"And [depicted] on the shield [of Herakles] stood the fleet-footed horses of grim Ares made gold, and deadly Ares the spoil-winner himself. He held a spear in his hands and was urging on the footmen: he was red with blood as if he were slaying living men, and he stood in his chariot. Beside him stood Deimos (Fear) and Phobos (Flight), eager to plunge amidst the fighting men."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 2. 600 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) :
"The deadly Keres hurling the charging lines together, in the unending wrestle locked of that grim conflict, where never ceased Ares from hideous slaughter, where the earth crimsoned all round with rushing streams of blood."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 7. 400 ff :
"Ares, to gory strife he speedeth, wroth with foes, when maddeneth his heart."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 8. 260 ff :
"With a shout he [Ares] cheered the Trojans on to face the foe. They heard, and marvelled at that wondrous cry, not seeing the God's immortal form."

Philostratus the Younger, Imagines 10 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) :
"[From a description of a painting depicting a city at war :] Where, pray, are their fighting men? Yonder you may find them--the men who follow Ares and Athena. For this is what the work of art means, I believe, indicating by the use of gold and by great stature that the leaders are gods, and giving to the others their inferior rank by this device."

For MYTHS of Ares on the battlefield see:
(1) Ares & the Trojan War (supports the Trojans in the War)
(2) Ares Favour: the Pylians (supports the Pylians in a war with the Herakles)
(3) Ares Favour: the Brygi (supports the Brygoi in a war with Odysseus)

Ares, Italian red-figure vase C4th B.C., The Bakarat Gallery (last known location)

III. PERSONIFICATION OF WAR AND BATTLE

The name of Ares was used as a synonym for war and battle.

Homer, Iliad 2. 385 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"All day long we may be in the division of hateful Ares [that is, engaged in battle]."

Homer, Iliad 2. 401 ff :
"Each man mad a sacrifice to some one of the immortal gods, in prayer to escape death and the grind of Ares [war]."

Homer, Iliad 2. 439 ff :
"Let us together as we go down to the wide host of the Akhaians, to stir more quickly the fierce War-God [war]."

Homer, Iliad 3. 128 ff :
"The numerous struggles of Trojans, breakers of horses, and bronze-armoured Akhaians, struggles that they endured for her [Helene's] sake at the hands of Ares (the War-God)."

Homer, Iliad 14. 149 ff :
"They [the opponents in war] close in the hateful strife of Ares."

Homer, Iliad 16. 245 ff :
"I myself go into the grind of Ares."

Homer, Iliad 18. 134 ff :
"Do not yet go into the grind of Ares."

Homer, Iliad 18. 209 ff :
"[A city] with enemies fighting about it who all day long are in the hateful division of Ares fighting from their own city."

Homer, Iliad 18. 264 ff :
"Akhaians and Trojans from either side sunder between them the wrath of Ares."

Homer, Iliad 18. 304 ff :
"We shall arm ourselves in our war gear and waken sharp Ares by the hollow vessels."

Homer, Iliad 18. 309 ff :
"Ares is impartial. Before now he has killed the killer."

Homer, Odyssey 11. 537 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"[Neoptolemos was] quite unscathed - not pierced by the hurling of keen bronze nor wounded by sword hand to hand, though that is the common way of war, since it is at random that Ares [war] rages."

Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite 10 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C.) :
"[Athene] delights in the wars and in the work of Ares, in strifes and battles."

Pindar, Nemean Ode 9 str7-str8 (trans. Conway) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) :
"Aidos (Honour), that bred within his heart the warrior mettle to fend of the havoc of Ares."

Aeschylus, Agamemnon 437 ff (trans. Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"Ares [war personified] barters the bodies of men for gold [i.e. the combatants ransom the bodies of the slain to their enemies]; he holds his balance in the contest of the spear; and back from Ilion to their loved ones he sends a heavy dust passed through his burning, a dust cried over with plenteous tears, in place of men sending well made urns with ashes."

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 62 ff :
"So you [the king], like the careful helmsman of a ship, secure the city before Ares' blasts storm down upon it [i.e. against the invading army]."

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 111 ff :
"A torrent of men, their helmet plumes tossing, crashes around the city, sped on by the blasts of Ares."

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 242 ff :
"If, then, you [the women of the town] hear that men are dying or wounded, do not seize on the news with loud wailing. For this is the food of Ares [i.e. of war], human blood."

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 340 ff :
"Man drags off man, or kills, or sets fires; the whole city is defiled with smoke. Mad Ares storms, subduing the people and polluting reverence. Tumults swell through the town, and against it a towering net is advancing. Man falls before man beneath the spear. Sobs and wails over gore-covered babes, just nursed at their mothers' breasts, resound. Rape and pillage of those fleeing through the city are the deeds of one's own blood. Plunderer joins up with plunderer."

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 945 ff :
"Ruthless, too, was Ares [i.e. war], the cruel divider of their property [brothers who fought a fratricidal war over the kingdom], who made their father's curses come true."

Aeschylus, Fragment 51 Europa (from Stobaeus, Anthology 4. 10. 24) (trans. Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"But Ares ever loves to pluck all the fairest flower of an armed host."

Callimachus, Hymn 4 to Delos 275 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) :
"On thee [the island of Delos] treads not Enyo nor Hades nor the horses of Ares [that is, war and conflict never visit the holy island]."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 1. 720 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) :
"Loud clashed their glorious armour: in their souls a battle-fury like Ares' wrath maddened."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 13. 98 ff :
"In deadly mood then charged they on the foe. Ares and fell Enyo maddened there: Blood ran in torrents, drenched was all the earth."

Herodotus, Histories 7. 140. 1 (trans. Godley) (Greek historian C5th B.C.) :
"The Athenians had sent messages to Delphoi [during the Persian War] asking that an oracle be given them . . . [it] gave them this answer : 'All is ruined, for fire and headlong Ares [war] speeding in a Syrian chariot will bring you low.'"

Herodotus, Histories 8. 77. 1 :
"[An oracle :] 'Bronze will come together with bronze, and Ares [war] will redden the sea with blood.'"

Amyntas, Epigram (trans. Page, Vol. Select Papyri III, No. 107 (2)) (Greek elegiac C2nd B.C.) :
"Lakedaimon, of old the dauntless, at whose single-handed might and warfare many a time and oft Ares (the War-God) shuddered."

Seneca, Troades 1056 (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
"What crime so savage, so grievous, has Mars [Ares, i.e. war] seen in ten long years [of the Trojan War]?"

Suidas s.v. Ares (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Ares: Properly [it is] iron. 'Having plunged Ares inside [your] hollow flanks.' It also means war. From rhô 'I speak,' future rhêsô, [whence] rhês, and with the alpha privative [it is] Ares. For in war there is no need of words, but of actions. And Homer [writes]: 'for the outcome of war [lies] in hands, [that] of words in counsel.' The alpha [is] both long and short. Homer [writes]: 'Ares, Ares, bane of men.'"

