The first people to say the name “Mars” were the ancient Romans. In Roman mythology, Mars was the god of war and all things bloody.
He loved Venus, the goddess of love and all things beautiful. The mismatched couple had many sons: Deimos (terror), Phobos (fear), Chaos, Panic, and Trembling. Unfortunately, the children took after their father and marched with him into battle time and again. Only Venus could tame Mars and occasionally bring peace.
The adventures of Venus and Mars eventually carried into the night sky. There, among the stars, Mars’s light was a strange red – a color associated with blood and war. The brightest and most beautiful light was, of course, Venus.
Just as wars come and go, Mars’s light grows dimmer and brighter at times. The first astronomers called Mars and other unusual-acting “stars” planetes, a word meaning “wanderer.” Both faces of Mars – god of war and blood-red planet – still exist. You can read about Mars in books of Roman myths, and planet Mars shows its face in the night sky – often near Venus.
