λατρεία

in honour of the deity Ares 🖤 “if ever I should sweat and bleed for you, watch closely over me and offer me your strength of will”

[citysacker]

Ares who answers the prayer of the despairing, I honor you.

[petals-stained-red]

On Tuesdays, we wear red.

As a devotee of Ares, I personally elect to wear some shade of red every Tuesday as my way of paying tribute to him on his sacred day of the week.

To me, the color is symbolic of courage, action, assertiveness, war, bloodshed, passion and protection. I find it fitting to honor Lord Ares with those ideals on his sacred day. It is not done in place of a daily offering but instead in addition to other offerings.

[luvlywitch7]

For Lord Ares, divine guide and protector ⚔️

[boofindoopin-deactivated2026042]

Ares

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(just a reminder, I’m not perfect. Some of this information will be like me, imperfect. I’m not a scholar, just a woman trying to make everything a little easy for newcomers or people who need resources!)

Ares is the god of things that people generally don’t really enjoy. Bloodlust/battles lust, war. People don’t generally LOVE those. But, that doesn’t in the slightest mean Lord Ares himself isn’t lovely, or that he isn’t in charge of some amazing things! He’s also the god of courage, civil order, and masculinity.

Lord Ares wasn’t all too popular in Ancient Greece, sadly. (The Romans loved his counterpart, Mars. But, Ares and Mars are different deities from different Pantheons, and this post isn’t about Mars because I don’t worship the Roman pantheon. I just fucking love the Romans and will talk about them any chance I can, mwahaha >:3) But, Ares still has some classic associations!

•Helms

•Shields

•Swords, sometimes. Thanatos has swords more often, I believe.

•Vultures

•Serpents

I have a few other things I associate Lord Ares with, and I’m sure other people also associate some of these with him, too!

•Dogs

•Cherries. Specifically black cherries, because those are the tastier ones.

•Cinnamon

•Spicy food

•Cranberries (can’t explain, just cranberries…)

I like to assign my deities colors. I just really love colors and color pallets. All my altars are color coded.

•Red

•Copper/Bronze

•Gold

•Leather brown

•Black

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Even though this religion isn’t myth literal like many others, I still really enjoy the myths! When I was new, I thought I legitimately wasn’t allowed to. But, that’s not true at all! You’re still allowed to like the myths, just remember: The gods are NOT their myths.

Almost every source of history you’ll find on Ancient Greece and the gods will be heavily biased towards Athens. And if it’s heavily biased towards Athens, that means it will be heavily biased towards Athena.

The Ancient Greeks preferred Athena because she’s viewed as smarter, wiser, more practically. She’s the art of war, the strategy and technique. Ares is the soldiers. He’s the passion and emotion and war. So, he’s often portrayed as ‘stupid’ and a coward. (Athens and Sparta weren’t friends, and Sparta really liked Ares, so that’s also why he’s painted in such a terrible light.)

Lord Ares isn’t violence and hatred. He isn’t cruel and awful. He isn’t stupid. He’s very kind. Very fatherly. Protective. Smart. He reminds me a lot of my own father, actually.

So, here’s some of my favorite myths about Lord Ares!

The Murder of Halirrhothius (mentions SA and 🍇)

Ares had a daughter named Alikippe. Alikippe was walking near a spring by the Akropolis when a boy named Halirrhothius, son of Poseidon, sprang out.

Halirrhothius raped Alikippe. Alikipee, in distress, called out to her father Ares. Ares showed, saw what was happening to his dear daughter, and murdered Halirrhothius.

Now, if you aren’t too much of a history nerd, that might seem like a pretty normal reaction to you. Which, yes, I AGREE!

But, we’re talking Ancient Greece here. Rape wasn’t even considered a crime against the woman who lived through it. It was viewed more like we view destruction of property. The rapist was expected to pay the woman’s father or husband, because it was a crime against them.

Ares killing his daughter’s rapist is a GIANT deal. (I loved Ares so much before I worshipped him, and that’s one of the reasons why)

Poseidon was pissed that Ares killed his son, not caring that his son raped Ares’s daughter. He demanded Ares be tried in court.