For MORE information on a related personification (probably the same as Ares) see POLEMOS

IV. PERSONIFICATION OF BATTLE-DEATH, BLOOD-LUST & WEAPONS

Men killed in battle were often described as being slain by Ares, and the blood of the dead was said to glut the god. In many cases Ares appears as little more than a personfication of the weapons of war--spear, sword and arrow. Indeed among the Thrakians and other tribes his cult idol often took the form of an upright sword.

Homer, Iliad 24. 260 ff :
"All these Ares [i.e. the war] has killed."

Homer, Iliad 24. 498 ff :
"Fifty were my [Priamos'] sons . . . Violent Ares [the war] broke the strength in the knees of most of them."

Hesiod, The Shield of Heracles 56 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th B.C.) :
"Strong though Ares is, passion for battle is madness."

Homerica, Epigrams of Homer 10 (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th B.C.) :
"Iron that Ares loves."

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 497 ff (trans. Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"The warrior himself has raised the war-cry and, inspired by Ares he raves for battle like a Bakkhe (Bakkhante), with a look to inspire fear. We must put up a good defense against the assault of such a man, for already Phobos (Rout) is boasting of victory at the gate."

Aeschylus, Fragment 50 Europa (from Papyrus) (trans. Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"Ares' warlike spirit hath laid hold of him."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 8. 260 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) :
"Spears plunged into men's flesh: dread Ares drank his fill of blood: struck down fell man on man, as Greek and Trojan fought."

Orphic Hymn 65 to Ares (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"Magnanimous, unconquered, boisterous Ares, in darts rejoicing, and in bloody wars; fierce and untamed . . . defiled with gore, pleased with war's dreadful and tumultuous roar. Thee human blood, and swords, and spears delight, and the dire ruin of mad savage fight."

Aelian, Historical Miscellany 2. 44 (trans. Wilson) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
"A painting of a hoplite coming to the rescue when the enemy suddenly invade and bring death and destruction to the land. The young man clearly looks as if he is about to do battle with great spirit; you would say he was inspired, as if he were possessed by Ares. His eyes have a fiery look."

Suidas s.v. Ares (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Ares : Properly [it is] iron. 'Having plunged Ares inside [your] hollow flanks.'"

V. GOD OF WAR AVERTED (PEACE)

Ares was in a sense the god of peace, in that, if placated, he would keep war from ravaging a nation.

Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 630 ff (trans. Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"[A prayer to the gods :] Divinely-born gods! Hear now as I pour forth libations for blessings upon our kindred. Never may the wanton lord of war, insatiate of battle-cry, Ares, who reaps a human harvest in alien fields, destroy this Pelasgian land by fire; for they had compassion for us, and cast a vote in our favor, respecting our pitiable flock, suppliants in the name of Zeus . . . Therefore let there fly forth from our overshadowed lips a prayer of gratitude. Never may pestilence empty this city of its men nor strife stain the soil of the land with the blood of slain inhabitants. But may the flower of its youth be unplucked, and may Ares, the partner of Aphrodite's bed, he who makes havoc of men, not shear off their bloom . . . And let no murderous havoc come upon the realm to ravage it, by arming Ares--foe to the dance and lute, parent of tears--and the shout of civil strife."

Euphorion of Chalcis, Fragments (trans. Page, Vol. Select Papyri III, No. 121 (2b)) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) :
"Ares allot them their wages in his scales, and rest again from chilling warfare, and send Eirene (Peace) with her prosperity to men!"

Orphic Hymn 65 to Ares (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"Magnanimous, unconquered, boisterous Ares . . . Stay furious contests, and avenging strife, whose works with woe embitter human life; to lovely Kypris [Aphrodite] and to Lyaios [Dionysos] yield, for arms exchange the labours of the field; encourage peace, to gentle works inclined, and give abundance, with benignant mind."

Ovid, Heroides 17. 253 ff (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"Your parts are better suited for Venus [Aphrodite] than for Mars [Ares]." [I.e. The man is better suited to love than war.]

Seneca, Medea 62 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
"Her [Aphrodite] who restrains the bloody hands of rough Mars [Ares], who brings peace to warring nations and holds plenty in her rich horn, mild goddess."

GOD OF THE SACK & DEFENCE OF CITIES

Ares was regarded as both the god sacker and the god defender of cities.

I. GOD OF THE SACK OF CITIES

Homer, Iliad 5. 27 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"Ares, manslaughtering, blood-stained, stormer of strong walls."

Orphic Hymn 65 to Ares (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"Ares . . . whose mighty power can make the strongest walls from their foundations shake."

II. GOD OF THE DEFENCE OF CITIES

Homeric Hymn 8 to Ares (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic B.C.) :
"Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of cities, harnessed in bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defender of Olympos."

Aeschylus, Eumenides 918 ff (trans. Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"Ares, holds as a fortress of the gods, the bright ornament [i.e. Athens] that guards the altars of the gods of Hellas. I pray for the city, with favorable prophecy."

For MYTHS of Ares as the defender of cities and kings see:
(1) Ares Offered Human Sacrifices (in war to protect a city from invasion)
(2) Ares Favour: Nisus (a purple lock of hair secured the kingdom)
(3) Ares Favour: Aeetes (Golden Fleece in Ares' shrine secured the kingdom)

GOD OF REBELLION & CIVIL ORDER

Ares was the god of civil disturbance, riots, rebellions and uprisings. On the contrary he was also regarded as maintainer of civil order. As such he was the patron of ancient police forces and armed guards.

Homeric Hymn 8 to Ares (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic B.C.) :
"Ares . . . ally of Themis (civil order), stern governor of the rebellious."

Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 678 ff (trans. Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"And let no murderous havoc come upon the realm to ravage it, by arming Ares--foe to the dance and lute, parent of tears--and the shout of civil strife."

Plato, Laws 670b (trans. Lamb) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :
"These shall incur as much disgrace as the man who disobeys the officers of Ares [i.e. the city wardens or police of Athens]."

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 21 (trans. Celoria) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"The small owl whose voice is heard at night [is sacred to Ares] . . . She is a portent of war and sedition for mankind."

Oppian, Halieutica 2. 654 (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd A.D.) :
"Not long since that first of goddesses [Dike goddess of Justice] had no throne even among men, but noisy riots and raging ruin of destroying War (Ares) and Strife (Eris), giver of pain, nurse of tearful wars, consumed the unhappy race of the creatures of a day."

For MYTHS of Ares as the policeman of the gods:
(1) Ares & the criminal Sisyphus (arrests the man who kidnaps Death)
(2) Ares & the criminal Ixion (arrests the man who tried to rape Hera)

GOD OF BRIGANDS & BANDITRY

Aeschylus, Fragment 282 (from Papyri Oxyrhynchus) (trans. Lloyd-Jones) :
"Hera has reared a violent son [Ares] whom she has borne to Zeus, a god irascible, hard to govern, an one whose mind knew no respect for others. He shot wayfarers with deadly arrows, and ruthless hacked . . (lacuna) with hooked spears . . he rejoiced and laughed . . evil . . scent of blood."

