Wow bitchless AND second rate? Pick a struggle ares
So a couple days ago I found out about a myth involving Hephaestus and Athena. I know not all myths are necessarily connected and are usually made by different authors and I don’t necessarily have to consider them all “canon”, but I don’t think I’m gonna be able to like Hephaestus like I used to anymore. I dunno this myth was really fucked I still wanna like the guy cause again not all myths are part of the same “canon” and I’m really sympathetic towards him cause of the raw deal he got early on, but this myth was so screwed it really messed up my perception of the guy.
Yeah it’s not necessary to abide to all of existing myths if you wanna use a pantheon, no god was really safe from horrendous shit in “canon” Greek myth
All of the gods were not immune to doing heinous shit. Even Athena the considered victim of that myth has done some terrible things in her own right.
They were divine, but the gods were just as human as us, and humans have the capacity to do some terrible, terrible things.
was it by any chance written by a guy named ovid?
I got no clue, but I do know the guy who was born as a result of what Hephaestus did is mentioned in the Iliad, but that’s about all I know.
Nope, that one was actually canon and not made by Ovid.
You know, as much as we’re bashing on Ares, last I checked, the man’s actually pretty tame. Like, besides just being stated to be a brat, and that whole affair with Aphrodite, has he actually done anything… wrong? Sure, he’s the god of war and all, but most wars seem to be started by the other gods, not him. Including the Trojan war.
ares is the goat on god…
when Im level 600 Imma solo the pantheon
I would assume any war not mentioned in mythology would’ve been assumed to have been at least partially caused by Ares since war is his thing, but that is just speculation on my part.
Tame is not the word most people use for Ares but I understand what you mean.
In terms of accounted events in mythology as far as we know he is both a god who supplants bloodlust and aggression in people so much as he gives courage in battle for those who fight, or the stern hand which kings needed. He’s as multifaceted as any other god in the mythology — complex and human like.
What makes him dislikeable to the pantheon and within stories + belief is the fact that his entire dominion, courage and favor notwithstanding, ends almost always in the death of many. He thrives where blood is shed, where tempers rise and where men become beasts, tearing each other apart. Every death in battle you could blame on Ares so much as you could thank him for your victory.
TLDR he’s a complex character and not just a whiny youth or short tempered soldier, but when people know you as the god of bloodshedding in war they’ll tend to remember those aspects before anything else
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I’d imagine most wars that don’t get made into myth or aren’t made up for myth were probably blamed on him not getting written down since Ares starting a war would be par for the course, though that’s just speculation on my part. Aside from that though he kinda gets his ass kicked a lot to show off how strong some other dude is, so he never really gets to do much.