In mythology, as in nothing else, it expresses what priorities a particular nation has in its spiritual life. For example, among the Scandinavians, the god of war is not only the most important among all gods, but also the most moral among all higher beings. He even sacrificed his eye so that the world would stand. The god of agriculture and merchants is a sly and yule. Constantly gets into ambiguous situations and refuses battles.
Priority Mirror
Mars, the Roman god of war, does not want to be the most important among the heavenly divine pantheon, because he is too cruel and can not forgive anyone. The Romans subtly noticed how personalities change when they begin to professionally kill their own kind. Frenzy is the most important character trait of their god of war. Maybe that’s why the consciousness of the people married him to the goddess of love, Venus, frivolous and windy. These are two extremes that complement each other. The Roman people honored him, but not very zealously, because the war never brought anything life-giving. To the mighty Jupiter for help, it was as if not according to rank, so they turned to the laced Pan. And he understood them, because he cultivated life and was friends with laris and penates.
There are only enemies around him.
The highest divine family of the Roman people was a rather grumpy bunch. Mercury is friends with Hephaestus today, and tomorrow he will find a mere mortal - and let him insinuate him to say impudence to the blacksmith of the underground fire. And similar stories happened to each of the gods, even to Jupiter. But it is so clear! It is so human ...
And only the god Mars is immersed in one relentless thought - with whom to fight and shed blood. He does not even exchange love with Venus. His petrified heart is not subject to the arrows of Cupid, the playful god. This is scary. But wisdom can stop the war god of Mars. Under Troy, at a time when he was still called Ares, Athena stopped him by sending a spear into his chest with the hand of Achilles. And divine blood spilled from the hero’s hand. But the war continued, because the wounded man was immediately invited to the table of Jupiter to drink nectar. They brought a bowl with him. It is the destiny of mankind to shed human blood.
The people, who subjugated half the ancient world to the Roman eagle and constantly sent copper legions to all directions of the world, did not even bring sacrifices to the deity. It was believed that Mars (the god of war) finds sacrifices in sufficient quantities for himself. This Pan must be appeased and brought to his stump a crust of unleavened bread and goat milk so that he would not send his forest kingdom to the cultivated fields.
Not very ancient
But the ancient god of war is not so ancient! He is no more than 5 thousand years old. The ancient Sumerians and Egyptians did not have it. In even more ancient Tripoli Aryans, the formidable Thunderbolt donned a helmet only when his face was clouded and fluttered by the wings of Resentment. Then he called his daughter Glory and told her: “I am going to kill the right cause in the killings” (from the ancient warrior anthem). That is, most of the ancient peoples in the war did not see special valor.
Mars was singled out as a separate divine entity when state structures began to form. But the initial understanding of the essence of the war was never completely expelled from the minds of peoples by the forces of "state necessity." And even the archangel Michael, a remake of the ancient image of Svetogor (mountain light, the highest), is not a professional warrior.
Without special valor
The ancient Greeks and Romans singled out Mars as the god of war, but did not endow it with either attractive traits of character or special valor. Only among some peoples did the god Mars appear to be the pinnacle of the mysterious hierarchies that rule the world. These peoples can be listed on the fingers of one hand - the Mongols, ancient Jews, Papuans from Papua New Guinea, the Scandinavians. Even the warlike African Dogon tribe , whose men either slept or fought, kept their god of war in the form of a Serpent away from their dwellings - in a cave so that he would not see the white light and devour it.
God Mars is trying to quarrel with God Phoebe
An interesting legend seems to tell you how Mars saw the world. The mythology of the Romans gives a clear idea of how the war begins and by what means it must be prevented. In a quarrel, in a war, there is no truth. She disappears in the war. And a warrior is only worthy of his high name when he is not a soulless instrument of Evil.
At one of the feasts of the gods, the bright Phoebe began to surprise everyone with his creative abilities. He revived the staff of Jupiter, decorating it with leaves of myrtle, instead of giving the golden crown, which was made by Hephaestus in the form of two woven snakes with ruby eyes, a laurel wreath, and instead of snakes - two living birds instead of the golden crown, which he made. The divine blacksmith himself, the lord of the underground fires, was delighted and began to extol the creative abilities of the bright sun god, recognizing that the underground forces are powerful, but they do not have living beauty.
Only one god Mars remained gloomy at a merry feast over which peace and tranquility reigned. And suddenly he rose from his seat - wide and powerful, and overshadowed the elegant figure of Phoebe in front of Jupiter. He said: “Is he able to protect from me all the beauties he created?” And took out a heavy sword. Everyone was quiet. But laughed bright Phoebe. In his hand was a lyre, he came out from behind the terrible god and began to play. The formidable clouds of quarrel instantly dispersed, and the heavy sword of Mars from the sounds of music turned into the shepherd’s staff. The ancient god of war threw the staff to the floor, but he, with an iron tinkle, stopped at the feet of the bright Phoebe playing on the lyre.
The moral of this mythological parable is simple and does not need explanation.
How to meet Mars?
When people knock on a door with war, good people open the door for it so that the war itself does not open them. So said the ancient Greeks. And they were right. The Romans put it even harder and more precisely: "He who wants peace, he is preparing for war." For better or worse, these are the realities of our lives.
Those who pray to the god of war suffer from the inability to create their worlds. This comes from the scarcity of imagination and lack of hard work. But even in war they remain as incapable as in the world. And their frenzy is scary only to those who are not armed. No wonder Scipio, the ancient Roman commander, said: “The best soldiers are peasants, because they are stubborn. But I don’t need the warlike in the war. ”