g that peaceful course of state-life which it was
pre-eminently the care of Zeus to establish, he was naturally disliked and
even hated by him.

When wounded by Diomedes, as above related, he complains to his father, but
receives no sympathy from the otherwise kindly and beneficent ruler of
Olympus, who thus angrily addresses him: "Do not trouble me with thy
complaints, thou who art of all the gods of Olympus most hateful to me, for
thou delightest in nought save war and strife. The very spirit of thy
mother lives in thee, and wert thou not my son, long ago wouldst thou have
lain deeper down in the bowels of the earth than the son of Uranus."

[Illustration]

Ares, upon one occasion, incurred the anger of Poseidon by slaying his son
Halirrhothios, who had insulted Alcippe, the daughter of the war-god. For
this deed, Poseidon summoned Ares to appear before the tribunal of the
Olympic gods, which was held upon a hill in Athens. Ares was acquitted, and
this event is supposed to have given rise to the name Areopagus (or Hill of
Ares), which afterwards became so famous as a court of justice. In the
Gigantomachia, Ares was defeated by the Aloidae, the two giant-sons of
Poseidon, who put him in chains, and kept him in prison for thirteen
months.

Ares is represented as a man of youthful appearance; his tall muscular form
combines great strength with wonderful agility. In his right hand he bears
a sword or a mighty lance, while on the left arm he carries his round
shield (see next page). His demoniacal surroundings are Terror and
Fear;[44] Enyo, the goddess of the war-cry; Keidomos, the demon of the
noise of battles; and Eris (Contention), his twin-sister and companion, who
always {114} precedes his chariot when he rushes to the fight, the latter
being evidently a simile of the poets to express the fact that war follows
contention.

Eris is represented as a woman of florid complexion, with dishevelled hair,
and her whole appearance angry and menacing. In one hand she brandishes a
poniard and a hissing adder, whilst in the other she carries a burning
torch. Her dress is torn and disorderly, and her hair intertwined with
venomous snakes. This divinity was never invoked by mortals, except when
they desired her assistance for the accomplishment of evil purposes.

MARS.

The Roman divinity most closely resembling the Greek Ares, and identified
with him, was called Mars, Mamers, and Marspiter or Father Mars.

The earliest It