CantaClassics

Ares

Ares is the god who thrives on violence and battle, not thinking of the consequences, but only of spilt blood. This is the god of war.

Ares has a certain, ‘eerie’ feel to him. While he comes across as handsome and bold, there is an atmosphere of cruelty and malice that surrounds Ares, which is probably why he is the most loathed among the gods. It is said that even Zeus, his own father, dislikes Ares.

Through all the dislike, Ares still reproduced, and is father to Diomedes, Cycnus and Oenomaus.

Ares employs no thought before action, as he is pure testosterone. He lives for the moment, for battle and for death.

When you hear all of this about Ares, you would picture a great warrior who knows no fear, but this is not the case, as Ares has often been seen to flee a battle like a coward, specifically during the Trojan War when Diomedes stabbed him with a spear.

Ares holds the vulture as his sacred animal, as the vulture represents death.

Overall, Ares was not a great god in Greek mythology, but his equivalent in Roman mythology, Mars, earned much more respect.

HADES. Hades is the lord of the underworld, he was one of three sons of kronos the titan and established his realm as the underworld alfter he and his brothers drew lots. Hades helped in the war against the titans and he and his brothers were gifted with special weapons each. Hades was gifted with the helmet of invisibility which he used to sneak in and destroy the titan’s weapons.  Hades is often refered to as the invisible one (e.g. his helmet) or the rich one as all mineral such as gold and copper were dug from the beneath the ground where they believed Hades resided. Hades ruled over all of the under world and was very strict on who could come and go. in modern religions hell is thought of as an evil place but the ancient Greeks thought it more as a natural life cycle and viewed Hades not with contempt or anger but someone who was more passive and just than actually evil, though they showed him the respect he deserved by adverting there eyes at sacrifice of not even uttering his name but calling him ploto or ploton as it would be him who chose whether a person would or would not live in happiness on the Elysian fields or burn inTartarus,

We need to expand on our knowledge of the Gods by looking at some of the minor gods in Greek Mythology. Download the file below and complete the template by finding information on the internet (yes again, unless you have your textbook) about each god. Some are filled in for you, just write a quick note about each one.

You will need to print this file out to fill it in.

Minor Gods Template

THIS IS WORK FOR TWO LESSONS. BE READY TO DISCUSS ON FRIDAY

 THIS WORK IS FOR TWO PERIODS

Now we get to the really interesting stuff!  We need to find out about the major Olympian Gods.  For each we need to know the following:

• Names (Greek and Roman)
• Description of what they looked like and how you might recognise them in a work of art
• Their areas of interest and influence (very important)
• Some of their stories

TASK:

For each of the folowing Gods complete a profile covering the first three bullet points above (Names, Description, Area of Influence).  Use the internet to find the information (there is plenty around).  Add a picture to each profile.  Read about some of their stories they are rather interesting!

THE GODS -

• Zeus
• Hera
• Demeter
• Hestia
• Poseidon
• Athene
• Hades
• Aphrodite
• Artemis
• Apollo
• Hermes
• Ares
• Hephaestus
• Dionysus

USE THIS VIDEO TO HELP YOU GET STARTED, BUT DON’T RELY ON IT.  (BE PATIENT IT TAKES TIME TO LOAD)

HOMEWORK TASK – Choose one god and find as many pictures of them as you can.  Be ready to show these pictures to the other students on Friday – we will discuss how they are portrayed.  If you can’t access images on the internet at school do it at home.