.
Greek Mythology >> Greek Gods >> Olympian Gods >> Ares >> Ares Family

ARES FAMILY

Greek Name

Αρης

Transliteration

Arês

Latin Spelling

Ares

Translation

Mars

Aphrodite, Ares, infants Eros and Phobos | Greco-Roman fresco from Pompeii C1st A.D. | Naples National Archaeological Museum
Aphrodite, Ares, infants Eros and Phobos, Greco-Roman fresco from Pompeii C1st A.D., Naples National Archaeological Museum

ARES was the Olympian god of war, battlelust and manliness.

This page provides an overview of the divine and mortal children fathered by the god. Most of these were connected to him with only a brief genealogical reference and his paternity was usually assigned to emphasize a brutal or warlike nature. A few were the mythic founders of certain royal and noble houses such as Queen Harmonia of Thebes and King Porthaon of Kalydon.

The quotes on this page are merely a collection of odd genealogical references. For actual myths featuring Ares, his loves and children see the "Ares Loves" and "Ares Favour" pages.

(1) DIVINE OFFSPRING

ANTEROS God of reciprocated love (or contrarily of unreciprocted love), son of Ares and Aphrodite.

DEIMOS God of fear, a son of Ares and Aphrodite.

ENYALIOS (Enyalius) A war-god son of Ares and Eris.

EROS God of love, a son of Ares and Aphrodite.

HARMONIA Goddess of harmony, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite.

NIKE The goddess of victory was, according to some, a daughter of Ares. (She was usually called a daughter of Pallas and Styx.)

PHOBOS God of panic, son of Ares and Aphrodite.

(2) MORTAL OFFSPRING

AEROPOS (Aeropus) A lord of Tegea, Arkadia (southern Greece), son of Ares and Aerope.

ALKIPPE (Alcippe) A girl of Athens, Attika (southern Greece), daughter of Ares and Agraulos, who was raped by Hallirhothios, a son of Poseidon. Ares slew him for the crime and was acquitted of murder in the Areopagos.

AMAZONES (Amazons) Warrior women of Assyria (Asia Minor), daughters of Ares and Harmonia.

ANTIOPE An Amazonian princess or queen, daughter of Ares and Otrere. She was abducted by Theseus during Herakles'quest to obtain the belt of her sister Antiope.

ASKALAPHOS (Ascalaphus) A king of Orkhomenos (icentral Greece), son of Ares and Astyokhe. With his brother Ialmenos he led his people during the Trojan War. Ares sorely grieved his death during the conflict.

DIOMEDES A king of Bistonia in Thrake (north of Greece), son of Ares and Kyrene or Asterie. He was slain by Herakles who was sent to fetch this barbaric king's herd of man-eating mares.

DRYAS A lord of Kalydon, Aitolia (central Greece), and son of Ares (or according to others of Iapetos).

EUENOS (Evenus) A lord of Aitolia (central Greece), son of Ares and Demonike; OR (in another version of his story) a Lord of Elis, son of Ares and Sterope (and so brother of Oinomaos King of Pisa).

HIPPOLYTE A queen of the Amazones, daughter of Ares and Otrere. She was slain by Herakles in his quest to fetch her belt as one of the Twelve Labours.

IALMENOS (Ialmenus) A king of Orkhomenos (central Greece), son of Ares and Astyokhe. With his brother Askalaphos he led his people during the Trojan War.

KYKNOS (Cycnus) A barbaric lord of Makedonia or Thessalia (northern Greece), son of Ares and Pelopia or Pyrene. He was slain by Herakles in single combat, despite the personal intervention of his father Ares.

LIKYMNIOS (Licymnius) A lord of Thebes (central Greece), and according to some a son of Ares (most say his father was King Elektryon).

LYKASTOS (Lycastus) An Arkadian (southern Greece) lord, son of Ares and Phylonome.

LYKOS (Lycus) A barbaric king of Libya (North Africa) and son of Ares who used to sacrifice strangers to his father.

MELANIPPOS (Melanippus) Founder of the town of Triteia, in Akhaia (southern Greece), son of Ares and Triteia.

MELEAGROS (Meleager) A prince of Aitolia (central Greece), who, according to some was a son of Ares and Queen Althaia (but most call him a son of King Oineus).

MOLOS (Molus) An Aitolian lord (central Greece) and perhaps king of Molossia (North-West Greece), son of Ares and Demonike.

