Mars VS Ares

Ares VS Mars         

Mars proudly standing guard over the peace

 

 

 

Ares standing over the skulls of his victims

 

 

Mars and Ares were gods of war representing the Greek’s and Roman’s views of war. Their weapon of choice was the spear and was the symbol that their worshipers used to represent them. Although they shared similar roles in their respective pantheons, the traits that defined them were vastly different. Ares was the god of war but only the physical or violent, untamed aspects of it leaving the more civilized parts such as military strategy to his sister, Athena. Mars on the other hand was the god of the use of violence for peace. He was the protector of agriculture, the discipline and the strategy of the roman’s warfare and the masculinity of men.

Their roles in the minds of their worshippers greatly differed too. Ares was treated with contempt and revulsion, a bloodthirsty, destructive force that struck fear into the hearts of men. There weren’t a lot of myths regarding him and when he was in it, he was usually humiliated such as when he got beaten up by Athena in the Trojan war. Mars however was a model to the people, a shining light that guided people and protected the courageous. He was the most prominent of the war gods and was second to only Jupiter himself. A very important god for an empire built on conquest and war. Mars didn’t have many myths either but Romans didn’t have many myths that weren’t part of the creation myth. The founders of Rome however, Romulus and Remus were believed to be children of Mars.

Many people believe the Roman and Greek Pantheons to be identical but gods usually represent a civilization’s beliefs and so no 2 pantheons are identical and that is especially true for a civilization full of philosophers and mathematicians compared to an empire forged through conquest. Ares and Mars are the culmination of 2 civilizations view of warfare and have personalities and traits that vastly differ.