Apuleius, The Golden Ass 7. 10 ff (trans. Walsh) (Roman novel C2nd A.D.) :
"[Conversing Thessalian brigands :] 'So should we not address a prayer to Comrade Mars [Ares] . . . Appoint ten representatives to accompany me; that will suffice to attack the nearest village, and enable me to bring back a meal fit for Salian priests.'
So he set out; the rest laid a huge fire, and set up an altar to Mars on the green turf. A little later they arrived back carrying wine-skins and driving a whole flock of farm-animals before them. From it they selected a huge billy-goat, old and shaggy, and sacrificed it to Mars, Follower and Comrade."

GOD OF VIOLENCE & RAGE

Ares was the god who presided over the emotions that lead to violence--hatred and rage. He was also invoked by those who wished to control their violent impulses.

I. GOD OF VIOLENCE, ANGER & RAGE

Homer, Iliad 5. 563 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"[Menelaos] strode out among the champions, helmed in bright bronze, shaking his spear, and the fury of Ares drove him onward, minded that he might go down under the hands of [Trojan] Aineias."

Homer, Iliad 5. 699 ff :
"[Zeus addresses Ares :] 'To me you are the most hateful of all the gods who hold Olympos. Forever quarrelling is dear to your heart, wars and battles . . . were you born of some other god and proved so ruinous long since you would have been dropped beneath the gods of the bright sky.'"

Homer, Iliad 5. 699 ff :
"Violent Ares, that thing of fury, evil-wrought."

Homer, Iliad 5. 27 ff :
"Now as the high-hearted Trojans watched [the death of two allies] . . . the anger in all of them was stirred [by Ares]."

Orphic Hymn 65 to Ares (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"Ares . . . stay furious contests, and avenging strife, whose works with woe embitter human life."

II. GOD OF MURDER & MANSLAUGHTER

Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 458 ff :
"Chorus : And let all our company blend our voices to echo the prayer [for the just slaying of Agamemnon's murderers]. Hear! Come to the light [his ghost]! Side with us against the foe!
Orestes : Ares [as manslaughter personified] will encounter Ares; Dike (Right) will encounter Dike (Right).
Elektra : O you gods, judge rightly the plea of right!"

Suidas s.v. Areios pagos (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Areios pagos (Areopagus, hill of Ares): A law court amongst the Athenians . . . It was given the name Areios pagos (Hill of Ares) . . . because it tries homicide cases; Ares [has a link] with homicides."

For MYTHS of Ares as the god of murder see Ares Wrath: Halirrhothius

III. GOD OF CONTROLLING ANGER

Homeric Hymn 8 to Ares (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic B.C.) :
"Ares . . . Restrain also the keen fury of my heart which provokes me to tread the ways of blood-curdling strife. Rather, O blessed one, give you me boldness to abide within the harmless laws of peace, avoiding strife and hatred and the violent fiends of death."

GOD OF COURAGE & MANLINESS, COWARDICE & FEAR

Ares was the god of manliness and courage and the opposite qualities--fear, terror and cowardice.

I. GOD OF COURAGE & MANLINESS, STRENGTH & ENDURANCE

Homer, Iliad 5. 454 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"[Ares] urged onward the god-supported children of Priamos [the Trojans] . . . and stirred the sprits and the strength in each man."

Homer, Iliad 5. 506 ff :
"Ares . . . woke the heart in the Trojans."

Homer, Iliad 17. 210 ff :
"The armour was fitted to Hektor's skin, and Ares Deinos the terrible ( deinos) Enyalios the warlike ( Enyalios) entered him, so that the inward body was packed full of force and fighting strength."

Homer, Odyssey 14. 216 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"Athene and Ares gave me courage, and strength to shatter the ranks of men when I chose out champions for ambuscade."

Homeric Hymn 8 to Ares (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic B.C.) :
"Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer . . . leader of the righteous men, sceptred King of manliness . . . Shed down a kindly ray from above upon my life, and strength of war, that I may be able to drive away bitter cowardice from my head and crush down the deceitful impulses of my soul."

Pindar,Pythian Ode 8 str3 (trans. Conway) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) :
"Like Ares shall he be in strength of arm."

Aeschylus, Agamemnon 71 ff (trans. Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"But we [the old men], incapable of service by reason of our aged frame, discarded from that martial mustering of long ago, wait here at home . . . For just as the vigor of youth, leaping up within the breast, is like that of old age, since Ares (the war-god) is not in his place; so extreme age, its leaves already withering, goes its way on triple feet."

Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 160 ff :
"Oh for a man mighty with the spear to deliver our house, an Ares [i.e. a man with the courage of Ares], brandishing in the fight the springing Scythian bow and wielding his hilted sword in close combat."

Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 749 ff :
"A woman abandoned to herself is nothing. There is no Ares [i.e. manly spirit or courage] in her."

Plato, Cratylus 400d & 407d (trans. Lamb) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :
"[Plato constructs philosophical etymologies for the names of the gods :]
Sokrates : Let us inquire what thought men had in giving them [the gods] their names . . . The first men who gave names [to the gods] were no ordinary persons, but high thinkers and great talkers . . .
Hermogenes : But surely you, as an Athenian, will not forget Athena, nor Hephaistos and Ares . . .
Sokrates : Ares, then, if you like, would be named for his virility and courage, or for his hard and unbending nature, which is called arraton; so Ares would be in every way a fitting name for the god of war."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 1. 618 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) :
"Amazones . . . all the toil of men do they endure; and therefore evermore the spirit of the War-god thrills them through . . . never faint their knees nor tremble."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 8. 260 ff :
"That was his [Ares] shout far-pealing, bidding us fight on against the Argives. Let your hearts be strong, O friends: let courage fill your breasts. No mightier battle-helper can draw nigh to Troy than he . . . Lo, to our help he cometh now! On to the fight! Cast to the winds your fears!"

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 11. 425 ff :
"Aeneas dashed to sudden fragments all that battle-wall moulded of adamant shields . . . because a God [Ares] gave more than human strength."

See also Ares God of War and Battles (this page)

II. PERSONIFICATION OF WARLIKE-SPIRIT & MANLINESS

Warriors were called henchmen or scions of Ares, and the foremost heroes were often compared favourably with the god.