NISOS (Nisus) A king of Megara (southern Greece), who, according to some was a son of Ares (but most accounts say he was a son of the Athenian prince Pandion).

OIAGROS (Oeagrus) A king of Pieria (northern Greece) and, according to some, a son of Ares (though according to others his father was King Kharops).

OINOMAUS (Oenomaus) A brutal king of Pisa, in Elis (southern Greece), and son of Ares and the Pleaid Sterope or Princess Harpinna.

OXYLOS (Oxylus) A lord of Aitolia (central Greece), son of Ares and Protogeneia.

PARRHASIOS (Parrhasius) An Arkadian (southern Greece) lord, son of Ares and Phylonome.

PARTHENOPAIOS (Parthenopaeus) An Arkadian (southern Greece) prince, son of Ares and Atalanta (many, however, say his father was Melanion or Meleagros).

PENTHESILEIA A queen of the Amazones (Asia Minor) and daughter of Ares and Otrere. She led her people during the Trojan War and was slain by Akhilleus. Ares deeply mourned the death of his daughter.

PHLEGYAS A warlike king of Phlegyantis, a kingdom identified with both Trikke-Oikhalia in Thessalia (northern Greece) and Orkhomenos (central Greece). He was a son of Ares and Dotis or Khryse.

PORTHAON A king of Aitolia (central Greece), son of Ares (or according to others of Agenor).

PYLOS (Pylus) An Aitolian lord (central Greece) and perhaps king of Pylos (southern Greece), son of Ares and Demonike.

REMUS A king of Latium (central Italy), son of Ares and Ilia. He founded the city of Rome.

ROMULUS A king of Latium (central Italy), son of Ares and Ilia. He founded the city of Rome.

TEREUS A brutal and barbaric king of a Thrakian tribe (norther of Greece), and a son of Ares.

THESTIOS (Thesius) An Aitolian lord (central Greece), perhaps the King of Pleuron, son of Ares and Demonike (or of Agenor and Epikaste).

THRASSA A queen of the Triballoi tribe of Thrake (north of Greece), daughter of Ares and Tereine.

(3) MONSTROUS OFFSPRING

DRAKON ISMENIAN A monstrous dragon-serpent which guarded the Ismenian Spring of Thebes (in Boiotia, Central Greece) and was slain by the hero Kadmos. It was a son of Ares and the Erinys Telphousia.

GENEALOGICAL LISTING

OFFSPRING IMMORTAL

[1.1] DEIMOS, PHOBOS, HARMONIA (by Aphrodite) (Hesiod Theogony 933, Hyginus Preface)
[1.2] DEIMOS, PHOBOS (Homer Iliad 13.298, Quintus Smyrnaeus 10.51, Nonnus Dionysiaca 2.414)
[1.3] DEIMOS, PHOBOS, KYDOIMOS (Suidas "Deimos")
[2.1] HARMONIA (by Aphrodite) (Hesiod Theogony 933, Euripides Bacchae 1357, Apollodorus 3.25, Hyginus Preface, Ovid Metamorphoses 3.131, Nonnus Dionysiaca 3.373)
[3.1] EROS (by Aphrodite) (Simonides Frag 575, Nonnus Dionysiaca 5.88)
[4.1] ANTEROS (by Aphrodite) (Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.21)
[5.1] ENYALIOS (by Enyo) (Eustathius on Homer's Iliad 944 &/or Roman Antiquities)

OFFSPRING MORTAL

KINGDOM OF ATTIKA (Southern Greece)

[1.1] ALKIPPE (by Agraulos) (Apollodorus 3.180, Pausanias 1.21.4, Suidas "Areios pagos")

KINGDOM OF MEGARIS (Southern Greece)

[1.1] NISOS (Hyginus Fabulae 198)

KINGDOM OF ELIS (Southern Greece)

[1.1] OINOMAOS (Apollodorus E2.5, Pausanias 5.1.6, Philostratus Younger 9)
[1.2] OINOMAOS (by Sterope) (Plutarch Parallel Stories 38, Hyginus Fabulae 84, Hyginus Astronomica 2.21)
[1.3] OINOMAOS (by Harpina) (Pausanias 5.22.6, Diodorus Siculus 4.73.1)
[2.1] EUENOS (by Sterope) (Plutarch Parallel Stories 38)

KINGDOM OF AKHAIA (Southern Greece)

