Do you have headcanons about Ares and his daughters the Amazons? Otrera is my favourite mortal lover of Ares. You can also include Artemis too, since she is also their patron god. No pressure though
Today's heacanons about the Amazons are brought to you by the Amazon delivery ;)
I'm not actually sponsored by Amazon lmao
There isn't much I can find about why Otrera would build a temple for Ares, so I'm gonna assume the temple was a gift she made for her godly lover for making her the queen of the Amazons. Most of the time it's the gods who showered their mortal lover with gifts, but ya girl Otrera was one of the few who was very reciprocal.
Ares and Otrera's daughters were personally trained by their father. Ares would dramatically fake his defeat when combat-training with his children to boost their confidence, similar to how big cats would pretend to be scared at their cubs' ambush to encourage them.
Ares asked Artemis, the Patron of Hunters herself, to teach the Amazons in archery. He cared a lot about his daughters' training program and only wanted the best teachers for them. For her teaching and assisting, Otrera built a temple for Artemis as an act of gratitude.
Through their time spent training the Amazons, Ares and Artemis grew closer than ever and finally fully forgave each other for their not-so-happy childhood together. Artemis even promised that her virgin hunters would be a trusting ally for the Amazons whenever they need.
When Otrera passed away, Hippolyta succeeded her mother's position as the new leader of the Amazons. On Hippolyta's coronation, Ares gifted her the magic girdle as a symbol of her queenship.
However, father Ares took the "you did nothing wrong and I love you for it" to an extreme in his parenting. Because of his overly indulgence, his children can become too arrogant for their own good. Although the Amazons, blessed by their father, were fierce warriors who vanquished and conquered many lands, they might underestimate many formidable opponents like other Greek heroes, and that would lead to many of their tragedies.
Ares had a deep hatred for Theseus and Heracles for attacking his Amazon daughters. In Heracles' ninth labor, he sailed to retrieve Hippolyta's girdle, which resulted in a war between Heracles' crew and the Amazons that may or may not be ignited by Hera.
After the conflict, Heracles and Theseus successfully defeated the Amazons, stole the magic girdle, and even abducted Antiope, a sister of Hippolyta and Penthesilea. With their Ares' guidance and support, Hippolyta and Penthesilea led the Amazons to storm Athens and rescue Antiope, leading to the Attic War.
Unfortunately, the Amazons were once again defeated. Antiope was killed by Theseus, and Penthesilea accidentally killed Hippolyta. Having lost two wars and two sisters, Penthesilea was wrecked with survival guilt. Ares was there to be her safe haven as she screamed and cried her heart out from pain, even though the god wasn't in the best state either after two consecutive deaths of his daughters.
When one of his Amazon daughters died, Ares would mourn and honored her greatly. Something something the god of war who excited with bloodshed cried for the bloodshed of his kin.
When Penthesilea declared she would join the Trojan War to die an honorable death and repent for not being able to save her sisters, Ares was heart-broken. He didn't want to lose his remaining daughter, but upon seeing Penthesilea's unmovable determination, he eventually let her go.
And when Penthesilea died as well, Ares finally broke. I think this excerpt capture his grief better:
Then Ares' heart was thrilled with grief and rage for his child [Penthesileia] slain. Straight from Olympus down he darted, swift and bright as thunderbolt terribly flashing from the mighty hand of Zeus, far leaping o'er the trackless sea, or flaming o'er the land, while shuddereth all wide Olympus as it passeth by. So through the quivering air with heart aflame swooped Ares armour-clad, soon as he heard the dread doom of his daughter.
- Quintus Smyrnaeus, "Fall of Troy"
