01 · The stories
Myths & defining acts
Caught with Aphrodite in Hephaestus's net (Odyssey 8). Wounded by Diomedes at Troy and complains to Zeus (Iliad 5). Tried before the gods on the Areopagus for killing Halirrhothius, and acquitted (Apollodorus 3.14.2). Named by Rhea Silvia as father of Romulus and Remus, who were suckled by a she-wolf (Livy 1.4).
02 · Sacred lineage
Family & relations
In Greek genealogy, parents: Zeus and Hera. With Aphrodite, children include Phobos, Deimos and Harmonia; the parentage of Eros varies. In Roman tradition, Mars is father of Romulus and Remus by Rhea Silvia. The Roman story is distinct from the Greek family of Ares.
Greek literary genealogies and Roman cult identities are not interchangeable. Explore the family tree and its traditions.
03 · Places of devotion
Abode & sacred sites
Thrace, where Homer places his home (Greek). In Rome, the Campus Martius ('Field of Mars') and the Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus (Roman).
04 · Two traditions
Greek & Roman perspectives
The Greek perspective
Homer shows Ares as an unpopular god. In the Iliad, Zeus tells him he hates him worst of all the gods in Olympus, and when Diomedes wounds him with Athena's help, Ares bellows, flees to Olympus and complains to Zeus. Pausanias records a sanctuary of Ares in the Athenian agora, and says the Areopagus ('Hill of Ares') was named because Ares was the first to be tried there, for killing Poseidon's son Halirrhothius.
The Roman perspective
In Livy's foundation story, Mars is the father of Romulus and Remus. Ovid says March is named after him and that Romulus made it the first month of the Roman year. Cato's farming handbook describes a ritual in which Mars is invoked to protect the person praying and the crops from misfortune. The ancient commentator Servius says a spear was shaken in the Regia while Mars was asked to watch over the Roman people ('Mars vigila'). The Salii, a priesthood of Mars, danced through the city in March, and modern scholars credit them with opening the war season in March and closing it in October. Augustus vowed a temple to Mars the Avenger (Mars Ultor) in the war after Julius Caesar's murder, and Ovid describes it in the Forum of Augustus.
Compare the two traditions side by side: Ares vs Mars, with passages cited.
05 · Extensive analysis
A closer reading
The two traditions treat the god differently. In Homer, Ares is a hated, wounded fighter whom Zeus rebukes. In Roman writing, Mars is the father of Rome's founders, a protector of the people and of crops, and the god for whom the first month of the Roman year was named. Both traditions agree that he is the god of war, but the surviving sources emphasise different things; see the Ares vs Mars comparison.
06 · Primary sources
What the sources say
These are the main ancient passages behind this entry, with what each one actually says.
- Hesiod, Theogony lines 921–923
Hera, Zeus's last wife, bears Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia.
Read the passage - Homer, Iliad book 5, lines 855–891
Athena urges Diomedes to strike Ares. After the wounded god complains to Zeus, Zeus says he hates him worst of all the gods in Olympus, because he is always fighting and making mischief.
Read the passage - Homer, Iliad book 15, lines 113–142
Ares announces that he will avenge his son's death even if Zeus's lightning strikes him down. Athena takes his helmet, shield and spear and holds him back.
Read the passage - Livy, Ab Urbe Condita book 1, chapter 4, section 2
The Vestal Rhea Silvia gives birth to twin sons and names Mars as their father, whether she believed it or because it seemed less shameful if a god was the cause.
Read the passage - Ovid, Fasti book 3, lines 1–4 and 167–200
Ovid addresses Mars and says the month of March takes its name from him. He later asks Mars why matrons celebrate his festival and has the god answer in his own voice, speaking of Romulus as his son.
Read the passage - Hesiod, Theogony lines 933–937
Aphrodite bears to Ares Phobos and Deimos, who drive men's ranks into disorder in war, and Harmonia, whom Cadmus married.
Read the passage - Homer, Odyssey book 8, lines 354–361
After Hephaestus releases Ares and Aphrodite from his net, Ares departs to Thrace and Aphrodite to Paphos in Cyprus.
Read the passage - Pausanias, Description of Greece book 1, chapter 8, section 4
Near the statue of Demosthenes in the Athenian agora is a sanctuary of Ares, with images of Aphrodite, Ares and Athena and an image of Enyo.
Read the passage - Pausanias, Description of Greece book 1, chapter 28, section 5
The Areopagus is called the Hill of Ares because Ares was the first to be tried there, for killing Halirrhothius.
Read the passage - Apollodorus, Library book 3, chapter 14, section 2
Ares kills Halirrhothius, son of Poseidon, when he tries to violate Ares's daughter Alcippe. Poseidon accuses him, and Ares is tried on the Areopagus before the twelve gods and acquitted.
Read the passage - Plutarch, Life of Romulus chapter 4
A she-wolf nursed the twins and a woodpecker helped feed and watch over them; both creatures are considered sacred to Mars.
Read the passage - Livy, Ab Urbe Condita book 2, chapter 5
The land of the Tarquins, between the city and the Tiber, was consecrated to Mars and became the Campus Martius.
Read the passage - Ovid, Fasti book 3, lines 75–76
Romulus names the first month of the year after his father Mars.
Read the passage - Ovid, Fasti book 5, lines 549–578
Ovid describes Mars Ultor descending to the temple in Augustus's forum, and recounts Augustus's vow to Mars before avenging his father.
Read the passage - Wikipedia, Mars (mythology), a modern summary sections on the war god and rustic god
A modern reference summary, used for three points: Servius's report of the spear shaken in the Regia with the cry 'Mars vigila', Cato's prayer to Mars to guard the suppliant and crops, and Plutarch on the woodpecker and wolf being sacred to Mars.
Read the passage - Wikipedia, Salii, a modern summary section on festivals
The Salii are described as opening and closing the war season, on 17 March (the Agonium Martiale) and 19 October (the Armilustrium); the March festival of the Salii is also described in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities.
Read the passage
Where the sources differ
- Zeus's anger at Ares in Homer (Iliad 5.889–891) contrasts with Mars's role as father of Rome's founders in Livy and Ovid. See the full comparison: Ares vs Mars.
07 · Story & deeper insight
Ares, Mars and two meanings of war
In the Iliad, Ares enters battle and is wounded by Diomedes with Athena's assistance. His enormous cry fills the field; when he complains to Zeus, his father condemns his appetite for conflict. The scene exposes a god of war to humiliation and contrasts destructive fighting with Athena's tactical control. It describes an epic dispute, not every Greek community's attitude to Ares.
Roman Mars occupies a different place in the foundation story. As the father of Romulus and Remus by Rhea Silvia, he connects warfare with ancestry and the birth of the city. The abandoned twins survive, but their eventual struggle also makes violence part of Rome's origins.
Mars's religious functions extended into the protection of land and communities. The contrast therefore reaches beyond a change of name: Roman tradition could turn military power into paternal and civic legitimacy. Neither tradition makes war harmless. Read together, Ares and Mars reveal competing attempts to understand force as chaos, protection and a foundation of political authority.