[1.1] MELANIPPOS (by Triteia) (Pausanias 7.22.8)

KINGDOM OF ARKADIA (Southern Greece)

[1.1] PARTHENOPAIOS (by Atalante) (Apollodorus 3.109)
[2.1] AEROPOS (by Aerope) (Pausanias 8.44.7)
[3.1] LYKASTOS & PARRHASSIOS (by Phylonome) (Plutarch Parallel Stories 36)

KINGDOMS OF BOIOTIA (Central Greece)

[1.1] ISMENIAN DRAKON (Apollodorus 3.22, Hyginus Fabulae 178, Ovid Metamorphoses 3.874, Nonnus Dionysiaca 4.352)
[1.2] ISMENIAN DRAKON (by the Erinys Telphousia) (other references)

KINGDOM OF ORKHOMENOS (Central Greece)

[1.1] ASKALAPHOS, IALMENOS (by Astyokhe) (Homer Iliad 2.512, Pausanias 9.37.7)
[1.2] ASKALAPHOS, IALMENOS (Apollodorus 1.113, Pausanias 9.37.7, Hyginus Fabulae 159)

KINGDOM OF AITOLIA (Central Greece)

[1.1] MELEAGROS (by Althaia) (Euripides Meleager, Apollodorus 1.65, Plutarch Parallel Stories 26, Hyginus Fabulae 14, Ovid Met. 8.269)
[2.1] OXYLOS (by Protogeneia) (Apollodorus 1.59)
[3.1] EUENOS, MOLOS, PYLOS, THESTIOS (by Demonike) (Apollodorus 1.59)
[3.2] EUENOS (by Sterope) (Plutarch Parallel Stories 38)
[4.1] DRYAS (Apollodorus 1.67, Hyginus Fabulae 159 & 173)
[5.1] PORTHEUS (Antoninus Liberalis 2)

KINGDOMS OF THESSALIA (Northern Greece)

[1.1] PHLEGYAS (by Dotis) (Apollodorus 3.41)
[1.2] PHLEGYAS (by Khryse) (Pausanias 9.36.1)
[2.1] KYKNOS (by Pyrene or Pelopia) (Apollodorus 2.114 & 2.155)
[2.2] KYKNOS (Hesiod Shield of Heracles 57, Hyginus Fabulae 31 & 159)

KINGDOMS OF THRAKE (North of Greece)

[1.1] DIOMEDES (by Kyrene) (Apollodorus 2.96)
[1.2] DIOMEDES (Hyginus Fabulae 159)
[1.3] DIOMEDES (by Asterie) (Hyginus Fabulae 250)
[2.1] TEREUS (Apollodorus 1.193, Hyginus Fabulae 45, Metamorphoses 6.426)
[3.1] DRYAS (Hyginus Fabulae 45)
[4.1] THRASSA (by Tereine) (Antoninus Liberalis 21)
[5.1] ALKON (Hyginus Fabulae 173)

KINGDOM OF THE AMAZONES (Anatolia)

[1.1] PENTHESILEIA (Homerica The Aethiopis Frag 1 & 2, Quintus Smyrnaeus)
[1.2] PENTHESILEIA (by Otrere) (Apollodorus E5.1, Hyginus Fabulae 112)
[2.1] HIPPOLYTE (Apollodorus 2.98)
[2.2] HIPPOLYTE (by Otrere) (Hyginus Fabulae 30)
[3.1] ANTIOPE (by Otrere) (Hyginus Fabulae 30)
[4.1] THE AMAZONES (by Nymphe Harmonia) (Apollonius Rhodius Argonautica 2.989)

KINGDOMS OF LIBYA (North Africa)

[1.1] LYKOS (Plutarch Parallel Stories 23, Hyginus Fabulae 159)

KINGDOM OF LATIUM (Central Italy)

[1.1] ROMULUS, REMUS (by Ilia) (Hyginus Fabulae 252)

 

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

GENERAL LIST OF SONS

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 159 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Sons of Mars [Ares]. Oenomaus by Sterope. Harmonia by Venus [Aphrodite]. Lycus. Diomedes, the Thracian. Ascalaphus. Ialmenus. Cycnus. Dryas."

FAMILY ON MOUNT OLYMPUS (HOME OF THE GODS)

LOVED : 1 - 5. Aphrodite, goddess of love; 6. Eris, goddess of strife.
FATHERED : 1 - 2. Deimos & Phobos, gods of Fear & Terror; 3. Eros, god of love; 4. Anteros, god of love returned; 5. Harmonia, goddess of harmony; 6. Enyalios, war-god.

