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

Like most of the gods, the majority of Ares' children were only linked to him with the briefest of genealogical references. Most of these appear to have been assigned to his paternity merely to emphasize their brutal and warlike natures. Some were the mythic founders of certain (historical) noble and royal 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 Favour pages.

GENEALOGICAL LISTING

GENERAL LIST OF SONS

"Sons of Mars [Ares]. Oenomaus by Sterope. Harmonia by Venus [Aphrodite]. Lycus. Diomedes, the Thracian. Ascalaphus. Ialmenus. Cycnus. Dryas." - Hyginus, Fabulae 159

FAMILY MT OLYMPOS (HOME OF THE GODS)

LOVED: 1 - 5. Aphrodite, goddess of love; 6. Eris, goddess of strife
SIRED: 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

“Ares ... O defender of Olympos, father of warlike Nike (Victory)." - Homeric Hymn 8 to Ares

FAMILY IN ATTIKA (SOUTHERN GREECE)

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

"Agraulos [daughter of Kekrops king of Athens] and Ares had a daughter Alkippe." - Apollodorus, The Library 3.180

"[Ares] killed [Halirrhothios] because he had raped Alkippe, his daughter with Agraulos the daughter of Kekrops, as Hellanickos says in [book] one." - Suidas "Areios pagos"

FAMILY IN MEGARIS (SOUTHERN GREECE)

SIRED: 1. Nisos, king of Megara

"Nisus, son of Mars [Ares], or as others say, of Deion, and king of the Megarians." - Hyginus, Fabulae 198

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

FAMILY IN ELIS (SOUTHERN GREECE)

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

"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, Guide to Greece 5.1.6

"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." - Pausanias, Guide to Greece 5.22.6

"In the city of Pisa in the Peloponnesos Ares lay with Harpine, the daughter of Asopos, and begat Oinomaos." - Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4.73.2

"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." - Plutarch, Moralia Greek & Roman Parallel Stories 38 
[NB 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."

"Oenomaus, son of Mars [Ares] and Asterope, daughter of Atlas." - Hyginus, Fabulae 84

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

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

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

"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." - Hyginus, Astronomica 2.21

FAMILY IN AKHAIA (SOUTHERN GREECE)

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

"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." - Pausanias, Guide to Greece 7.22.8

FAMILY IN ARKADIA (SOUTHERN GREECE)

LOVED: 1 - 2. Phylonome, princess of Arkadia; 3. Aerope, princess of Arkadia; 4. Atalante, princess of Arkadia
SIRED: 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

3) AEROPOS Arkadian Lord

4) PARTHENOPAIOS Arkadian Lord

"To Melanion or Ares she [Atalante] bore Parthenopaios, who went on the expedition [of the Seven] against Thebes." - Apollodorus, The Library 3.109

FAMILY IN BOIOTIA (CENTRAL GREECE)

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

FAMILY IN ORKHOMENOS (CENTRAL GREECE)

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

FAMILY IN AITOLIA (CENTRAL GREECE)

LOVED: 1 - 5. Demonike, princess of Pleuron; 6. Althaia, queen of Kalydon; 7. Protogeneia, princess of Kalydon
SIRED: 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.

"Oineus son of Portheus son of Ares, was king of Kalydon." - Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 2

"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." - Plutarch, Moralia Greek & Roman Parallel Stories 38
[NB Euenos is usually called the son of Ares & Demonike, not of Sterope, so Oinomaus was really his half-brother - see Ares Loves: Demonike below]

6) MELEAGROS Prince of Aitolia

"Althaia [daughter of Thestios] also bore a son named Meleagros to Oineus, although some hold that the father was Ares." - Apollodorus, The Library 1.65

"Ares consorted with Althaia and begat Meleagros ... So says Euripides in his Meleagros." - Plutarch, Moralia Greek & Roman Parallel Stories 26

"Argonauts assembled: … Meleager, son of Oeneus and Althaea, daughter of Thestius; some think son of Mars [Ares], a Calydonian." - Hyginus, Fabulae 14

"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." - Hyginus, Fabulae 171

"Marvortius [Meleagros son of Ares], outraged beyond endurance, bursting in anger, shouted [at his uncles, the brothers of Althaia]." - Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.269

7) OXYLOS Kalydonian Lord

"Protogeneia [the daughter of Kalydon king of Kalydon in Aitolia], who with Ares produced Oxylos." - Apollodorus, The Library 1.59

8) DRYAS Kalydonian Lord

"[Hunters of the Kalydonian Boar] Oineus’ son Meleagros, and Dryas, son of Ares (both from Kalydon)." - Apollodorus, The Library 1.67

"Sons of Mars [Ares] ... Dryas." - Hyginus, Fabulae 159

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

FAMILY IN TRIKKA, THESSALIA (NORTHERN GREECE)

LOVED: 1. Khryse, princess of Phlegyantis; 1. Dotis, Boiotian lady
SIRED: 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.

