Ares
Ares's name is most often linked to the Greek word arē, "ruin" or "curse," a fitting sense for a war-god, but the connection is genuinely disputed rather than proven.
Sections on this page
Meaning
The most repeated etymology for Ares derives his name from arē (also spelled ara), an ordinary Greek word meaning "bane," "ruin," "curse," or "imprecation." The appeal of this reading is obvious: a war-god named for ruin and curses is a thematically perfect fit, which is exactly why the theory should be treated with some caution rather than accepted purely because it feels right. Ancient Greeks themselves speculated along similar lines. In Plato's Cratylus, a dialogue devoted almost entirely to testing whether god-names carry true meanings, Socrates proposes that Ares could come from arrēn, "manly, virile," or from arratos, "unyielding, unbreakable" - both offered as fitting names for the god of war, though Plato's etymologies throughout the dialogue are playful philosophical exercises rather than rigorous historical linguistics. Modern scholarship has not settled on the arē derivation either. An alternative Greek root, aros, meaning "profit" or "help," has also been proposed, which would be a strikingly different, almost propitiatory sense - perhaps a name meant to appease rather than describe. Walter Burkert took a different approach entirely, treating "Ares" as "an ancient abstract noun meaning throng of battle, war" rather than a word built from a specific root with an independent meaning. Other researchers have looked outside Greek altogether, connecting Ares to Indo-European roots for violence, such as yōris or yāris, and to the Sanskrit word irasyā, "malevolence, envy." Robert S. P. Beekes rejected all of these Indo-European proposals and argued instead, as he does for several major Greek divine names, that Ares is pre-Greek in origin - a name inherited from the older linguistic substrate of the Aegean rather than built from any Greek or Indo-European root at all. The honest summary is that Ares's name sounds like it should mean "ruin" or "strife," and ancient and modern writers alike have found that idea attractive, but no single derivation has been demonstrated conclusively.
What does the name Ares actually mean?
The most common theory links it to arē, Greek for "ruin," "curse," or "bane," fitting a war-god's character. But this connection is disputed rather than proven, and competing theories exist, including an unrelated word for "profit," an abstract term for "battle," and a proposed pre-Greek origin.
Did the ancient Greeks have their own idea about what Ares's name meant?
Yes. In Plato's Cratylus, Socrates suggests Ares could derive from arrēn, "manly," or arratos, "unyielding," both fitting descriptions for a war-god. This is a genuine ancient discussion of the name, though Plato's etymologies in that dialogue are philosophical wordplay rather than reliable historical linguistics.
Plato, Cratylus 407d
Is Ares's name connected to any word outside Greek?
Some scholars have proposed Indo-European violence-related roots, such as yōris or yāris, and a connection to the Sanskrit word irasyā, "malevolence." Robert S. P. Beekes rejected these Indo-European theories entirely and instead argued Ares is a pre-Greek name, inherited from an older, non-Indo-European Aegean language layer.
Why is the "ruin" etymology for Ares treated with caution?
Because a war-god's name meaning "ruin" or "curse" fits his character so neatly that the connection may be an attractive coincidence rather than genuine etymology. Scholars are wary of etymologies that seem too perfectly matched to a figure's mythological role, since that fit is sometimes the folk-etymology effect rather than the real linguistic history.
Carried By
Sources
- Plato, Cratylus 407d
- Robert S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (2010)
- Walter Burkert, Greek Religion (1985)