Homeric Hymn 8 to Ares (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic B.C.) :
"Ares . . . O defender of Olympos, father of warlike Nike (Victory)."

For the MYTH of the love of Ares & Aphrodite see Ares Loves: Aphrodite
For MORE information on these gods see:
DEIMOS & PHOBOS, EROS, ANTEROS, HARMONIA, ENYALIOS

FAMILY IN ATTICA (SOUTHERN GREECE)

LOVED : 1. Agraulos, princess of Athens.
FATHERED : 1. Alkippe, lady of Athens.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 180 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Agraulos [daughter of Kekrops king of Athens] and Ares had a daughter Alkippe."

Suidas s.v. Areios pagos (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"[Ares] killed [Halirrhothios] because he had raped Alkippe, his daughter with Agraulos the daughter of Kekrops, as Hellanickos says in [book] one."

For the MYTH of Ares and his daughter Alkippe see Ares Wrath: Halirrhothius

FAMILY IN MEGARIS (SOUTHERN GREECE)

FATHERED : 1. Nisos, king of Megara.

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 198 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Nisus, son of Mars [Ares], or as others say, of Deion, and king of the Megarians."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 242 :
"Men who committed suicide . . . Nisus, son of Mars [Ares], when he lost his fatal lock of hair, killed himself."

For the MYTH of Ares and Nisos see Ares Family Favour: Nisus

FAMILY IN ELIS (SOUTHERN GREECE)

LOVED : 1 - 2. Sterope, Pleiad nymph; 1. Harpina, Naiad nymph.
FATHERED : 1. Oinomaos, king of Pisa; 2. Euenos, Eleian lord.

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 1. 6 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"Oinomaos was the son of Alxion (though poets proclaimed his father to be Ares, and the common report agrees with them) . . . lord of the land of Pisa."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 22. 6 :
"Harpina [daughter of the River-god Asopos], who, according to the tradition of the Eleans and Phliasians, mated with Ares and was the mother of Oinomaos, king around Pisa."

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 73. 2 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) :
"In the city of Pisa in the Peloponnesos Ares lay with Harpine, the daughter of Asopos, and begat Oinomaos."

Pseudo-Plutarch, Greek and Roman Parallel Stories 38 (trans. Babbitt) (Greek historian C2nd A.D.) :
"Euenos, the son of Ares and Sterope, married Alkippe, the daughter of [his brother] Oinomaüs ... So says Dositheüs in the first book of his Aitolian History." [N.B. Euenos is usually called the son of Ares & Demonike, so Oinomaus was really only his half-brother - see Kingdom of Aitolia below.]

Philostratus the Younger, Imagines 9 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) :
"Oinomaos . . . is hurriedly sacrificing to his father Ares, this man of savage aspect and with murder in his eye."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 84 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Oenomaus, son of Mars [Ares] and Asterope, daughter of Atlas."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 159 :
"Sons of Mars [Ares]. Oenomaus by Sterope."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 245 :
"Oenomaus, son of Mars [Ares]."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 250 :
"Teams which destroyed their drivers . . . [those of] Oenomaus, son of Mars [Ares] by Asterie [Asterope], daughter of Atlas."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 21 :
"The Pleiades are called seven in number, but only six can be seen. This reason has been advanced, that of the seven, six mated with immortals, three with Jove [Zeus], two with Neptunus [Poseidon], and one with Mars [Ares] . . . Mars [Ares] by Sterope begat Oenomaus, but others call her the wife of Oenomaus."

For the MYTH of Ares and Oinomaus see Ares Family Favour: Oenomaus

FAMILY IN ACHAEA (SOUTHERN GREECE)

LOVED : 1. Triteia, sea nymph.
FATHERED : 1. Melanippos, lord of Triteia.

Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. 22. 8 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"Ares mated with Triteia the daughter of [the Sea-God] Triton, this maiden was priestess to Athena, and that Melanippos, the son of Ares and Triteia, founded the city [Triteia, Akhaia] when he grew up, naming it after his mother . . . The people here are accustomed to sacrifice both to Ares and to Triteia."

