itâs fatherâs day in germany so todayâs post is dedicated to proving all ares haters wrong. also this is a continuation of sorts to this post about demeter:
it's mother's day in germany today, so i made a post about the best mother in greek mythology :D also upcoming post about ares on father's d
before i startâTW: emotional abuse, toxic parenting, rap3
reasons people dislike ares :/
Mars is Ares' parallel ... = I kinda really hate that this has to be said, but Ares â Mars. The Romans and Greeks had two very different cultures. They even kind of hated each other, considering the fact that the Romans drew their heritage from Aeneas, a Trojan. Yes, the Roman gods are very similar to the Greek, but they are not the same. This is very relevant for Ares, because the Romans are famed for their brutality and bloodlust, and see their war god in a way that matches this. Since Greek culture is different and generally less brutal it is unfair to Ares to give him Mars' attributes. Also, generally, Romans made their gods less 'humane' in a sense, and Ares' humanity is one of his defining qualities, as you will come to see.
History is written by the those who can write = Most of Greek history as we know it comes from Athens and its writers, who were incredibly biased. Not only was their patron goddess Athena, Ares' rival, they were enemies of the Spartans. Spartans were amazing warriors and admired Ares, so obviously the Athenians would not. They antagonized him in many ways.
Daddy issues ... = Ares is amongst the only sons Zeus had with his actual wife so Zeus hated him, because Zeus' logic is flawed like that... That's not the whole truth however, thereâs more. Though Zeus is undeniably fond of attention, he sees Ares as clingy and annoying and too much like Hera. It was important to gain Zeus' favour, him being the Father God, so no one wanted to upset him by praising the wrong god and hence sometimes refrained from genuinely praising Ares.
The divine race is a race of cowards? ... = This image of Ares as a coward is extremely unfitting, him being the god of war, but it's very popular. The following quote is of Ares admitting his cowardice to Zeus in Book 5 of the Iliad:
Vanquish'd I fled: e'en I, the god of fight,
From mortal madness scarce was saved by flight.
Here's the thing though. Technically, he didn't flee the battle, he was injured and left. That is literally normal. Menelaus did it, Aeneas did it too. It's like demanding an injured football player carries own playing with a broken leg, but worse. Okay, but he was complaining, you might be saying (*gasp* how dare he?!). I mean ... Let him? He got shot with an arrow and went to his father to complain. As you do when you get hurt â at least when you have a healthy relationship with said father. Ares might not have that relationship, but he does have a one-sided love to him, hence a little hope that the relationship could get better. Expecting Ares to stay quiet about the pain he feels is literally toxic masculinityâAres was worshipped as the god of masculinity and that never meant to the Greeks that youâre not allowed to show emotion or do 'feminine' things ... Ares was a dancer! (x) This is a definition of toxic masculinity from the Cambridge Dictionary:
ideas about the way men should behave that are seen as harmful, for example the idea that men should not cry or admit weakness
On top of that, I firmly believe that Ares might've been emotionally manipulated by Zeus and/or others to believe he is a coward. If you've read the Homeric Hymn to Ares you know he was described as anything but:
"giver of dauntless youth"
"drive away bitter cowardice from my head"
@wh0reforhekate and I talked about this a little in the comments of one of my posts, here are some screenshots:
if you want to check out the rest of the conversation itâs on the comments of this post:
ares telling everyone about his year in the jar:
Whoever controls the media, controls the mind ... = To be honest, it doesn't surprise me that modern media antagonizes Ares, like it usually does Hades as well, because the things they represent are feared or hated. The problem is that Ares is not war. He is the god of war. It is okay to hate war and admire/respect Ares. What I feel many creators nowadays don't realize is that they're literally talking about a religion and making a villain of an amazing god. What comes to mind is Wonder Woman ... In my research for this post, I found a question on Quora that was asking why everybody hates Ares. Some answers were good, but one made me want to punch my screen, especially because this was a comment left under it:
People donât realize that, even if theyâre not famous, a lot of people believe random stuff they read. Wiki Fandom even goes so far to put Ares in the 'villains' category ...
Rap3 = Throughout all of the years and all of the myths told of him, Ares never raped anyone, whether woman or man. I know it sounds like congratulating someone for something normal, but this actually makes him stand out in the backdrop of the rest of the (male) Greek pantheon. Speaking of rap3 ...
Alcippe = The myth is as follows: Alcippe, Ares' daughter, was being rap3d by Poseidon's son. Ares saw this happening and he killed him with no hesitation. Poseidon tried to have him punished for it, but Ares was found innocent. Studies prove that most people wouldnât speak up when they witness sexual harassment, not even nowadays. This is called the bystander effect.
Breaking the chain = As you can tell from the myth above, Ares is a fantastic parent. This shows his devotion to his children that much more because the way Zeus and Hera parented him was undeniably toxic. It is suggested that 30% of children who suffered child abuse will become abusive parents since they have no better role model, so what Ares did is called âbreaking the chainâ. Some of his flaws like aggression or violence are common in child abuse survivors.
Attack of the Giants = Ares was not only a great father, but an amazing brother and son. When Olympus was getting attacked by two giants who wanted to rap3 Hera and Artemis (Ares' mother and half-sister), Ares was the first to fight them, but they captured him and put him in a jar, where he literally came close to dying (because he didn't have ambrosia). When Hermes finally saved him, his efforts went unrecognized.
Achilles' equal = Finally, I will resort to pressuring you into liking Ares. If you like Achilles or at least admit he is a flawed character, but not necessarily evil, then you have to admit the same about Ares, because they are practically the same. This parallel is reflected in the Iliad in following quotes. The first is Agamemnon addressing Achilles, the second Zeus addressing Ares.
"Of all the kings (the god's distinguished care)
To power superior none such hatred bear;"
"Of all the gods who tread the spangled skies,
Thou most unjust most odious in our eyes!"
Itâs a clear parallel and on top of that, many of their traits are very similar too, like their uncontrollable temper.
thank you for reading this rant lol
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