In Greek mythology, Hera was the mother of Ares, the Olympian god of war.
Ares is generally described as the son of Zeus and Hera. Unlike Athena, who represents strategic warfare and was said to emerge from Zeus's head, Ares embodies the violence, fury, and disorder of battle. The myths often present him as powerful but impulsive and less disciplined than Athena.
Ares had a famous affair with Aphrodite, who was married to Hephaestus. Their relationship appears in stories such as the episode in which Hephaestus traps the lovers in an invisible net and exposes them to the other gods.
Hera is sometimes omitted from simplified family trees because some later traditions describe Ares as born from her alone after she touched a magical flower. In the standard genealogy, however, Zeus and Hera are his parents. The Roman equivalent of Ares was Mars.