FAMILY IN ARCADIA (SOUTHERN GREECE)

LOVED : 1 - 2. Phylonome, princess of Arkadia; 3. Aerope, princess of Arkadia; 4. Atalante, princess of Arkadia.
FATHERED : 1. Lykastos, lord of Lykastos; 2. Parrhasios, lord of Parrhasios; 3. Aeropos, Arkadian lord; 4. Parthenopaeios, Arkadian lord.

1 - 2) LYKASTOS & PARRHASIOS Lord of Lykastos & Parrhasios

For the MYTH of Ares seduction of their mother see Ares Loves: Phylonome

3) AEROPOS Arkadian Lord

For the MYTH of Ares seduction of Aeropos' mother see Ares Loves: Aerope

4) PARTHENOPAIOS Arkadian Lord

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 109 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"To Melanion or Ares she [Atalante] bore Parthenopaios, who went on the expedition [of the Seven] against Thebes."

FAMILY IN BOEOTIA (CENTRAL GREECE)

LOVED : 1. Erinys Telphousia (perhaps Demeter).
FATHERED : 1. Ismenian Drakon, serpent of Thebes; 2. Likymnios, Theban lord.

For the MYTH of Ares love for Telphousia see Ares Loves: Erinys Telphusia
For the MYTH of Ares & the Ismenian Drakon see Ares Wrath: Cadmus
For MORE information on this dragon-serpent see ISMENIAN DRAKON
For MORE information on the Spartoi men of the Dragon's teeth see SPARTOI

FAMILY IN ORCHOMENUS (CENTRAL GREECE)

LOVED : 1. Astyokhe, princess of Orkhomenos
FATHERED : 1 - 2. Askalaphos & Ialmenos, co-kings of Orkhomenos

For the MYTH of Ares' seduction of Astyokhe see Ares Loves: Astyoche
For the MYTH of Ares & these sons see Ares & the Trojan War

FAMILY IN AETOLIA (CENTRAL GREECE)

LOVED : 1 - 5. Demonike, princess of Pleuron; 6. Althaia, queen of Kalydon; 7. Protogeneia, princess of Kalydon.
FATHERED : 1. Porthaon, king of Kalydon; 2. Thestios, king of Pleuron; 3. Pylos King of Pylos; 4. Molos, king of Molossia; 5. Euenos, Aitolian lord; 6. Meleagros, prince of Kalydon; 7 Oxylos, Kalydonian lord; 8. Dryas, Kalydonian lord.

1 - 5) PORTHAON, THESTIOS, EUENOS, MOLOS, PYLOS Kings & Princes of Kalydon & Pleuron

These sons of Ares born in Pleuron became kings of Pleuron, Kaldyon, another Aitolian kingdom, Molossia, and Pylos.

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 2 (trans. Celoria) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Oineus son of Portheus son of Ares, was king of Kalydon."

Pseudo-Plutarch, Greek and Roman Parallel Stories 38 (trans. Babbitt) (Greek historian C2nd A.D.) :
"Euenos, the son of Ares and Sterope, married Alkippe, the daughter of [his brother] Oinomaüs . . . So says Dositheüs in the first book of his Aitolian History." [N.B. Euenos is usually called the son of Ares & Demonike, not of Sterope, so Oinomaus was really his half-brother--see Ares Loves: Demonike.]

For the MYTH of Ares' seduction of Demonike see Ares Loves: Demonice

6) MELEAGROS Prince of Aitolia

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 65 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Althaia [daughter of Thestios] also bore a son named Meleagros to Oineus, although some hold that the father was Ares."

Pseudo-Plutarch, Greek and Roman Parallel Stories 26 (trans. Babbitt) (Greek historian C2nd A.D.) :
"Ares consorted with Althaia and begat Meleagros . . . So says Euripides in his Meleagros."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 14 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Argonauts assembled: . . . Meleager, son of Oeneus and Althaea, daughter of Thestius; some think son of Mars [Ares], a Calydonian."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 171 :
"Oeneus and Mars [Ares] both slept one night with Althaea, daughter of Thestius. When Meleager was born from them, suddenly in the palace the Fates [Moirai], Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, appeared."

Ovid, Metamorphoses 8. 269 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"Marvortius [Meleagros son of Ares], outraged beyond endurance, bursting in anger, shouted [at his uncles, the brothers of Althaia]."

7) OXYLOS Kalydonian Lord

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 59 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Protogeneia [the daughter of Kalydon king of Kalydon in Aitolia], who with Ares produced Oxylos."