"Fighting men and friends, o Danaans, henchmen of Ares." - Homer, Iliad 2.110
"Beloved Danaan [Greek] fighters, henchmen of Ares." - Homer, Iliad 6.67, 15.733, 19.78
"The two Aiantes, henchmen of Ares." - Homer, Iliad 8.79 & 10.228
"Henchmen of Ares both, Tydeus' son [Diomedes] the staunch in battle, and brilliant Odysseus." - Homer, Iliad 19.47
"The Danai, henchmen of Ares." - Homerica, The Little Iliad Frag 2
"The Danai [Greeks] henchmen of Ares." - Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Frag 99

"Elephenor, scion of Ares [i.e. he was warlike], son of Khalkodon." - Homer, Iliad 2.540
"Meges [of Doulikhion], a man like Ares, Phyleus' son." - Homer, Iliad 2.627
"Likymnios [of Thebes], scion of Ares [he was warlike]." - Homer, Iliad 2.663
"Podarkes [of Phylake], scion of Ares." - Homer, Iliad 2.704
"Leonteus was with him, scion of Ares." - Homer, Iliad 2.745
"Hippothoos and Pylaios [of Larissa, Thessalia], scion of Ares." - Homer, Iliad 2.842
"Hiketaon [a Trojan lord], scion of Ares." - Homer, Iliad 3.147 & 20.238
"Leonteus [of the Lapithai], the scion of Ares." - Homer, Iliad 12.188 & 23.841
"Alkimos [of Phthia] scion of Ares." - Homer, Iliad 24.474
"Hippostratus, a scion of Ares." - Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Frag 50
"Nikostratos [son of Menelaos], a scion of Ares." - Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Frag 70
"Iphitos [of Oikhalia] a scion of Ares." - Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Frag 79
"Polydeukes [of Sparta], scion of Ares." - Homerica, The Cypria Frag 7

"Meriones [of Krete], a match for the the murderous Lord of Battles ( Enyalios andreiphontes)." - Homer, Iliad 2.651
"Pylaimenes the equal of Ares, lord of the Paphlagonian men." - Homer, Iliad 5.576
"Meriones [of Krete] a match for Thoos swift ( thoos) Ares." - Homer, Iliad 13.328
"Hektor, a match for swift ( thoos) Ares." - Homer, Iliad 17.72

"Hektor the son of Priamos, a man like murderous ( brotoloigos) Ares." - Homer, Iliad 11.295
"Leonteus [of the Lapithai] a man like murderous ( brotoloigos) Ares." - Homer, Iliad 12.130
"Aineias and Idomeneus, both men like Ares, were straining with the pitiless bronze to tear at each other." - Homer, Iliad 13.500
"The swift-footed son of Peleus [Akhilleus], a man like murderous ( brotoloigos) Ares." - Homer, Iliad 20.46
"Euryalos [of the Phaiakians] looking like Ares destroyer of men ( brotoloigos)." - Homer, Odyssey 8.116

Homer, Iliad 2. 477 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"Powerful Agamemnos, with eyes and head like Zeus who delights in thunder, like Ares for girth, and with the chest of Poseidon."

Homer, Iliad 7. 208 ff :
"When he [Aias] had girt his body in all its armour, he strode on his way, as Ares the war god walks gigantic going into the fighting men."

Homer, Iliad 11. 603 ff :
"Patroklos, came out like Ares."

Homer, Iliad 17. 210 ff :
"The armour was fitted to Hektor's skin, and Ares Deinos the dangerous ( deinos) Enyalios the warlike ( Enyalios) entered him, so that the inward body was packed full of force and fighting strength."

Homer, Iliad 19. 189 ff :
"Akhilleus leans very hard toward the work of Ares."

Homer, Odyssey 8. 518 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"Odysseus strode like Ares himself."

Aeschylus, Fragment 37 Heracleidae (from Scholiast on Aristeides) (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"[Geryon] wielded three spears in his (right) hands; in his left, extending three shields, and shaking his three crests, he advanced like unto Ares in his might."

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2. 1205 ff (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) :
"His [Aeetes] terrifying voice and powerful build might well be envied by Ares himself."

Seneca, Phaedra 804 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
"'Tis thine with manly strength to dare meet the rough and warlike gods and by the spread of thy huge body to overcome them; for even in youth thou dost match the muscles of a Hercules, art broader of chest than war-waging Mars [Ares]."

III. GOD OF COWARDICE, FEAR & TERROR

Ares was accompanied into battle by his sons Deimos (Terror) and Phobos (Fear).

Homer, Iliad 5. 859 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"Ares the brazen ( khalkeos) bellowed with a sound as great as nine thousand men make, or ten thousand, when they cry as they carry in to the fighting the fury of the war god. And a shivering seized hold alike on Akhaians and Trojans in their feet at the bellowing of battle-insatiate ( aatos polemoio) Ares."

Statius, Thebaid 7. 64 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
"Already Gradivus [Ares] with forward-straining steeds was trampling the Ephyrean shores . . . Then he orders Pavor (Panic) [Phobos], one of his fearful train, to go before the horses: none more skilled than he to insinuate grasping terror and to steal courage from the heart; voices and hands innumerable has the monster, and aspects to assume at will; all-persuasive is he, and his onslaughts drive cities mad with horror."

See also Ares God of War and Battles (this page)

GOD OF WAR-CHARIOT RACES

ANCESTRAL GOD, PROTECTOR OF THE FATHERLAND

The ancestral gods of a state were those which were traditionally honoured before all others. Ares was worshipped in this capacity by a number of ancient city states. In times of war these ancestral gods were called upon to come to the defence of the nation.

In the following passage from Aishkylos, the Theban women invoke Ares, along with Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Artemis, Apollon and Hera, as their ancestral gods. Here, Ares was a literal ancestor of the Theban race as well, both of their kings, through his daughter Harmonia, and of the noble houses through the five Spartoi, men sown from the teeth of the Dragon son of Ares.

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 407 ff :
"Now as for me, against Tydeus I will station the trusty son of Astakos . . . His race springs from the Spartoi [men sown of the dragon's teeth], from one of those whom Ares spared, and so Melanippos is truly born of our land. Ares will decide the outcome with a throw of the dice; but Dike (Justice), his [Ares'] kin by blood, indeed sends this man forth to keep the enemy spear from the mother [the earth] that gave him birth."

GOD OF THE PLANET MARS

Ares-Mars as Tuesday, Greco-Roman mosaic from Orbe C3rd A.D., Roman Villa of Orbe-Boscéaz

Homeric Hymn 8 to Ares (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic B.C.) :
"Ares . . . who whirl your fiery sphere [the star Mars] among the planets in their sevenfold courses through the aither wherein your blazing steeds ever bear you above the third firmament of heaven."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 42 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Planets. It remains for us to speak of the five stars which many have called wandering, and which the Greeks call Planeta . . . The third star is that of Mars [Ares], though others say it belongs to Hercules . . . Since she [Aphrodite] inflamed him violently with love, she called the star Pyroeis (the Fiery), indicating this fact."

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 5. 67 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :
"He [Kadmos founder of Thebes] dedicated the seven gates [of the new-founded city] to the seven planets . . . The fifth he gave to Ares [the planet Mars], the third to Aphrodite [the planet Venus]."

