res was one of the great Olympian gods, the son of Zeus and Hera, and the greek god of war. An immense brute, he was universally hated, even by his parents. Ares wore bronze armour, a gleaming helmet with a long plume, a breastplate and chiton and carried a heavy shield and spear. He was endowed with enormous strength and with his leather shield and armour cast aside all warriors, chariots and even walls. In contrast to Athene, a goddess of just wars, Ares was a brawler and bully, always ready for armed conflict and bloodshed. His companion was Eris (discord) along with the war goddess Enyo and his sons by Aphrodite, Phobus (fear) and Deimos (terror). Always eager for battle, in the Iliad he fought until he was exhausted and left for dead. Once, when he was wounded on the field of battle, he fled to Mount Olympus where Zeus himself tended his wounds before sending him back into the fray. Ares origin is Thrace, which was a region in the north towards Asia and the Black sea inhabited by brutish, belligerent primitives. Ares raped Astyocha and made her pregnant with Ascalaphus and Ialmenus. He also raped Pyrene, by whom he had Diomedes of Thrace. According to Apollodorus he sired children by Astynomye and Protogencia. Athene opposed him on the battlefield at Troy, where she brought him down by throwing a stone at him. Ares was also the progenitor of the Amazons, the tribe of fierce female warriors who came to the assistance of Priam in the Trojan War. Their queen Penthesilea was killed by Achilles. Ares is usually represented as a powerful warrior who cared little for the interests he defended, a brute who loved fighting and changed sides with the wind. In the roar and din of battle Ares struck fear into the hearts of men and gods and in the Trojan war delighted in the slaughter of Greeks. In the region of Thrace he had a cult dedicated to his exploits which then developed in Thebes and Sparta. In Rome the cult of Ares was assimilated with that of Mars, who was said to be the father of Romulus, the founder of Rome.