8) DRYAS Kalydonian Lord

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 67 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"[Hunters of the Kalydonian Boar:] Oineus' son Meleagros, and Dryas, son of Ares (both from Kalydon)."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 159 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Sons of Mars [Ares] . . . Dryas."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 173 :
"Those Who Hunted the Calydonian Boar . . . Dryas, son of Iapetus." [N.B. Iapetos "the piercer" was probably an epithet of Ares.]

FAMILY IN TRICCA, THESSALY (NORTHERN GREECE)

LOVED : 1. Khryse, princess of Phlegyantis; 1. Dotis, Boiotian lady.
FATHERED : 1. Phlegyas, king of Phlegyantis.

I) PHLEGYAS King of Phlegyantis

Phlegyantis was a kingdom identified with both Trikka in western Thessalia, and Orkhomenos in northern Boiotia.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 41 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Lykos, the brother of Nykteus, these two [Theban] brothers were fugitives for having slain Phlegyas, son of Ares and Dotis of Boiotia."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9. 36. 1 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"Tradition has it that Khryse, daughter of Almos, had by Ares a son Phlegyas, who, as Eteokles [king of Orkhomenos and/or the Phlegans] died childless, got the throne."

For the MYTH of Ares & his son Phlegyas see Ares Family Favour: Phlegyas

FAMILY IN PHYLACE, THESSALY (NORTHERN GREECE)

LOVED : 1. Pyrene, Thrakian lady; 1. Pelopia, lady of Itonos in Thessalia.
FATHERED : 1. Kyknos, Thrakian lord or lord of Itonos.

Hesiod, The Shield of Heracles 57 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th B.C.) :
"It was he, Herakles, who killed Kyknos, high-hearted son of Ares."

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 114 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Herakles set out and reached the river Ekhedoros [in Makedonia], where he was challenged to a duel by Kyknos, son of Ares and Pyrene."

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 155 :
"As he passed Itonos Herakles was challenged to a duel by Kyknos, son of Ares and Pelopia."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 159 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Sons of Mars [Ares] . . . Cygnus."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 269 :
"Cygnus, son of Mars [Ares], whom Hercules killed."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 273 :
"In these Games [the funeral Games of King Pelias] . . . Cygnus, son of Mars [Ares], with weapons killed Pilus, son of Diodotus."

For the MYTH of Ares & his son Kyknos see Ares Family Favour: Cycnus

FAMILY IN PIERIA (NORTHERN GREECE)

FATHERED : 1. Oiagros, king of Pieria.

According to some Oiagros King of Pieria was a son of Ares.

FAMILY IN THRACE (NORTH OF GREECE)

LOVED : 1. Kyrene, Naias nymph; 1. Asterie, nymph; 3. Teirene, Naias nymph.
FATHERED : 1. Diomedes, king of the Bistones; 2. Tereus, king of Thrakian tribe; 3. Thrassa, queen of the Triballoi; 4. Alkon, Thrakian lord.

1) DIOMEDES King of the Bistones

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 96 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Diomedes, son of Ares and Kyrene, was king of the Bistones, a militant Thrakian tribe, and owned man-eating mares."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 159 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Sons of Mars [Ares] . . . Diomedes, the Thracian."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 250 :
"Teams which destroyed their drivers . . . [those of] Oenomaus, son of Mars [Ares] by Asterie [Asterope], daughter of Atlas. Diomede, son of Mars [Ares], by the same [Asterie]." [N.B. The mother of Oinomaus was the Pleiad Asterope. The name Asterie may either be a typo, an alternate name for Asterope, or an unrelated woman - the mother of Diomedes who Hyginus has confused with Asterope. Oinomaus and Diomedes lived three generations apart so the latter is more likely.]

For the MYTH of Ares & his son Diomedes see Ares Family Favour: Diomedes

2) TEREUS King of a Thrakian tribe

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 193 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Pandion [king of Athens] solicited help from Ares' son Tereus in Thrake [in his war against Thebes], and after he had set the matter straight with Tereus' assistance, he gave him his daughter Prokne to marry."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 45 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Tereus, son of Mars [Ares], a Thracian . . . thinking that his brother Dryas was plotthing his son's death, he killed the innocent man."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 159 :
"Sons of Mars [Ares] . . . Diomedes the Thracian."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 246 :
"Tereus, son of Mars [Ares]."

