Download File - Connor F. Davis

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Connor F. Davis
Mrs.Polasek
English 9
16 May 2013
Ares Mythological Allusion Essay
“Because ancient people revealed so much about themselves in their myths, reading
those myths, like visiting a museum, makes the past come to life” (No Author). All gods are like
this, dig deep in today’s culture and the past and see the comparisons and diffences in the way
that they were precieved. "Most hateful to me are you of all gods on Olympus, for ever is strife
dear to you and wars and fightings" (No Author1, qtd. in Homer, Iliad 5,890). Ares has been
seen as the god of bloodlust and war for many ages and has not changed much but there are
some subtle differnces in how he was seen before and now, as seen in this quote by an
unknown author, “In the myths, Ares appears as a fickle, bloodthirsty, and bullying character,
with no redeeming features” (No Author). This is how the god of war Ares is being protraied
now compared to ancient greek refrences.
Ares at first was shown as the god of war and bloodlust. In the statue in appendix a it
can be seen that he is wearing a warrior helmet. This shows his warlike personality as a god, but
with a stoic look about him. He is muscular but not ridiculusly strong just average. By looking at
this statue you can see how Ares was represented before and how people thought he was.
Now lets look at ares in greek culture with who he was and how he was precieved. “He was the
twin brother of Eris (strife). His horses were Deimos (panic) and Phobos (fear). It is a
contradiction that although the Greeks revered their military heroes, they disliked the god of
war. Evidently, they saw war as an ugly necessity” (Unknown). As shown by the same unknown
author he was a bloodthirsty war like person in the beginning and was disliked by many. His
horses names also show that he was a part of not the glorified part of war and strategy like his
sister Athena but the bad part. This has stayed simmilar through out the ages but has changed.
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Today as seen in Video Games Ares has been used but not as much as the war aspect
but someone who cannot be trusted as an antagonist in the hit God of War. “Tricked by Ares
into murdering the only people he ever loved. Swearing to avenge them, Kratos broke the
blood oath that bound him to Ares, but oaths to Olympus are not so easily broken... Sentenced
to an eternity chained within a prison for the living damned, Kratos battles insanity at the hands
of the Furies. He will be tested as he seeks freedom, redemption for his sins, and the clarity to
avenge his family” ( Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC). From this quote you can see
that Ares is presented as not trustworthy by betraying Kratos. This shows him in a new way and
with modern pop culture of the video game God of War will most likely be carried on with the
view of Ares. Ares is also presented in this game as a very strong person beyond muscular going
against what the statue in appendix a shows him as.
In the movie Wrath of the titans Ares in the modern day preception is once again
shown as not a loyal or trustworthy character after he betrays Zeus and helps Kronos capture
him. “Hades, along with Zeus' godly son, Ares (Edgar Ramírez), switches loyalty and make a deal
with Kronos to capture Zeus.” (Unknown, 1) as seen by this quote from imdb.com it furthers the
modern day perception as described in the God of War paragraph.
As seen by the statue, movie and game Ares has changed over the years from the god of
war and bloodlust to a distrustful brute. I believe that this perception will continue and change
throughout the years, but all the same he has changed.
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Appendix A
teegeeoperanobilia.blogspot.com
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Works Cited
Alcamenes. Ares Borghese. Musée de Picardie, Amiens. Genealogical Guide to Greek
Mythology. Paris, 420 BC.
Immortals. Dir. Tarsem Singh. Perf. Luke Evan and Daniel Sharman. 2011.
Parada, Carlos, and Maicar Förlag. "Ares." Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology.
Sunjoy Direct, 1997. Web. 29 May 2013. <http://www.maicar.com/GML/Ares.html>.
Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC. "God of War." 2013. God of War Ascension. 14
May 2013 http://godofwar.playstation.com/en-us/game/.
No Author1. "Mythology Notes." 2013. Ilini West High School. 14 May 2013
http://www.illiniwest.org/.
Liebesman, Jonathan, dir. Wrath of the Titans. Perf. Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, and Ralph
Fiennes. 2011. Warner Bros. Web. 29 May 2013.
<http://www.maicar.com/GML/Ares.html>.
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