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happy birthday to my favorite silly boy <3

Writing "My" Ares

I love Rick Riordan and you can read my appreciation of him here, but I have always taken an issue with his portrayal of Greek Gods. I obviously understand they are kids books, and he is doing narrative work, but I have always wondered about his portrayal of Ares.

Ares, who is brash, whiny, cowardly, a loser--and perhaps that comes from his mythological portrayal, especially in the Iliad.

It is interesting to me that the Greeks chose to portray their War God as a loser often times, and I think that speaks to the fact that in conflict--someone must lose, and the war god will always taste it. He is portrayed as losing to Athena, losing to Diomedes, trapped in a jar by giants. All of these are valid ideas and concepts about Ares, but it totally skips out on his hymn.

It's only seventeen lines, but its just so opposite of what his portrayals are in mythology. In mythology, he gets portrayed as a coward, but the hymn calls him "doughty in heart." He is the "defense of Olympus." Not only that he is the "leader of righteous men." The "Sceptered King of Manliness"--what in the world, sceptered king of manliness has to be my outright favorite line of all time.

But, even more than that, Ares is the one that crushes the "deceitful impulses of [the] soul." The deceitful impulses of the soul tells me he is giving people power over themselves, he is that feeling inside right before you throw a punch or say words that can never be unspoken and he draws you back, and he says fight another war. Fight better, in fact, fight righteously, fight with courage.

Further, the hymn asks Ares "Give you me boldness to abide within the harmless laws of peace, avoiding strife and hatred and the violent fiends of death." Ares is master over those things, he can lead men to it, and he can save men from it. And that's how I chose to write Ares. He doesn't necessarily win his battles, and he can be fought against pretty easily, but he fights anyway--I think my favorite line from him in one of the upcoming chapters for my fic is when he is speaking with Nike.

“You cannot fight him,” Nike said despondently. 

“Why not die trying?” Ares said. “I would rather try and lose than be a victorious knave.”

I think he is a more compelling character than "War god bad brrr." He is a path to peace and a path to war, and we get to look at Lord Ares and decide which we choose.

In the story I am writing, he is one only one who looks at the ill going on in Olympus, sees the darkness, and he just will not stand for it. He walks away, turns his gaze from the evil, and he chooses a peaceful path, which is not out of character according to his Homeric Hymn. He abandons the fight for power that is going on, and he chooses to save someone he loves instead of going to war.

all quotes come from -- Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica Hesiod

Rb to give your deity a liddol kiss kiss on the nose as a thank you for everything :)

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”I love you,,

I meant to post this on the 5th but

yk

✨everything✨

it’s mothman’s birthday everyone say happy birthday mothman 🥳🎉

news years day 2025 is gonna be insane