The Planet MARS

In honor of our visit from our red brother planet, I offer this:

To the Norsemen Mars was a one-handed god of war called, Tiu (TEE oo). Tuesday honors the god of war called Mars by the Romans and Ares (ER eez) by the Greeks. "All's fair in love and war" may be a reference to his affair with Venus. The Romans made iron sacred to Mars and often had amulets made from the metal to protect them in battle.

Sometimes Mars was related to agriculture and has his own spring month named after him, March. Spring was also the time the Roman legions began their conquests and you guessed it, got their march-ing orders.

In Babylonian astronomical texts, for example, the planet Mars is routinely identified with the war-god Nergal. We will have reason to examine the cult of Nergal in great detail, arguing that it is impossible to understand the traditions surrounding this god apart from ancient conceptions surrounding the red planet. The cult of Nergal, in turn, will serve as a recurring point of comparison in our analyses of the war-gods of other cultures.

A third strategy, hitherto overlooked, would be to compare ancient reports surrounding the various planets with traditions involving heroes or heroines identified with them. Ancient beliefs surrounding the planet Mars, for example, might be compared with traditions surrounding Heracles, the identification of the Greek strongman with the red planet being common in Hellenistic times. Here, too, it would appear that students of archaeoastronomy have overlooked a valuable source of information. Indeed, it was the vast nexus of characteristics shared between the planet Mars and Heracles which led me to postulate that the inspiration for the mythological traditions surrounding the Greek strongman was the primeval appearance and unique behavior of the red planet. (E. Cochrane, "Heracles and the Planet Mars," Aeon I:4 (1988), pp. 89-106; Idem, "The Death of Heracles," Aeon II:5 (1991), pp. 55-73. )

So, for the Warriors among us, do not be surprised by the effect of our Red Neighbor.

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