Ares, Eris, and Discord Explained: the Complete Guide to Myth Vs. Pop Culture

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The dynamic between Ares and Eris depends heavily on which ancient poet one consults. In Book IV of Homer's Iliad, Eris appears as the sister and field partner of Ares. Homer paints an arresting portrait of her gradual ascent: small at first when she enters the ranks, she swells until her head scrapes the heavens while her feet still pace the earth. During these campaigns, she walks alongside Ares and his terrifying twins, Deimos and Phobos, the minor gods of dread and panic. Together, these Iliad battle companions turned bronze-age skirmishes into systemic slaughters.

Hesiod’s Theogony offers an entirely different, far darker genealogical path. Hesiod bypasses the Olympian court entirely, listing Eris as the daughter of Nyx (Night) without a father. That lineage places her among primordial forces like Thanatos (Death), Nemesis (Retribution), and the Keres (Violent Death). In this tradition, Eris predates Ares by generations. She does not answer to Olympian command, nor does she share Zeus’s royal bloodline.

Hesiod also divided strife into two separate entities. One was destructive and fueled malicious warfare, while the other was a healthy, productive rivalry that urged farmers and craftsmen to work harder than their neighbors. The malevolent Eris remained inseparable from Ares, feeding the carnage he craved.