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 41. 339 ff :
"[Harmonia addresses Aphrodite :] 'I have oracles of history on seven tablets, and the tablets bear the names of the seven planets . . . the fifth is called Ares [the planet Mars], red and fiery.'"

IDENTIFIED WITH FOREIGN GODS

Ares was identified with the Roman god Mars, the Egyptian god Anhuris-Onuris, and the war-god of the Scythians.

Ares was also one of the three major gods of Thrake, the others two being Sabazios (a god identified with Zeus and Dionysos) and Bendis (a goddess identified with Artemis, Selene and Hekate). Unlike these there was little apparent difference between the Greek and Thrakian Ares.

I. IDENTIFIED WITH THRAKIAN WAR-GOD

Herodotus, Histories 6. 7 (trans. Godley) (Greek historian C5th B.C.) :
"They [the Threikoi, Thracians] worship no gods but Ares, Dionysos, and Artemis [the Thrakian gods Ares, Sabazios and Bendis]. Their princes . . . worship Hermes [probably the Thracian god Zalmoxis] above all gods."

II. IDENTIFIED WITH SKYTHIAN WAR-GOD

Herodotus, Histories 4. 59. 1 :
"The only gods whom they [the Skythians] propitiate are these: . . . It is their practice to make images and altars and shrines for Ares, but for no other god."

III. IDENTIFIED WITH EGYPTIAN ONURIS

Herodotus, Histories 2. 59. 1 :
"The Egyptians hold solemn assemblies not once a year, but often. The principal one of these and the most enthusiastically celebrated is that in honor of Artemis at the town of Bubastis, and the next is that in honor of Isis at Busiris . . . and the sixth of Ares at Papremis."

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 28 (trans. Celoria) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"[The Greek gods] fled to Aigyptos (Egypt) . . . When they fled they had changed themselves in anticipation into animal forms . . . Ares became a fish, the lepidotus [the Egyptian god Onuris whose sacred fish was the lepidotus]."

SOURCES

GREEK

Homer, The Iliad - Greek Epic C8th B.C.

Homer, The Odyssey - Greek Epic C8th B.C.

Hesiod, Theogony - Greek Epic C8th - 7th B.C.

Hesiod, The Shield of Heracles - Greek Epic C8th - 7th B.C.

The Homeric Hymns - Greek Epic C8th - 4th B.C.

Greek Lyric II Anacreontea, Fragments - Greek Lyric C5th - 4th B.C.

Greek Lyric III Simonides, Fragments - Greek Lyric C6th - 5th B.C.

Greek Elegaic Mimnermus, Fragments - Greek Elegaic C7th B.C.

Greek Elegaic Theognis, Fragments - Greek Elegaic C6th B.C.

Aeschylus, Agamemnon - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.

Aeschylus, Eumenides - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.

Aeschylus, Libation Bearers - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.

Aeschylus, Suppliant Women - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.

Aeschylus, Fragments - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.

Euripides, Bacchae - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.

Herodotus, Histories - Greek History C5th B.C.

Plato, Cratylus - Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.

Plato, Laws - Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.

Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.

Apollonius Rhodius, The Argonautica - Greek Epic C3rd B.C.

Callimachus, Hymns - Greek Poetry C3rd B.C.

Callimachus, Fragments - Greek Poetry C3rd B.C.

Greek Papyri III Euphorion, Fragments - Greek Epic C3rd B.C.

Greek Papyri III Amyntas, Fragments - Greek Elegiac C2nd B.C.

Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.

The Orphic Hymns - Greek Hymns C3rd B.C. - C2nd A.D.

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses - Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.

Aelian, Historical Miscellany - Greek Rhetoric C2nd - 3rd A.D.

Philostratus the Younger, Imagines - Greek Rhetoric C3rd A.D.

Oppian, Halieutica - Greek Poetry C3rd A.D.

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy - Greek Epic C4th A.D.

Nonnus, Dionysiaca - Greek Epic C5th A.D.

Greek Papyri III Anonymous, Fragments - Greek Poetry C4th A.D.

ROMAN

Hyginus, Fabulae - Latin Mythography C2nd A.D.

Hyginus, Astronomica - Latin Mythography C2nd A.D.

Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.

Ovid, Fasti - Latin Poetry C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.

Ovid, Heroides - Latin Poetry C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.

Seneca, Medea - Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.

Seneca, Phaedra - Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.

Seneca, Troades - Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.

Statius, Thebaid - Latin Epic C1st A.D.

Apuleius, The Golden Ass - Latin Novel C2nd A.D.

BYZANTINE

Suidas, The Suda - Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.

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Ares was the Olympian god of war, battlelust and manliness. This page describes the god's various divine roles including war and battle, civil order and rebellion, violence and rage, courage and fear, and his identification with foreign gods.

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God of chastity, hunting, and the moon
Relationship to Zeus: the daughter of Zeus
3 Adjectives Fierce, defensive, fiery temper
Symbol bow and arrow

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Artemis-Greek-goddess

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Artemis, in Greek religion, the goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation and of chastity and childbirth; she was identified by the Romans with Diana. Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo. Among the rural populace, Artemis was the favourite goddess. Her character and function varied greatly from place to place, but, apparently, behind all forms lay the goddess of wild nature, who danced, usually accompanied by nymphs, in mountains, forests, and marshes. Artemis embodied the sportsman's ideal, so besides killing game she also protected it, especially the young; this was the Homeric significance of the title Mistress of Animals.

The worship of Artemis probably flourished in Crete or on the Greek mainland in pre-Hellenic times. Many of Artemis's local cults, however, preserved traces of other deities, often with Greek names, suggesting that, upon adopting her, the Greeks identified Artemis with nature divinities of their own. The virginal sister of Apollo is very different from the many-breasted Artemis of Ephesus, for example.

Dances of maidens representing tree nymphs ( dryads) were especially common in Artemis's worship as goddess of the tree cult, a role especially popular in the Peloponnese. Throughout the Peloponnese, bearing such epithets as Limnaea and Limnatis (Lady of the Lake), Artemis supervised waters and lush wild growth, attended by nymphs of wells and springs (naiads). In parts of the peninsula her dances were wild and lascivious.

Outside the Peloponnese, Artemis's most familiar form was as Mistress of Animals. Poets and artists usually pictured her with the stag or hunting dog, but the cults showed considerable variety. For instance, the Tauropolia festival at Halae Araphenides in Attica honoured Artemis Tauropolos (Bull Goddess), who received a few drops of blood drawn by sword from a man's neck.

The frequent stories of the love affairs of Artemis's nymphs are supposed by some to have originally been told of the goddess herself. The poets after Homer, however, stressed Artemis's chastity and her delight in the hunt, dancing and music, shadowy groves, and the cities of just men. The wrath of Artemis was proverbial, for to it myth attributed wild nature's hostility to humans. Yet Greek sculpture avoided Artemis's unpitying anger as a motif. In fact, the goddess herself did not become popular as a subject in the great sculptural schools until the relatively gentle 4th-century-bce spirit prevailed.

