#colchian dragon

I was super excited to do this one, as I knew it would be full of dark drama. Ares; god of war, courage, and …civil order? (huh, who knew?) Here we have our raging, wrathful deity unleashing his fury in the bloodlust of battle. His sacred weapons glittering; the golden helmet, spear and shield.

Let’s dive into the symbolic imagery. I put a boar head icon on the shield to symbolize Ares turning into a boar and gorging the youth Adonis to death, after being jealous of the youth’s affair with Aphrodite. The serpents are creatures associated with Ares: the Colchian dragon (which guards the golden fleece in the sacred grove of Ares- from the Jason and the Argonauts myth) and the Ismenian dragon (which guards the sacred spring of Ares near Thebes)  

Flying above Ares shoulder is his daughter, the goddess of Victory, Nike. In the upper right are vultures, animals associated with Ares, and his sister Eris; goddess of discord. (the goddess who, unable to enter the banquet of the gods, threw in the golden apple inscribed “for the farest” causing strife for the women and ultimately bringing Paris into judge, as a precursor to Helen and the Trojan war). 

Galloping into battle below are three Scythian Amazon warrior women, the leader being Ares daughter; Queen Penthesilea, (who Achilles killed in battle at Troy and fell in love with her as she lay dying.)

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