“In Homer, Ares is both an abstract noun denoting "war” and the deity, blood-stained and bellowing, who personifies the grim and horrific aspects of war. Not surprisingly, Ares enjoyed only a limited worship, concentrated in the Peloponnese and central Greece. Yet he was father to numerous ancestral heroes, and played an important role in the legendary origins of Thebes.“
"Cults of Ares were often connected to battle lore, and as the ancestor of the Amazons, Ares was associated with stories of women warriors. In Argos and Tegea, legends told how the women of the city took up arms to battle invading Spartans, and having achieved victory, established cults of Ares from which men were excluded.”
Ancient Greek Cults: A Guide by Jennifer Larson.
Gynaecothoenas, “the god feasted by women”, was a surname of Ares at Tegea.