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Artemis, in Greek religion, the goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation and of chastity and childbirth; she was identified by the Romans with Diana. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo. Among the rural populace, Artemis was the favorite goddess.

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Athena | Goddess, Myths, Symbols, Facts, & Roman Name

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Goddess of wisdom and military victory
Relationship to Zeus: daughter o Zeus
3 Adjectives confident, practical, clever
Symbol owl

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Athena-Greek-mythology

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Athena, also spelled Athene, in Greek religion, the city protectress, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, identified by the Romans with Minerva. She was essentially urban and civilized, the antithesis in many respects of Artemis, goddess of the outdoors. Athena was probably a pre-Hellenic goddess and was later taken over by the Greeks. Yet the Greek economy, unlike that of the Minoans, was largely military, so that Athena, while retaining her earlier domestic functions, became a goddess of war.

She was the daughter of Zeus, produced without a mother, so that she emerged full-grown from his forehead. There was an alternative story that Zeus swallowed Metis, the goddess of counsel, while she was pregnant with Athena, so that Athena finally emerged from Zeus. Being the favourite child of Zeus, she had great power.

Athena's association with the acropolises of various Greek cities probably stemmed from the location of the kings' palaces there. She was thought to have had neither consort nor offspring. She may not have been described as a virgin originally, but virginity was attributed to her very early and was the basis for the interpretation of her epithets Pallas and Parthenos. As a war goddess Athena could not be dominated by other goddesses, such as Aphrodite, and as a palace goddess she could not be violated.

In Homer's Iliad, Athena, as a war goddess, inspires and fights alongside the Greek heroes; her aid is synonymous with military prowess. Also in the Iliad, Zeus, the chief god, specifically assigns the sphere of war to Ares, the god of war, and Athena. Athena's moral and military superiority to Ares derives in part from the fact that she represents the intellectual and civilized side of war and the virtues of justice and skill, whereas Ares represents mere blood lust. Her superiority also derives in part from the vastly greater variety and importance of her functions and from the patriotism of Homer's predecessors, Ares being of foreign origin. In the Iliad, Athena is the divine form of the heroic, martial ideal: she personifies excellence in close combat, victory, and glory. The qualities that lead to victory are found on the aegis, or breastplate, that Athena wears when she goes to war: fear, strife, defense, and assault. Athena appears in Homer's Odyssey as the tutelary deity of Odysseus, and myths from later sources portray her similarly as helper of Perseus and Heracles (Hercules). As the guardian of the welfare of kings, Athena became the goddess of good counsel, of prudent restraint and practical insight, as well as of war.

In post- Mycenaean times the city, especially its citadel, replaced the palace as Athena's domain. She was widely worshipped, but in modern times she is associated primarily with Athens, to which she gave her name. Her emergence there as city goddess, Athena Polias ("Athena, Guardian of the City"), accompanied the ancient city-state's transition from monarchy to democracy. She was associated with birds, particularly the owl, which became famous as the city's own symbol, and with the snake. Her birth and her contest with Poseidon, the sea god, for the suzerainty of the city were depicted on the pediments of the Parthenon, and the great festival of the Panathenaea, in July, was a celebration of her birthday. She was also worshipped in many other cities, notably in Sparta.

Athena became the goddess of crafts and skilled peacetime pursuits in general. She was particularly known as the patroness of spinning and weaving. That she ultimately became allegorized to personify wisdom and righteousness was a natural development of her patronage of skill.

Athena was customarily portrayed wearing body armour and a helmet and carrying a shield and a lance. Two Athenians, the sculptor Phidias and the playwright Aeschylus, contributed significantly to the cultural dissemination of Athena's image. She inspired three of Phidias's sculptural masterpieces, including the massive chryselephantine (gold and ivory) statue of Athena Parthenos once housed in the Parthenon; and in Aeschylus's dramatic tragedy Eumenides she founded the Areopagus (Athens's aristocratic council), and, by breaking a deadlock of the judges in favour of Orestes, the defendant, she set the precedent that a tied vote signified acquittal.

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Athena | Goddess, Myths, Symbols, Facts, & Roman Name

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Athena, in Greek religion, the city protectress, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, identified by the Romans with Minerva. Representing the intellectual and civilized side of war and the virtues of justice and skill, Athena was superior to Ares, the god of war, who represented mere blood lust.

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Demeter | Characteristics, Family, & Myth

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Goddess of the harvest
Relationship to Zeus: sister and consort of Zeus
3 Adjectives immortal, very powerful, control
Symbol the poppy

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Demeter

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Demeter | Characteristics, Family, & Myth

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Demeter, in Greek religion, daughter of the deities Cronus and Rhea, sister and consort of Zeus (the king of the gods), and goddess of agriculture. Her name indicates that she is a mother. Demeter is rarely mentioned by Homer, nor is she included among the Olympian gods, but the roots of her legend…

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Hades | Characteristics, Family, & Mythology

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God of the underworld
Relationship to Zeus: Hades is the brother of Zeus.
3 Adjectives strong, stern and pitiless
Symbol Cornucopia

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hades-Greek-mythology

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Hades | Characteristics, Family, & Mythology

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Hades, in ancient Greek religion, god of the underworld. He was a son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea and brother of the deities Zeus, Poseidon, and Hera. He ruled with his queen, Persephone, over the dead, though he was not normally a judge, nor did he torture the guilty, a task assigned to the Furies.

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Dionysus | Powers, God, Parents, Meaning, Symbols, & Facts

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God of wine and pleasure
Relationship to Zeus: son of Zeus
3 Adjectives recklessly uninhibited, orgiastic, undisciplined
Symbol Thyrsus, grapevine, ivy

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dionysus

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Dionysus, also spelled Dionysos, also called Bacchus or (in Rome) Liber Pater, in Greco-Roman religion, a nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation, especially known as a god of wine and ecstasy. The occurrence of his name on a Linear B tablet (13th century bce) shows that he was already worshipped in the Mycenaean period, although it is not known where his cult originated. In all the legends of his cult, he is depicted as having foreign origins.

Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Semele, a daughter of Cadmus (king of Thebes). Out of jealousy, Hera, the wife of Zeus, persuaded the pregnant Semele to prove her lover's divinity by requesting that he appear in his real person. Zeus complied, but his power was too great for the mortal Semele, who was blasted with thunderbolts. However, Zeus saved his son by sewing him up in his thigh and keeping him there until he reached maturity, so that he was twice born. Dionysus was then conveyed by the god Hermes to be brought up by the bacchantes ( maenads, or thyiads) of Nysa, a purely imaginary spot.

As Dionysus apparently represented the sap, juice, or lifeblood element in nature, lavish festal orgia (rites) in his honour were widely instituted. These Dionysia ( Bacchanalia) quickly won converts among women. Men, however, met them with hostility. In Thrace Dionysus was opposed by Lycurgus, who ended up blind and mad.