Ovid, Metamorphoses 6. 427 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"Tereus of Threicia (Thrace) . . . traced his lineage from Gradivus [Ares] himself."

For the MYTH of Ares and Tereus see Ares Family Favour:Tereus

3) THRASSA Queen of the Triballoi

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 21 (trans. Celoria) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Thrassa was daughter of Ares and of Tereine daughter of Strymon."

For the MYTH of Ares, his daughter Thrassa and her descendants see:
Ares Family Favour: Polyphonte, Agrius & Oreius
For MORE information on the Nymphe Thrassa see THRASSA

4) ALKON Thrakian Lord

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 173 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Those Who Hunted the Calydonian Boar . . . Alcon, son of Mars [Ares], from Thrace . . . Dryas, son of Iapetus."

FAMILY IN AMAZONIA (ANATOLIA)

LOVED : 1. Harmonia, nymph; 2 - 4. Otrere, queen of the Amazones.
FATHERED : 1. The Amazones, tribe of women; 2 - 3 Hippolyte & Antiope, queens of the Amazones;
4. Penthesileia, queen of the Amazones.

1) THE AMAZONES Tribe of Women

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2. 989 ff (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) :
"The Amazones of the Doiantian plain were by no means gentle, well-conducted folk; they were brutal and aggressive, and their main concern in life was war. War, indeed, was in their blood, daughters of Ares as they were and of the Nymphe Harmonia, who lay with the god in the depths of the Akmonion Wood and bore him girls who fell in love with fighting."

For MYTHS of Ares & the Amazones see Ares Favour: the Amazons

2 - 3) HIPPOLYTE & ANTIOPE Queens of the Amazones

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 98 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"As a symbol of her pre-eminence among them [the Amazones], Hippolyte was possessor of the belt of Ares."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 30 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"[Herakles] slew Hippolyte, daughter of Mars [Ares] and Queen Otrera, and took from her the belt of the Amazon Queen; then he presented Antiopa as captive to Theseus."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 241 :
"Men who killed their wives . . . Theseus, son of Aegeus, killed Antiopa, the Amazon, daughter of Mars [Ares], because of an oracle of Apollo."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 223 :
"The temple of Diana [Artemis] at Ephesus which the Amazon Otrera, wife of Mars [Ares], made."

For the MYTH of Ares and Hippolyte see Ares Family Favour: Hippolyte

4) PENTHESILEIA Queen of the Amazones

Arctinus of Miletus, The Aethiopis Fragment 1 (from Proclus, Chrestomathia 2) (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"The Amazon Penthesileia, the daughter of Ares and of Thrakian race, comes to aid the Trojans, and after showing great prowess, is killed by Akhilleus and buried by the Trojans."

Arctinus of Miletus, The Aethiopis Fragment 2 (from Scholiast on Homer's Iliad 24. 804) :
"Then came [Penthesileia] the Amazon, the daughter of great-souled Ares the slayer of men."

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca E5. 1 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Penthesileia, the daughter of Otrere and Ares, who had accidentally killed Hippolyte and been purified by Priamos [came with her Amazones to the Trojan War]."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 112 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Challenging combatants and their adversaries [in the Trojan War] . . . The same [Akhilleus] with Penthesilea, daughter of Mars [Ares] and Otrera; Penthesilea was killed."

For MYTHS of Ares and Penthesileia see Ares Family Favour: Penthesileia

FAMILY IN LIBYA (NORTH AFRICA)

FATHERED : 1. Lykos, Libyan king.

Pseudo-Plutarch, Greek and Roman Parallel Stories 23 (trans. Babbitt) (Greek historian C2nd A.D.) :
"After the sack of Troy Diomedes was cast upon on the Libyan coast where Lykos was king, whose custom it was to sacrifice strangers to his father Ares . . . So says Juba in the third book of his Libyan History."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 159 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Offspring of Mars [Ares] . . . Lycus."

FAMILY IN ROME & LATIUM (CENTRAL ITALY)

LOVED : 1 - 2. Ilia (Rhea Silvia), princess of Latium.
FATHERED : 1 - 2. Romulus & Remus, co-kings of Latium.

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 252 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Those suckled by animals . . . Romulus and Remus, sons of Mars and Ilia, by a she-wolf."

For the MYTH of Mars' seduction of Ilia see Ares Loves: Ilia

SOURCES

GREEK

ROMAN

BYZANTINE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.