I. Name

Ares is the god of war of the Greek pantheon, who also represents the warrior side of other gods, such as Zeus Areios, Athena Areia, Aphrodite Areia and, apparently already in Mycenean times, Hermaas Areias (Burkert 1985:169). In the Bible he perhaps appears as a theophoric element in the name Areopagus in Acts 17. The name already occurs in Linear-B as Are (KN Fp 14), but its etymology is debated. Perhaps it was an ancient abstract noun meaning ‘throng of battle, war’ (Burkert 1985:169, but see also Peters 19…