Athena & Ares: The Battle Of Two War Gods | Ares & Diomedes: The Trojan War | Greek Mythology

An ancient goddess wants nothing less than world domination, and mankind is powerless to stop her. But in our darkest hour, heroes will rise to save the day. Follow the adventure in New Olympians on sale now at greatjupitersparks.com Long time ago, when the choices and blind actions of Paris, led to the Trojan War, the war goddess Athena, took the side of the Greeks, while the war god, Ares, rallied behind the Trojans. The Trojan War was not just a battle between the mortal men of Troy and Greece, it was also a battle between the immortal gods, a rivalry between two war gods. A conflict between the two natures of war, that of justice, against that of bloodlust, and lawlessness. It all began when the nymph, Thetis, invited all the gods to her wedding, except Ares, goddess of discord. Furious at being ignored, Ares threw a golden apple through the door, a gift to the fairest one, she said. When a young man named Paris was given the apple to choose, who among Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, was the fairest, he could not come to a decision, for the three goddesses were all lovely. And so it turned to a game of bribery. Hera, offering him power, Athena, offering him wisdom, and Aphrodite, offering him love. Paris chose Aphrodite as the fairest, who in turn, gave him the love of Helen of Troy, the beautiful wife of the Spartan king, Menelaus. Paris would abduct Helen, causing a rift between the kingdom of Troy and the Greeks, and Ares would stand with the insolent Trojans, at the persuasion of Aphrodite. On the side of the Trojans, Ares led his five terrors onto the battlefield, Phobos, representing terror, Deimos, representing fear, Eres, representing hate, Eno, representing destruction, and the Pyrrhus, representing cruel death. While on the side of the Greeks, Athena fought beside Diomedes, the hero of Anatolia, and implemented her strategies through Odysseus, the king of Ithaca. Once, Diomedes saw Ares on the battlefield, covered in the blood of the slain, and fearing he stood little chance against the god, he prayed to Athena for assistance. Athena urged him on against the bloodthirsty god, for she would be by his side, to aid him every step of the way. And as promised, when Diomedes engaged Ares in battle, Athena was right beside him, invisible to any mortal eye. Ares recognized Diomedes, for it was him who wounded Aphrodite, when she tried to save her son, Aeneas, from death at his hands. Mad with fury, Ares lunged forth to impale Diomedes with his spear, eager to take the life from him. But Athena caught the spear in her hand, casting it away, so it stabbed aimlessly. Then she guided the hand of Diomedes, as he drove his bronze spear into the belly of Ares, piercing him so deeply, that immortal blood poured out profusely, as he wrenched the spear out. Ares was forced to his knees by the pain of his wound, bellowing furiously as his strength left him. Taking him by the arm, Athena dragged him away, back to Olympus, where Zeus tended to his wounds, rebuking him for his insatiable bloodlust. Father Zeus, are you not angry looking on these acts of violence? It is your fault that we fight, since you brought forth this maniac daughter, who forever favors unjust action. Why do you do nothing to check this girl, since you begot this child of perdition? See now, she has led Diomedes, son of Tyreus, to lash out against the immortal gods. First, he stabbed Aphrodite, and now even me. Were it not for my swift feet, that got me out of the way, I would long be lying there in pain, among the stock-dead men, because of that spear. Do not sit beside me and whine, you double-faced liar. To me, you are the most hateful of all the gods who hold Olympus. Wars and battles are forever dear in your heart, yet, I will not long endure to see you in pain, since you were my child, and it was to me that your mother bore you. If you were born of some other god, if you were not my son, you would have been dropped beneath the gods of the bright sky, into the depths of Tartaros. As soon as Ares healed however, he returned to the side of the Trojans, just when the Greeks were about to break through the gates of Troy. Stirring up an elite group, he led Aeneas and the Trojans, to repel the Greek forces, led by Neoptonimus. Remembering his defeat at the hands of Diomedes, he then rose up against Athena. Do you not remember how you set on Diomedes, Tyreus's son, to spear me? And yourself, laying hold of the pike, pushed it straight into me, and tore my skin in its beauty. Now I shall pay you back for all you have done to me. You child. Have you not thought even this time how much stronger I am than you, when you match your fury against me? You are paying atonement to your mother's furies, she wishes you ill, because you abandoned the Achaeans, and have given your aid to the insolent Trojans. With this, the two engaged in battle, Ares with his long spear, cursing and stabbing viciously, and Athena with her frightful aegis, evading and blocking his every attack. Gaining the upper hand, Athena struck Ares a huge blow at the neck, and sent him crashing to the ground. When Aphrodite appeared, to get her lover out of harm's way, Athena struck the delicate goddess at the chest, with her powerful fist, watching in amusement, as she sprawled beside Ares on the ground. Satisfied with her triumph, Athena stood above the couple, taunting them ceaselessly. She then advised Odysseus and the Greeks, to build a large wooden horse, and hide inside its belly, till dusk, as part of their plan to capture the city of Troy. Aggrieved by the death of his Amazonian daughter, Penthesilea, and his son, Aeschylus, in the gruesome war, Ares later returned to the battlefield, in one last attempt to stop the Greeks, and destroy the Trojan horse. But Athena descended from the heavens once again, and restrained him, up until the king god, Zeus, intervened, commanding all the gods to withdraw from the battle, and leave the mortal men to their fate. The Greeks emerged victorious in the war, Thereafter, Ares and his Trojan allies, had been defeated by Athena and the Greek forces.