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--mythology, page two-- Ares was the father of many children, most of whom were cruel, violent kings. Among his sons were Diomedes of Thrace, who bred man-eating horses, Oenomaus of Pisa, and the dragon which devastated Thebes and its surroundings until slain by Cadmus. Another son called Cycnus set up house in the temple of Apollo Pagasaeus and defiled that sacred place with his weapons. After a fierce fight, Heracles killed him, upon which his father transformed him into a swan (cycnus in Greek, then as now). Flegyas, son of Ares by Chruse, also tried to burn down a temple of Apollo, but the god of light shot him with an arrow. Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons, was the daughter of Ares, as was Alcippe, daughter of Agraula and born in Athens. According to the tradition, Halirrhothius, the brutal son of Poseidon, tried to ravish Alcippe, but Ares was lying in wait for him and killed him just at the crucial moment. Poseidon demanded that the gods try Ares for murder, the first instance in which the twelve gods of Olympus were recognized as a supreme court in capital cases. Ares was tried - and acquitted - on a rocky outcrop to the west of the Acropolis in Athens, which was later called the Areopagus (= ‘rock of Ares’) and became the court of Athens (the name is still used for the modern Greek supreme court). Ares’ union with Aphrodite [Venus] resulted in the birth of Eros, Harmony, Deimus and Phobus. Attribution of the parenthood of Harmony to the god of war and the goddess of love could be seen as a symbol of the need for balance and order to be produced from a blend between opposing powers. Harmony, who later became wife of king Cadmus of Thebes, thus bestowed upon the world the concept behind her name after the violence of Ares had first been united with the serenity and tenderness of Aphrodite. Two of the other children of that union, however, inherited the properties of their father and became his faithful acolytes: Deimus and Phobus [Rei’s pet crows], who represented the awe and fear of mankind. Also among the companions of the god were Eris (= strife), who caused quarrels, Enyo, the terrible goddess of battle, and Cera, a monster with the teeth and talons of a wild beast. " another article on ares... |
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