Ares is a feminist
It might surprise you to hear me refer to the Greek god of blood-lust, war, and violence as a feminist, but this is a view with more evidence to back it up than you might think. In fact, multiple myths involving Ares can be interpreted through a feminist lens, so as a Hellenic pagan who worships him, I’ll share some of those myths and their significance in this post.
The Murder of Halirrhothios
One day, Halirrhothios, a son of Poseidon and a nymph, assaulted or attempted to assault (different tellings of the myths vary on this detail) a daughter of Ares named Alkippe. Ares caught him in the act and killed him — which angered Poseidon, so Ares was put on trial for murder.
The hill where the trial of Ares took place is a hill in Athens called the Areopagus, which you can see in the photo at the beginning of this article. It’s the one in front of the hill with the ancient temple, and actually got its name from this myth — Areopagus means “hill of Ares”. So Ares was tried here by the other gods, and he was acquitted.
In ancient Athens, this was regarded as the first trial for homicide, and so the Areopagus hill was used historically as a court of law for homicide cases specifically. What stands out to me more, though, is the fact that this myth centers around Ares defending his daughter from an abuser and being deemed not guilty for doing so in a court of law. He can be viewed as a god who protects victims.
The Amazons
This one is probably more well-known, but Ares is the father of the Amazons, a group of warrior women who he helped lead into battle. The Amazons were thought for a while to be just myth by historians, but discoveries of battle-scarred female skeletons and other archaeological evidence have shown that they most likely existed and were probably from the Eurasian steppes. The Scythian, Sarmatian, and Hittite peoples are thought to have been the inspiration for the myth (there were many female Scythian warriors).
The society of the Amazons was said to be closed to men, and they only interacted briefly with men in order to reproduce. They also only raised their daughters — sons were instead returned to their fathers.
Ares Gynaikothoina
One of the epithets of Ares is “Ares Gynaikothoina”, meaning “feasted by women”. This epithet originates from a story in which the women of Tegea, during a war against the Lacedaemonian king Charillus, ambushed the enemy and in doing so secured victory. The women then celebrated the victory alone with a sacrificial feast in Ares’ honor.
My View of Ares
Personally, I see Ares as a god of anger and strength. In particular, I associate him with healthily-expressed and righteous anger, the kind of anger that drives us to make positive change in the world.
Anger is all too often seen as undesirable and bad in our world, but I think every emotion has a purpose, and anger can give us the strength to rise up against oppressive systems like the patriarchy or to acknowledge that we deserve better than abusive partners. In fact, anger can be the motivating factor in deciding to leave an abusive situation.
My view of Ares as a feminist comes in part from this understanding of him. The myths certainly contribute as well, but it seems only logical to me that a god of anger and strength would also be associated with feminism.
Have any thoughts on Ares (or any other god/deity) and their associations with movements against oppression? If so, let me know by leaving a comment! I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.