Ares and Athena: The Ultimate Sibling Rivalry The role that Ares plays in Greek mythology is rather small. This has a lot to do with Athena being perceived as superior. As such, the two siblings were bitter rivals and were always in constant competition.
Athena defeated Ares several times. During the Trojan War, she attacked him with a boulder. Athena also helped Heracles (Hercules in Latin) defeat Ares through a non-fatal wound.
Jealousy came over Ares for Athena, and, as a result of that jealousy, Ares laid siege to Athens which was her city. Since Zeus had forbidden the Gods from waging war with one another, Athena could not step in to protect her city.
Athena was a more likable deity as compared to Ares who was despised even by his parents due to his nature. Athena, though a war goddess, was more strategic and would only resort to violence after all diplomatic efforts have failed.
Later, when Zeus allows the gods to fight in the war again, Ares attacks Athena to avenge his previous injury. Athena overpowers him by striking him with a boulder.
Ares Is the Greek God of War
Athena, the goddess of war, was his half-sister.
Ares was the Greek god of war and perhaps the most unpopular of all the Olympian gods because of his quick temper, aggressiveness, and unquenchable thirst for conflict. He famously seduced Aphrodite, unsuccessfully fought with Hercules, and enraged Poseidon by killing his son Halirrhothios.
Athena is the single most prevalent foe of Ares, the two were the ultimate symbol of war, two siblings with the same station but who were so different they were always ready to fight one another.
Ares also fled in fear of the giant Typhon when the monster first attacked Olympus, though most other Olympians (other than Zeus) did as well. Even though Ares was the god of war, some say he disturbed the gods with his loud bellows when he lost.
As soon as the fighting commenced, the gods descended onto the battlefield in support of their favourites. Ares led the Trojans, but was wounded by Diomedes and Athena, and driven from the battlefield. Homer, Iliad 4.
However, despite their dominion over the same subject, Ares and Athena were far from a brother-sister team. In fact, in all of Greek Mythology, no siblings seem to hold a worse grudge against one another than the two war deities.
Ares was born millennia ago to Zeus, King of the Old Gods, as one of the latter's many godly children. At an indeterminate point, he witnessed the creation of humanity by his father Zeus. Ares despised the human race that Zeus created, so he began corrupting them with war, blood-thirst, and violence.
Ares was most notably referred to as the God of War; he represented the unpleasant aspects of battle. He was the son of Zeus and Hera, both of whom hated him (according to Homer). He was most often characterized as a coward in spite of his connection to war; he responded to even the slightest injury with outrage.
Ares, not always a warrior, was a lover as well. He was known for being the lover of Aphrodite aka Venus, shown with him here, who was married to Hephaestus aka Vulcan, the God of Fire. Seen here with his shield on the ground, Ares is embracing Aphrodite.
Who was Aphrodite married to? Aphrodite was compelled by Zeus to marry Hephaestus, the god of fire. However, they were an imperfect match, and Aphrodite consequently spent time cheating with the god of war, Ares, as well as a slew of mortal lovers, such as the Trojan nobleman Anchises and the youth Adonis.
Though she shunned warfare, when forced into battle she proved nearly invincible. A brilliant strategist, she twice defeated the war god Ares on the battlefield.
It is said that the boar which killed Adonis was no ordinary beast but the god Ares, who was one of Aphrodite's many lovers. Jealous of her passion for Adonis, Ares, disguised himself in the form of a boar and attacked the young man.
Though Ares was devoted to his mother Hera, there was no love lost between him and his father Zeus. Zeus scorned Ares for his violent and cruel nature, even telling him at one point that he was the most hateful of all the gods.
Phobos (Ancient Greek: Φόβος, pronounced [pʰóbos], Ancient Greek: "fear") is the god and personification of fear and panic in Greek mythology. Phobos was the son of Ares and Aphrodite, and the brother of Deimos.
From at least the time of Homer—who established him as the son of the chief god, Zeus, and Hera, his consort—Ares was one of the Olympian deities; his fellow gods and even his parents, however, were not fond of him (Iliad, Book V, 889 ff.).
Symbol or Attribute: The spear. He is also associated with vultures and dogs. Strengths:Decisive, determined, fearless. Weaknesses: Impulsive, bloodthirsty, raring for a fight regardless of the consequences.
As you may have gathered, the goddess of beauty, Aphrodite, was the secret lover of Ares.
Ares is the anti-villainous/anti-heroic Greek God of War and an enemy of the Marvel superhero Thor, as well as an occasional hero serving alongside the Avengers and Dark Avengers. He is also one of the three arch-enemies of his brother Hercules (alongside Hera and Pluto).
Aries (March 21 – April 19)
“Aries fears being wrong more than anything or being told what to do if what they are told is incorrect or inconsistent with what Aries knows to be 'right,'” says Athena Perrakis, PhD of Sage Goddess.
Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. He was disliked by both parents. He is the god of war. He is considered murderous and bloodstained but, also a coward.