Editing Ares (section)

==Mars==
[[File:Wall painting - Ares and Aphrodite - Pompeii (VII 2 23) - Napoli MAN 9249 - 03.jpg|thumb|Wall-painting in [[Pompeii]], c. 20 BC – 50s AD, showing Mars and Venus. The Roman god of war is depicted as youthful and beardless, reflecting the influence of the Greek Ares.]]

The nearest counterpart of Ares among the [[List of Roman deities|Roman gods]] is [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], a son of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] and [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], pre-eminent among the [[Religion in the Roman military|Roman army's military gods]] but originally an agricultural deity.<ref>[[Mary Beard (classicist)|Beard]], Mary, North, John A., Price, Simon R. F., ''Religions of Rome: A History'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 47–48</ref> As a father of [[Romulus]], Rome's legendary founder, Mars was given an important and dignified place in [[Religion in ancient Rome|ancient Roman religion]], as a [[tutelary deity|guardian deity]] of the entire Roman state and its people. Under the [[Hellenization|influence of Greek culture]], Mars was [[interpretatio graeca|identified with]] Ares,<ref name=Lar>''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', [[The Book People]], Haydock, 1995, p. 215.</ref> but the character and dignity of the two deities differed fundamentally.<ref>Kurt A. Raaflaub, ''War and Peace in the Ancient World'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 15.</ref><ref>Paul Rehak and John G. Younger, ''Imperium and Cosmos: Augustus and the Northern Campus Martius'' (University of Wisconsin Press, 2006), pp. 11–12.</ref> Mars was represented as a means [[Pax Romana|to secure peace]], and he was a father ''(pater)'' of the Roman people.<ref>[[Isidore of Seville]] calls Mars ''Romanae gentis auctorem'', the originator or founder of the Roman people as a ''[[gens]]'' (''Etymologiae'' 5.33.5).</ref> In one tradition, he fathered [[Romulus and Remus]] through his rape of [[Rhea Silvia]]. In another, his lover, the goddess [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]], gave birth to [[Aeneas]], the [[Trojan War|Trojan prince and refugee]] who "founded" Rome several generations before Romulus.

In the [[Hellenization]] of [[Latin literature]], the myths of Ares were [[interpretatio graeca|reinterpreted]] by Roman writers under the name of Mars. Greek writers under [[Roman Empire|Roman rule]] also recorded [[cult (religious practice)|cult practices]] and beliefs pertaining to Mars under the name of Ares. Thus in the [[classical mythology|classical tradition]] of later [[Western culture|Western art and literature]], the mythology of the two figures later became virtually indistinguishable.<ref>The scene in which Ares and Aphrodite are entrapped by Hephaestus' net (Homer, ''Odyssey''  VIII: 166-365 is also in Ovid's Latin language ''Metamorphoses'' IV: 171-189  [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/old-master-paintings-n08952/lot.74.html]</ref>