Ares and Athena
Most everyone with a surface-level knowledge of Ancient Greece knows that Ares is the God of War, and Athena is the God of Wisdom- and also war? There’s been many a joke made about how the Greeks had multiple gods of war- just for the love of the game apparently. But the distinction between Ares and Athena is more complex than that, and there’s value in understanding the distinction as we pursue our various tactical endeavors.
Ares was the god of [Caps lock] WAR. If he was a Martial Art, he would be Krav Maga. Ares is a bayonet charge; it’s turning into an ambush and mag-dumping in their general direction. It’s drilling with your handgun until you can’t do it wrong. It’s going to the gym and getting so jacked that you can use a MMG like an LMG. Ares represents all the brutal and gritty aspects of war and combat- the things that make for great action movies and especially social media content.
Athena, in contrast, represents the more nuanced and complex aspects of war. Planning and strategy; cleverness and deception. She’s the route planning and pre-combat checks. She’s the realistic evaluation of both friendly and enemy forces; the daring plan to attack during a midnight rainstorm and the comprehensive comms plan to ensure it all goes to schedule. If this stuff seems a bit tedious and a bit less cool, you’re right- it’s not as attention grabbing and doesn’t make for great social media content.
But it matters, arguably more than the domain of Ares. That’s not to say that Ares isn’t important, it’s hugely important to have skilled, competent, and prepared individuals ready for combat. But his domain is that of Warriors- individuals. Ares will win you the gunfight and maybe even the battle, but Athena wins you the war.
Of course, this is all very theoretical and the domains have plenty of overlap, but it may be worth a moment of reflection to evaluate ourselves and our organization. Focusing on the ‘Ares’ side of the coin is where we all typically start may be perfect if you’re a new Private that just arrived in the infantry, but if you’ve achieved solid proficiency at the individual task and are starting to dabble in the decision-making and critical thinking that goes on at higher levels, it may be time to expand your self-study and start exploring the world of Athena.