"Lykos, the brother of Nykteus, these two [Theban] brothers were fugitives for having slain Phlegyas, son of Ares and Dotis of Boiotia." - Apollodorus, The Library 3.41

"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." - Pausanias, Guide to Greece 9.36.1

FAMILY IN PHYLAKE, THESSALIA (NORTHERN GREECE)

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

"It was he, Herakles, who killed Kyknos, high-hearted son of Ares." - Hesiod, The Shield of Heracles 57

"Herakles set out and reached the river Ekhedoros [in Makedonia], where he was challenged to a duel by Kyknos, son of Ares and Pyrene." - Apollodorus, The Library 2.114

"As he passed Itonos Herakles was challenged to a duel by Kyknos, son of Ares and Pelopia." - Apollodorus, The Library 2.155

"Sons of Mars [Ares] ... Cygnus." - Hyginus, Fabulae 159

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

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

FAMILY IN PIERIA (NORTHERN GREECE)

SIRED: 1. Oiagros, king of Pieria

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

FAMILY IN THRAKE (NORTH OF GREECE)

LOVED: 1. Kyrene, Naias nymph; 1. Asterie, nymph; 3. Teirene, Naias nymph
SIRED: 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

"Diomedes, son of Ares and Kyrene, was king of the Bistones, a militant Thrakian tribe, and owned man-eating mares." - Apollodorus, The Library 2.96

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

"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]." - Hyginus, Fabulae 250
[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].

2) TEREUS King of a Thrakian tribe

"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." - Apollodorus, The Library 1.193

"Tereus, son of Mars [Ares], a Thracian … thinking that his brother Dryas was plotthing his son’s death, he killed the innocent man." - Hyginus, Fabulae 45

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

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

"Tereus of Threicia … traced his lineage from Gradivus [Ares] himself." - Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.427

3) THRASSA Queen of the Triballoi

"Thrassa was daughter of Ares and of Tereine daughter of Strymon." - Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 21

4) ALKON Thrakian Lord

"Those Who Hunted the Calydonian Boar ... Alcon, son of Mars [Ares], from Thrace ... Dryas, son of Iapetus." - Hyginus, Fabulae 173

FAMILY IN AMAZON-LAND (ANATOLIA)

LOVED: 1. Harmonia, nymph; 2 - 4. Otrere, queen of the Amazones
SIRED: 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

"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." - Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2.989

2 - 3) HIPPOLYTE & ANTIOPE Queens of the Amazones

"As a symbol of her pre-eminence among them [the Amazones], Hippolyte was possessor of the belt of Ares." - Apollodorus, The Library 2.98

"[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." - Hyginus, Fabulae 30

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

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

4) PENTHESILEIA Queen of the Amazones

"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." - Homerica, The Aethiopis Frag 1 (from Proclus Chrestomathia 2)

"Then came [Penthesileia] the Amazon, the daughter of great-souled Ares the slayer of men." - Homerica, The Aethiopis Frag 2 (from Scholiast on Homer's Iliad 24.804)

"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]." - Apollodorus, The Library E5.1

"Challenging combatants and their adversaries [in the Trojan War] ... The same [Akhilleus] with Penthesilea, daughter of Mars [Ares] and Otrera; Penthesilea was killed." - Hyginus, Fabulae 112

FAMILY IN LIBYA (NORTH AFRICA)

SIRED: 1. Lykos, Libyan king

"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." - Plutarch, Moralia Greek & Roman Parallel Stories 23

"Offspring of Mars [Ares] ... Lycus." - Hyginus, Fabulae 159

FAMILY IN LATIUM (CENTRAL ITALY)

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

"Those suckled by animals ... Romulus and Remus, sons of Mars and Ilia, by a she-wolf." - Hyginus, Fabulae 252

Sources:

• Homer, The Iliad - Greek Epic C9th-8th BC
• Homerica, The Aethiopis - Greek Epic BC
• Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd BC
• Apollonius Rhodius, The Argonautica - Greek Epic C3rd BC
• Pausanias, Guide to Greece - Greek Geography C2nd AD
• Plutarch, Moralia - Greek Historian C1st-2nd AD
• Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses - Greek Mythography C2nd AD
• Philostratus the Younger, Imagines - Greek Rhetoric C3rd A.D.
• Hyginus, Fabulae - Latin Mythography C2nd AD
• Hyginus, Astronomica - Latin Mythography C2nd AD
• Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st BC - C1st AD
• Suidas - Byzantine Lexicographer C10th AD