Mars
| Religion in NetHack |
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In NetHack, Mars is the chaotic god of the Ranger pantheon.
Origin
In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Mars is the god of war and the son of Jupiter and Juno, and was pre-eminent among the Roman army's military gods. Most of his festivals were held in March, the month named for him (Latin Martius), and in October, the months which traditionally began and ended the season for both military campaigning and farming; this also reflects his early role as an agricultural guardian. Under the influence of Greek culture, Mars was identified with the Greek god Ares, though unlike Ares, who was viewed primarily as a destructive and destabilizing force, Mars represented military power as a way to secure peace, and was a father of the Roman people.
Mars was believed to have fathered Romulus and Remus by laying with Rhea Silvia against her will, though the Roman historian Livy cast significant doubt on this interpretation. Mars is also known for his love affair with Venus, which symbolically reconciled two different traditions of Rome's founding: Venus was the divine mother of the hero Aeneas, celebrated as the Trojan refugee who "founded" Rome several generations before Romulus laid out the city walls. Although this affair was not originally part of the Roman tradition, in 217 BCE Venus and Mars were presented as a complementary pair, and scenes of Venus and Mars in Roman art often ignore the implications regarding former's marriage to Vulcan.
Variants
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, Mars is replaced by Tulkas for elven Rangers, Lolth for drow and hedrow Rangers, Urdlen for gnome Rangers, and Diana for other Rangers.
Encyclopedia entry
The god of war, and one of the most prominent and worshipped
gods. In early Roman history he was a god of spring, growth in
nature, and fertility, and the protector of cattle. Mars is
also mentioned as a chthonic god (earth-god) and this could
explain why he became a god of death and finally a god of war.
He is the son of Jupiter and Juno.
