Ares In Mythological Literature
Ares does not make many appearances in the Greek mythological literature, but perhaps his most prominent appearance is that of his affair with Aphrodite, the known consort and possible wife of Ares’ brother Hephaestus. In one story, a sort of fable about the way the rooster came into the world, Ares is caught with his lover Aphrodite. The two were discovered making love in the temple of Hephaestus, by the sun god, Helios, who immediately went back and told Hephaestus of the affair. In his anger, Hephaestus created a special net to catch the two lovers when they came together. Alectryon, a young man, was placed as sentry by the door of the temple by Ares, whom Alectryon was to alert as soon as Helios came. Instead Alectryon fell asleep by the door. When Ares heard that Helios had come, discovered them, and then reported to Hephaestus, Ares was furious and turned Alectryon into a rooster, which must always crow when as soon as he sees the sun every morning.
In the rest of the myth, later, when the two lovers Ares and Aphrodite met, Hephaestus threw his net over the two, who were trapped in their love-making. Hephaestus wasn’t finished in his revenge however, and he called other the other gods to come and see the two. Although the men were amorous of Aphrodite’s beauty, they were also mocking towards both of the lovers. When Ares was finally free, in his fury, he exiled himself to his homeland in Thrace. In another shorter myth, told by Dione to Aphrodite in the Illiad, two giants, Otus and Ephialtes, also called the Aloadae put Ares in chains, and inside a bronze urn. He remained there for an entire lunar year –thirteen months, until the stepmother of the Aloadae, Eriboea told Hermes who eventually came to Ares’ rescue. Artemis eventually tricked the Aloadae into killing each other, whereas another story describes them as being killed by Apollo and bound to columns in the Underworld.
The Illiad’s description of Ares makes him out to be not so much as a traitor, as really having no real allegiance. Ares had promised Athena and his mother to fight on the side of the Achaeans, but Aphrodite, as his lover, persuaded him to fight alongside the Trojans instead. Diomedes, fighting with the Hector, saw Ares’ interference, and requested permission to drive Ares off the battlefield from Hera and Athena. Hera allowed and encouraged Diomedes, who threw a spear at Ares and injured him, afterwards, Athena drove a spear into Ares as well. The god Ares’ screams of pain caused the Trojans to fall back after Ares fled tom Mount Olympus. When Zeus allowed the gods to rejoin the war, Ares attempted to fight Athena to avenge his previous injury, but she beat him again by pushing a boulder onto him. Later, however, when Ares learned that one of his sons had been killed, in his sorrow, Athena came to his aid, stopped him from re-entering the battle and helped him take off his armor.