Download The legend of ares

The legend of ares
T
he greek god ares is the reek god of war. "ares is apparently an ancient abstract noun
meaning throng of battle, war. he is one of the twelve olimpians, and the son of zeus and hera is the
olympian god of warfare and courage in homeric myth he is the lover of aphrodite
the romans, speaking latin, called ares "mars", their own war divinity; however, the agricultural and
social aspects of mars are not paralleled in ares.
The legend of mars
Mars (Latin: Mārs, adjectives Martius and Martialis) was the Roman god of war and also an
agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome.[1] He was second in
importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by
the Roman legions. His festivals were held in March, the month named for him (Latin Martius),
and in October, which began and ended the season for military campaigning and farming.
Under the influence of Greek culture, Mars was identified with the Greek god Ares, whose
myths were reinterpreted in Roman literature and art under the name of Mars. But the character
and dignity of Mars differed in fundamental ways from that of his Greek counterpart, who is
often treated with contempt and revulsion in Greek literature.[2] Mars was a part of the Archaic
Triad along with Jupiter and Quirinus, the latter of whom as a guardian of the Roman people had
no Greek equivalent. Mars' altar in the Campus Martius, the area of Rome that took its name
from him, was supposed to have been dedicated by Numa himself, the peace-loving semilegendary second king of Rome. Although the center of Mars' worship was originally located
outside the pomerium, or sacred boundary of Rome, Augustus brought the god into the center of
Roman religion by establishing the Temple of Mars Ultor in his new forum.[3]
Although Ares was viewed primarily as a destructive and destabilizing force, Mars represented
military power as a way to secure peace, and was a father (pater) of the Roman people.[4] In the
mythic genealogy and founding myths of Rome, Mars was the father of Romulus and Remus
with Rhea Silvia. His love affair with Venus symbolically reconciled the two different traditions
of Rome's founding; Venus was the divine mother of the hero Aeneas, celebrated as the Trojan
refugee who "founded" Rome several generations before Romulus laid out the city walls.
The importance of Mars in establishing religious and cultural identity within the Roman Empire
is indicated by the vast number of inscriptions identifying him with a local deity, particularly in
the Western provinces.