In Thebes Dionysus was opposed by Pentheus, his cousin, who was torn to pieces by the bacchantes when he attempted to spy on their activities. Athenians were punished with impotence for dishonouring the god's cult. Their husbands' resistance notwithstanding, women took to the hills, wearing fawn skins and crowns of ivy and shouting the ritual cry, "Euoi!" Forming thyai (holy bands) and waving thyrsoi (singular: thyrsus; fennel wands bound with grapevine and tipped with ivy), they danced by torchlight to the rhythm of the aulos (double pipe) and the tympanon (handheld drum). While they were under the god's inspiration, the bacchantes were believed to possess occult powers and the ability to charm snakes and suckle animals, as well as preternatural strength that enabled them to tear living victims to pieces before indulging in a ritual feast ( ōmophagia). The bacchantes hailed the god by his titles of Bromios ("Thunderer"), Taurokeros ("Bull-Horned"), or Tauroprosopos ("Bull-Faced"), in the belief that he incarnated the sacrificial beast.

In Orphic legend (i.e., based on the stories of Orpheus), Dionysus-under the name Zagreus-was the son of Zeus by his daughter Persephone. At the direction of Hera, the infant Zagreus/Dionysus was torn to pieces, cooked, and eaten by the evil Titans. But his heart was saved by Athena, and he (now Dionysus) was resurrected by Zeus through Semele. Zeus struck the Titans with lightning, and they were consumed by fire. From their ashes came the first humans, who thus possessed both the evil nature of the Titans and the divine nature of the gods.

Dionysus had the power to inspire and to create ecstasy, and his cult had special importance for art and literature. Performances of tragedy and comedy in Athens were part of two festivals of Dionysus, the Lenaea and the Great (or City) Dionysia. Dionysus was also honoured in lyric poems called dithyrambs. In Roman literature his nature is often misunderstood, and he is simplistically portrayed as the jolly Bacchus who is invoked at drinking parties. In 186 bce the celebration of Bacchanalia was prohibited in Italy.

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The followers of Dionysus included spirits of fertility, such as the satyrs and sileni, and in his rituals the phallus was prominent. Dionysus often took on a bestial shape and was associated with various animals. His personal attributes were an ivy wreath, the thyrsus, and the kantharos, a large two-handled goblet. In early Greek art he was represented as a bearded man, but later he was portrayed as youthful and effeminate. Bacchic revels were a favourite subject of vase painters.

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Dionysus | Powers, God, Parents, Meaning, Symbols, & Facts

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Dionysus, also spelled Dionysos, also called Bacchus or (in Rome) Liber Pater, in Greco-Roman religion, a nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation, especially known as a god of wine and ecstasy. The occurrence of his name on a Linear B tablet (13th century bce) shows that he was already worshipped in the Mycenaean period, although it is not known where his cult originated.

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God of  fire
Relationship to Zeus: son of Zeus
3 Adjectives industrious; crafty; super-rival
Symbol a smith's hammer

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hephaestus

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Table of Contents

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Hephaestus, Greek Hephaistos, in Greek mythology, the god of fire. Originally a deity of Asia Minor and the adjoining islands (in particular Lemnos), Hephaestus had an important place of worship at the Lycian Olympus. His cult reached Athens not later than about 600 bce (although it scarcely touched Greece proper) and arrived in Campania not long afterward. His Roman counterpart was Vulcan.

According to myth, Hephaestus was born lame and was cast from heaven in disgust by his mother, Hera, and again by his father, Zeus, after a family quarrel. He was brought back to Olympus by Dionysus and was one of the only gods to have returned after exile. A blacksmith and craftsman, Hephaestus made weapons and military equipment for the gods and certain mortals, including a winged helmet and sandals for Hermes and armour for Achilles. Traditionally, his ill-matched consort was Aphrodite, though Homer lists Charis, the personification of Grace, as Hephaestus's wife in the Iliad.

As god of fire, Hephaestus became the divine smith and patron of craftsmen; the natural volcanic or gaseous fires already connected with him were often considered to be his workshops. In art Hephaestus was generally represented as a middle-aged bearded man, although occasionally a younger, beardless type is found. He usually wore a short sleeveless tunic and a round close-fitting cap on his unkempt hair.

Melissa Petruzzello.

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Hephaestus, Greek Hephaistos, in Greek mythology, the god of fire. Originally a deity of Asia Minor and the adjoining islands (in particular Lemnos), Hephaestus had an important place of worship at the Lycian Olympus. His cult reached Athens not later than about 600 bce (although it scarcely touched Greece proper) and arrived in Campania not long afterward.

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Hera | Characteristics, Family, & Worship

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Goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth
Relationship to Zeus: sister-wife of Zeus
3 Adjectives 'white-armed', 'ox-eyed', and 'Hera of Argos'
Symbol Pomegranate, sceptre, crown

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hera

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Who led the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece? Who is the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Ares? From fruits to winged sandals, test your knowledge in this study of Greek and Roman mythology.

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Hera | Characteristics, Family, & Worship

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Hera, in Greek religion, a daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, sister-wife of Zeus, and queen of the Olympian gods. The Romans identified her with their own Juno. Hera was worshipped as goddess of marriage and of the life of women. She was patron of the cities Argos and Samos.

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Hermes | Characteristics, Family, & Myth

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God of trade, wealth, luck, fertility, animal husbandry, sleep, language, thieves, and travel
Relationship to Zeus: Hermes is the son of Zeus
3 Adjectives sarcastic, glorious, clever
Symbol the caduceus

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hermes-Greek-mythology

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica | View Edit History

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Hermes | Characteristics, Family, & Myth

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Hermes, Greek god, son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia; often identified with the Roman Mercury. Hermes was associated with the protection of cattle and sheep. In the Odyssey, however, he appears mainly as the messenger of the gods and the conductor of the dead to Hades.

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Goddess of the hearth
Relationship to Zeus: Hestia is Zeus sister.
3 Adjectives gentle, domestic, protectress.
Symbol The hearth
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hestia

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God of the sea
Relationship to Zeus: the brother of Zeus
3 Adjectives ruinous, furious, alive
Symbol The trident
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Poseidon

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Poseidon, in ancient Greek religion, god of the sea (and of water generally), earthquakes, and horses. He is distinguished from Pontus, the personification of the sea and the oldest Greek divinity of the waters. The name Poseidon means either "husband of the earth" or "lord of the earth." Traditionally, he was a son of Cronus (the youngest of the 12 Titans) and of Cronus's sister and consort Rhea, a fertility goddess. Poseidon was a brother of Zeus, the sky god and chief deity of ancient Greece, and of Hades, god of the underworld. When the three brothers deposed their father, the kingdom of the sea fell by lot to Poseidon. His weapon and main symbol was the trident, perhaps once a fish spear. According to the Greek poet Hesiod, Poseidon's trident, like Zeus's thunderbolt and Hades' helmet, was fashioned by the three Cyclopes.