Ares was brought to a hill where Athena would be the judge. When Athena heard Ares’s case, she acquitted Ares of the crime.

The hill was then named Areopagos (Hill of Ares), where Athenians would try people for homicide at!

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The Jar

Ominous title, I know.

There were two giants named Ephialtes and Otus. They were called the Aloadai.

The Aloadai, one day, went to mount Olympus, and started stacking nearby mountains on top of each other so they could reach the summit of mount Olympus.

Why they wanted to go to mount Olympus differs from source to source. Some sources say they just really wanted a fight, and some say they were going to capture Hera and Artemis to marry them.

Anyways, it doesn’t matter much, surprisingly.

Ares, being war and battle, rushed up to defend his home. The giants were prepared for this, sadly, and bound Ares up in shackles and put him in a jar. The quickly left Olympus and brought the jar home with them.

Now, here’s a little quiz. How long would it take you to go get your family member if you knew they had been kidnapped, even if you had no clue where they were?

Well, you’d try the moment you found out, right? Even if you don’t like that family member the best, if they haven’t done anything to you, you’d probably go look for them!

Well, in the myths, the Olympians did NOT share that idea. Ares was in that jar for 13 months. And you know that everyone probably noticed Ares being gone forever over a year.

Eventually, the Aloadai’s stepmother, Eriboea, noticed that there was a god in a jar in her home, and alerted Hermes.

Hermes came and snatched Ares back up, they went back to Olympus!

Also, very interestingly, all sources say that when Hermes rescues Ares, that Ares was basically dying. Didn’t know that could happen.

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The Amazons

There were a group of woman who dubbed themselves the Amazons. They weren’t concerned with being gentle, they were concerned with being aggressive, brutal, and fighting wars.

According to some sources, the woman who started this tribe of women was a daughter of Ares herself. So, the woman prayed to Ares a LOT. So much so that Ares became the god of the Amazons.

Basically, they looked at him and decided he was their dad. And he just kind of went with it. I love this story it makes me smile so much for some reason.

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I get that doing devotional activities can be really hard, especially if you don’t have a lot of energy. Here’s some easy things that you can do!

•Watch a documentary about a war

•Read up on what’s happening in Ukraine and Palestine

•Eat something spicy

•Let yourself be full of rage for a few minutes (don’t throw your bread across the room because you stubbed your toe, though…)

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I don’t use Epithets in my worship very often, but, I still have some favorites! I use the Latin spellings because it’s easier for me to read and write them if I do.

•Gynaecothoenas - Feasted by Women

•Laossous - He Who Rallies Men

•Enyalius - Warlike

•Aphneius - Abundant

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And, since I want this to be a one stop shop, here are the Homeric and Orphic hymns :)

Homeric

Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden- helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of cities, harnessed in bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defence of Olympus, father of warlike Victory, ally of Themis, stern governor of the rebellious, leader of righteous men, sceptred King of manliness, who whirl your fiery sphere among the planets in their sevenfold courses through the aether wherein your blazing steeds ever bear you above the third firmament of heaven; hear me, helper of men, giver of dauntless youth! Shed down a kindly ray from above upon my life, and strength of war, that I may be able to drive away bitter cowardice from my head and crush down the deceitful impulses of my soul. Restrain also the keen fury of my heart which provokes me to tread the ways of blood-curdling strife. Rather, O blessed one, give you me boldness to abide within the harmless laws of peace, avoiding strife and hatred and the violent fiends of death.

Orphic

Unbreakable, strong-spirited, mighty and powerful daimon,

delighting in arms, indomitable, man-slaying, wall-battering;

lord Ares, your is the din of arms, and ever bespattered with blood

you find joy in killing and in the fray of battle, O horrid one,

whose desire is for the rude clash of swords and spears.

Stay the raging strife, relax pain’s grip on my soul,

and yield to the wish of Kypris and to the revels of Lyasios,

exchanging the might of arms for the works of Deo,

yearning for peace that nurtures youths and brings wealth.

