The son of Zeus and Hera, Ares was worshiped as the god of war in ancient Greece and Rome. Ares' dissatisfaction with Zeus' rule of Olympus began after Zeus' decree that worship of the Olympians should be allowed to die out.

On three times he attempted to conquer Olympus, twice in league with his uncle Hades, god of the Olympian underworld, but each time he was thwarted through the efforts of his half-brother, Hercules, and Hercules' allies. Ares hated Hercules ever since he had killed Ares' monstrous Stymphalian birds in the days of ancient Greece.