As the god of earthquakes, Poseidon was also connected to dry land, and many of his oldest places of worship in Greece were inland, though these were sometimes centred on pools and streams or otherwise associated with water. In this aspect, he was known as enosichthon and ennosigaios ("earth-shaker") and was worshipped as asphalios ("stabilizer"). As the god of horses, Poseidon is thought likely to have been introduced to Greece by the earliest Hellenes, who also introduced the first horses to the country about the 2nd century bce. Poseidon himself fathered many horses, best known of which was the winged horse Pegasus by the Gorgon Medusa.

Poseidon came into conflict with a variety of figures in land disputes. Notable among these was a contest for sovereignty over Attica, which he lost to the goddess Athena. Despite losing, Poseidon was also worshipped there, particularly at Colonus (as hippios, "of horses").

Poseidon's offspring were myriad. He was the father of Pelias and Neleus by Tyro, the daughter of Salmoneus, and thus became the divine ancestor of the royal families of Thessaly and Messenia. Many of his sons became rulers in other parts of the ancient Greek world. Otherwise he had many monstrous offspring, including giants and savage creatures, such as Orion, Antaeus, and Polyphemus. Progenitor of many, with several consorts, Poseidon also was married to the Oceanid Amphitrite, with whom he also had multiple offspring, including the sea creature Triton.

The chief festival in Poseidon's honour was the Isthmia, the scene of famous athletic contests (including horse races), celebrated in alternate years near the Isthmus of Corinth. His character as a sea god eventually became his most prominent in art, and he was represented with the attributes of the trident, the dolphin, and the tuna. The Romans, ignoring his other aspects, identified him with Neptune as sea god.

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Poseidon, in ancient Greek religion, god of the sea (and of water generally), earthquakes, and horses. He is distinguished from Pontus, the personification of the sea and the oldest Greek divinity of the waters. The name Poseidon means either "husband of the earth" or "lord of the earth."

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God of King of the Gods, god of sky and thunder
Relationship to Zeus: is Zeus
3 Adjectives mighty, divine, powerful
Symbol lightning bolt

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zeus

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Zeus, in ancient Greek religion, chief deity of the pantheon, a sky and weather god who was identical with the Roman god Jupiter. His name may be related to that of the sky god Dyaus of the ancient Hindu Rigveda. Zeus was regarded as the sender of thunder and lightning, rain, and winds, and his traditional weapon was the thunderbolt. He was called the father (i.e., the ruler and protector) of both gods and men.

According to a Cretan myth that was later adopted by the Greeks, Cronus, king of the Titans, upon learning that one of his children was fated to dethrone him, swallowed his children as soon as they were born. But Rhea, his wife, saved the infant Zeus by substituting a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes for Cronus to swallow and hiding Zeus in a cave on Crete. There he was nursed by the nymph (or female goat) Amalthaea and guarded by the Curetes (young warriors), who clashed their weapons to disguise the baby's cries. After Zeus grew to manhood he led a revolt against the Titans and succeeded in dethroning Cronus, perhaps with the assistance of his brothers Hades and Poseidon, with whom he then divided dominion over the world.

As ruler of heaven Zeus led the gods to victory against the Giants (offspring of Gaea and Tartarus) and successfully crushed several revolts against him by his fellow gods. According to the Greek poet Homer, heaven was located on the summit of Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece and the logical home for a weather god. The other members of the pantheon resided there with Zeus and were subject to his will. From his exalted position atop Mount Olympus Zeus was thought to omnisciently observe the affairs of men, seeing everything, governing all, and rewarding good conduct and punishing evil. Besides dispensing justice-he had a strong connection with his daughter Dike (Justice)-Zeus was the protector of cities, the home, property, strangers, guests, and supplicants.

Zeus was well known for his amorousness-a source of perpetual discord with his wife, Hera-and he had many love affairs with both mortal and immortal women. In order to achieve his amorous designs, Zeus frequently assumed animal forms, such as that of a cuckoo when he ravished Hera, a swan when he ravished Leda, or a bull when he carried off Europa. Notable among his offspring were the twins Apollo and Artemis, by the Titaness Leto; Helen and the Dioscuri, by Leda of Sparta; Persephone, by the goddess Demeter; Athena, born from his head after he had swallowed the Titaness Metis; Hephaestus, Hebe, Ares, and Eileithyia, by his wife, Hera; Dionysus, by the goddess Semele; and many others.

Though regarded by Greek religionists everywhere as omnipotent and the head of the pantheon, Zeus's very universality tended to reduce his importance compared with that of powerful local divinities like Athena and Hera. Although statues of Zeus Herkeios (Guardian of the House) and altars of Zeus Xenios (Hospitable) graced the forecourts of houses, and though his mountaintop shrines were visited by pilgrims, Zeus did not have a temple at Athens until the late 6th century bce, and even his temple at Olympia postdated that of Hera.

In art Zeus was represented as a bearded, dignified, and mature man of stalwart build; his most prominent symbols were the thunderbolt and the eagle.

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Zeus, in ancient Greek religion, chief deity of the pantheon, a sky and weather god who was identical with the Roman god Jupiter. His name may be related to that of the sky god Dyaus of the ancient Hindu Rigveda. Zeus was regarded as the sender of thunder and lightning, rain, and winds, and his traditional weapon was the thunderbolt.

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Trojan War | Myth, Characters, & Significance

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Reason for the War: Helen, the
wife of Menelaus (king of
Sparta), went off to Troy with
Paris, the Trojan king. Menelaus
started the war to seek
revenge against Troy.
Major Parties Involved: the
Greeks (Spartans) and the
Trojans
The Trojan Horse Explained: In
the midst of the Trojan War, the
Greeks pretended to surrender
the war by setting up the guise
that they were returning to
Sparta, leaving a large hollow
wooden horse behind at the
gates of Troy, as well as one of
their men to explain that this
horse was an offer to Athena
(Goddess of War), so if the
Trojans were to take it inside
their gates, their war abilities
would be strengthened by the
gods. The Trojans brought the
horse inside, and that evening,
Greeks came out from inside
the horse and opened the
gates, allowing their own Greek army to charge ahead into Troy
when they were least expecting
it.
Outcome of the War: The
Greeks defeated the Spartans
(actually as a result of the
Trojan Horse).
Great Heroes of the War:
Achilles, Odysseus, Ajax,
Diomedes, Patroclus, Antilokus,
Menestheus, and Idomenus

https://www.britannica.com/event/Trojan-War

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Trojan War | Myth, Characters, & Significance

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Trojan War, legendary conflict between the early Greeks and the people of Troy in western Anatolia, dated by later Greek authors to the 12th or 13th century BCE. The war stirred the imagination of ancient Greeks more than any other event in their history and was celebrated in the Iliad and the Odyss…