[wisdom-devotee]

Ares is the feeling of pretending to be asleep in the car as a kid to get carried inside

Ares is the relief after yelling, screaming, or crying

Ares is the way that siblings will argue and fight, and be back on good terms within a few hours

Ares is a sore throat after singing so loudly to a song that perfectly encompasses all the emotions you’re feeling

Ares is a smug smile after doing something You’re proud of yourself for

Ares is standing up for yourself, even when you’re anxious to do so

Ares is for everyone who has a bad relationship with their father, and for the people who look for a better father figure elsewhere

Ares is breaking the cycle

Ares is trying every day, even though it’s so fucking hard sometimes

Ares is swearing for emphasis

Ares is angry crying

Ares is doing whatever you can to survive, even if the coping mechanism is unhealthy, but letting go when it no longer helps you

I love Him so much.

[katerinaaqu]

Athena and Ares siblings energy!

(Image found here)

Eagle-owl (Ares) and Little Owl (Athena)

The ultimate visual between "brains vs brawn"

[wrathful-warhound]

joint moodboard of ares and aphrodite!! couldnt think of an epithet sorry so feel free to get creative if youd like!! ^^"

Ares and Aphrodite

[mermaidsrevenge]

Good afternoon!! (Or morning…or where ever you are…)

Today I have the courage to share my altar for Ares!

Ignore how bad the camera quality is, my flash is a pain in my butt and it was dark outside :(

[lovewardeath]

Ares Candle 🕯️

I wanted to share this with everyone, this is my altar with Lady Athena and Lord Ares. I wasn’t feeling the greatest so I was listening to music and dancing around when I noticed Ares candle dancing wildly.

It personally made me feel better as Ares has such a strong energy and it felt like he was dancing with me. However, it cracked me up as Athena’s candle was just chilling and he’s over here throwing his flame around.

[xenosaltar]

Oh Ares.

Oh Ares, You stand in war, but You are with people who fight for peace just as well.

Oh Ares, You who stays with courageous and stubborn, all the same as You stand with those who get silenced.

Oh Ares, You whose wrath is the fiercest, yet stand with those who talk the calmest, because they know they’re right.

You, with those who have fire in their souls, and those who were dimmed a long time ago.

You, the enemy of fear, the helping hand of the oppressed, the scream of those without a voice, the confident stand of those forced to crawl.

You, who lights the fire of rebellion, You, the sharpness and clarity of the world when panic steps away.

You, the fire in my heart, the instinct to fight, when I cannot breathe.

You, my torch, my sword, my shield.

You, my emotion and my rage. You, who gives me courage when I fight for justice.

You, who is not selfish in his wrath. You, who helps me fight for those who were cast aside.

[wrathful-warhound]

Ares Chrysopelex (of the golden helm)

[differenteyessedifferantthings]

You can whisper to him, tell him about all your problems and worries, he'll listen.

He'll be angry for you.

You can scream at him, yell about how much you hate this place, he'll scream with you.

He may not be as beautiful, cheerful or soft spoken as his lover but he's there, protective and grounding.

He is the feeling of your dog sleeping next to you at night.

He is the rage you feel for others.

He is the feeling of accomplishment when you've stood up for yourself.

He is bravery,

He is protectiveness,

He is Ares.

[theogonyofbeauty]

Ares.

[cagedsanity]

Unbreakable, strong-spirited, mighty and powerful daimon, delighting in arms, indomitable, man-slaying, wall-battering; Lord Ares, your is the din of arms, and ever bespattered with blood

Ludovisi Ares

[cursecuelebre]

Statue of Mars/Ares at Villa Adriana at Tivoli, Rome, Italy. Photograph by Fernand Russo

[hermes-helpol]

"Turn your pain into power and force life to go your way."

Really awesome quote from Lord Ares tonight. I really really like it.

-- Trick I. // he/it/xy/she

[theogonyofbeauty]

Ares.