Ares was an extremely popular figure in Greek mythology and literature; he was widely worshipped by ancient Greeks as a warrior god and patron of soldiers, providing courage to those who fought on behalf of their communities (and often in their own self-defense). His name means “fighter” or “warrior”.
Ares was born to Zeus and Hera while they were still married; however, Zeus’ affair with another woman led Hera to leave her husband in disgust. Zeus decided to reconcile with his wife by allowing her to raise their offspring by herself on Mount Olympus where he would visit his children frequently. When Artemis was born, she received no praise from her father because he felt that she was not very useful; however, when Ares came along he was given a hero’s welcome because he would someday be able to fight in wars alongside his father against other gods or mortals who displeased him in some way (such as Heracles). While Ares may not have been very useful in terms of helping people and being a good person overall, he still had many followers who loved him for being such a strong warrior.
The Roman counterpart to Ares was Mars – whose name means essentially the same thing as Ares’s name in Greek – but Mars did not become nearly as important as Ares in Greek religion or mythology until Rome absorbed many more Greek myths than its native ones into its own culture in later centuries AD/CE.
