Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/294

276 ARES. C. ARE'NNIUS and L. AHE'NNIUS, were tribunes of the plebs in b. c. 210. L. Arennius was praefect of the allies two years afterwards, B. c. '208, and was taken prisoner in the battle in Avhich Marcellus was defeated by Hannibal (Liv. xxvii. 6, 26, 27.) ARES ("ApTjs), the god of war and one of the great Olympian gods of the Greeks. He is repre- sented as the son of Zeus and Hera. (Horn. //. v. 893, &c. ; Hes. Tlieog. 921 ; Apollod. i. 3. § 1.) A later tradition, according to which Hera con- ceived Ares by touching a certain flower, appears to be an imitation of the legend about the birth of Hephaestus, and is related by Ovid. {Fast. v. 255, &c.) The character of Ares in Greek mythology •will be best understood if we compare it with that of other divinities who are likewise in some way connected with war. Athena represents thought- fulness and wisdom in the affairs of war, and pro- tects men and their habitations during its ravages. Ares, on the other hand, is nothing but the per- sonification of bold force and strength, and not so much the god of war as of its tumult, confusion, and horrors. His sister Eris calls forth war, Zeus directs its course, but Ares loves war for its own sake, and delights in the din and roar of battles, in the slaughter of men, and the destruction of towns. He is not even influenced by piirty-spirit, but sometimes assists the one and sometimes the other side, just as his inclination may dictate ; whence Zeus calls him aKoirp6(TaKos. {11. v. 889.) The destructive hand of this god was even believed to be active in the ravages made by plagues and epidemics. (Soph. Oed. Tyr. 185.) This savage and sanguinary character of Ares makes him hated by the other gpds and his own parents. (//. v. 889 — 909.) In the Iliad, he appears surrounded by the personifications of all the fearful phenomena and effects of war (iv. 440, &c., xv. 119, &c.); but in the Odyssey his character is somewhat softened down. It was contrary to the spirit which animated the Greeks to represent a being like Ares, with all his overwhelming physical strength, as always victorious ; and when he comes in contact with higher powers, he is usually con- quered. He was wounded by Diomedes, who was assisted by Athena, and in his fall he roared like nine or ten thousand other warriors together. (//. V. 855, &c.) When the gods began to take an active part in the war of the mortals, Athena op- posed Ares, and threw him on the ground by hurling at him a mighty stone (xx. 69, xxi. 403, &c.); and when he lay stretched on the earth, his huge body covered the space of seven plethra. The gigantic Aloadae had likewise conquered and chained him, and had kept him a prisoner for thir- teen months, until he was delivered by Hermes, (v. 385, &c.) In the contest of Typhon against Zeus, Ares was obliged, together with the other gods, to flee to Egj'pt, where he metamorphosed himself into a fish. (Antonin. Lib. 28.) He was also conquered by Heracles, with whom he fought on account of his son Cycnus, and obliged to re- turn to Olympus. (Hesiod, Scut. Here. 461.) In numerous other contests, however, he was victo- rious. This fierce and gigantic, but Avithal hand- some god loved and was beloved by Aphrodite : he interfered on her behalf with Zeus (v. 883), and lent her his war-chariot, (v, 363 ; comp. Aph- rodite.) When Aphrodite loved Adonis, Ares in his jealousy metamorphosed himself into a bear. ARESAS. and killed his rival. [Adonis.] According to a late tradition. Ares slew Halirrhotius, tiie son of Poseidon, when he was on the point of violating Alcippe, the daughter of Ares. Hereupon Poseidon accused Ares in the Areiopagus, where the Olym- pian gods were assembled in court. Ares was acquitted, and this event was believed to have given rise to the name Areiopagus. {Did. of Ant. S.V.) The warlike character of the tribes of Thrace led to the belief, that the god's residence was in that country, and here and in Scythia were the principal seats of his worship. (Hom. Ckl. viii. 361, with the note of Eustath. ; Ov. Ars Am. ii. 585 ; Statius, Theb. vii. 42; Herod, iv. 59, 62.) In Scythia he was woi-shipped in the form of a sword, to which not only horses and other cattle, but men also were sacrificed. Respecting the worship of an Egyptian divinity called Ares, see Herodotus, ii. 64. He was further worshipped in Colchis, where the golden fleece was suspended on an oak-tree in a grove sacred to him. (Apollod. i. 9. § 16.) From thence the Dioscuri were believed to have brought to Laconia the ancient statue of Ares which was preser-ed in the temple of Ares Thareitas, on the road from Sparta to Therapnae. (Paus. iii. 19. § 7, Sic.) The island near the coast of Colchis, in which the StA-mphalian birds were believed to have dwelt, and which is called the island of Ares, Aretias, Aria, or Chalceritis, was likewise sacred to him. (Steph. Byz. s. v. "Apeos vrjaos ; Apollon. Rhod. ii. 1047; Plin. H.N. vi. 12; Pomp. Mela, il 7. § 15.) In Greece itself the worship of Ares was not very general. At Athens he had a temple con- taining a statue made by Alcamenes (Paus. i. 8. § 5) ; at Geronthrae in Laconia he had a temple with a grove, where an annual festival was cele- brated, during which no woman was allowed to approach the temple, (iii. 22. § 5.) He was also worshipped near Tegea, and in the town (viii. 44. § 6, 48. § 3), at Olympia (v. 15. § 4), near Thebes (Apollod. iii. 4. § 1 ), and at Sparta, where there was an ancient statue, representing the god in chains, to indicate that the martial spirit and vic- tory were never to leave the city of Sparta. (Paus. iii. 1 5. § 5.) At Sparta human sacrifices were offered to Ares. (Apollod. Fragm. p. 1056, ed. He}'ne.) The temples of this god were usually built outside the towns, probably to suggest the idea that he was to prevent enemies from approach- ing them. All the stories about Ares and his worship in the countries north of Greece seem to indicate that his worship was introduced in the latter country from Thrace ; and the whole character of the god, as described by the most ancient poets of Greece, seems to have been thought little suited to be re- presented in works of art : in fact, we hear of no artistic representation of Ares previous to the time of Alcamenes, who appears to have created the ideal of Ares. There are few Greek monuments now extant with representations of the god ; he appears principally on coins, reliefs, and gems. (Hirt. MytJwL BUderh. i. p. 51.) The Romans identified their god Mars with the Greek Ares. [Mars.] ^ ^ [L. S.] A'RESAS ('ApeVos), of Lucania, and probably of Croton, was at the head of the Pythagorean school, and the sixth in succession from Pj'thagoras. Some attribute to him a work "about Human Na- ture," of which a fragment is preserved by Stobacus