Phobos is the personification of horror

Horror (emotion)

The distinction between horror and terror is a standard literary and psychological concept applied especially to Gothic literature and film. Terror is usually described as the feeling of dread and anticipation that precedes the horrifying experience...

 in Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

. He is the offspring of Ares

Ares

Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...

 and Aphrodite

Aphrodite

Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....

. He was known for accompanying Ares into battle along with his brother, Deimos

Deimos (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Deimos was the personification of terror.He was the son of Ares and Aphrodite. He is the twin brother of Phobos and the goddess Enyo who accompanied Ares into battle, as well as his father's attendants, Trembling, Fear, Dread, and Panic...

, the goddess Enyo

Enyo

Enyo , was an ancient goddess of war, acting as a counterpart and companion to the war god Ares. She is also identified as his sister, and daughter of Zeus and Hera, in a role closely resembling that of Eris; with Homer representing the two as the same goddess...

, and his father’s attendants. Timor is his Roman

Roman mythology

Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...

 equivalent. Considering the accounts in Greek mythology, Phobos is more of a personification of the fear brought by war and does not appear as an actual character in any mythology.

Genealogy

Phobos is the son of Aphrodite and Ares. This can be seen in Hesiod’s

Hesiod

Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...

 Theogony, "Also Kytherea Aphrodite

Aphrodite

Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....

 bare to Ares the shield piercer Phobos…" (Atsma). Phobos’ genealogy is shown below:


+ Table 1. Genealogy of Phobos. Source: See See Also>

Name	Relation
Dione Dione (mythology) Dione was a Greek goddess primarily known as the mother of Aphrodite in Book V of Homer's Iliad. Aphrodite journeys to Dione's side after she has been wounded in battle protecting her favorite son Aeneas. In this episode, Dione seems to be the equivalent of the earth goddess Gaia, whom Homer also...	Grandmother (Aphrodite's Mother)
Zeus Zeus In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...	Grandfather (Both Sides)
Hera Hera Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...	Grandmother (Ares's Mother)
Ares Ares Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...	Father
Aphrodite Aphrodite Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....	Mother
Deimos Deimos (mythology) In Greek mythology, Deimos was the personification of terror.He was the son of Ares and Aphrodite. He is the twin brother of Phobos and the goddess Enyo who accompanied Ares into battle, as well as his father's attendants, Trembling, Fear, Dread, and Panic...	(Twin) Brother
Anteros Anteros In Greek mythology, Anteros was the god of requited love, literally "love returned" or "counter-love" and also the punisher of those who scorn love and the advances of others, or the avenger of unrequited love....	Brother
Harmonia Harmonia (mythology) In Greek mythology, Harmonia is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Roman counterpart is Concordia, and her Greek opposite is Eris, whose Roman counterpart is Discordia.-Origins:...	Sister
Himerus	Brother
Adrestia Adrestia Adrestia in Greek mythology was the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite and known to accompany her father Ares to war. She was venerated as a goddess of revenge and balance because she was usually portrayed with Nemesis, and sometimes identical to Nemesis herself, who had the epithet of Adrestia or...	Sister
Eros Eros Eros , in Greek mythology, was the Greek god of love. His Roman counterpart was Cupid . Some myths make him a primordial god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite....	Brother
Enyo Enyo Enyo , was an ancient goddess of war, acting as a counterpart and companion to the war god Ares. She is also identified as his sister, and daughter of Zeus and Hera, in a role closely resembling that of Eris; with Homer representing the two as the same goddess...	Aunt

Worship

Those who worshipped Phobos often made bloody sacrifices in his name. In Seven Against Thebes

Seven Against Thebes

The Seven against Thebes is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. The trilogy is sometimes referred to as the Oedipodea. It concerns the battle between an Argive army led by Polynices and the army of Thebes led by Eteocles and his supporters. The trilogy won...

by Aeschylus

Aeschylus

Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...

, the seven warriors slaughter a bull over a black shield and then "touching the bull’s gore with their hands they swore an oath by … Phobos who delights in blood…"(Atsma). Ares’s son, Kyknos, "beheaded strangers who came along in order to build a temple to Phobos (fear) from the skulls." (Atsma).

Warriors and heroes who worshipped Phobos, such as Heracles

Heracles

Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...

 and Agamemnon

Agamemnon

In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Electra and Orestes. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area...

, carried shields with depictions of Phobos on them.

Depictions

Hesiod depicts Phobos on the shield of Heracles as "…staring backwards with eyes that glowed with fire. His mouth was full of teeth in a white row, fearful and daunting…" (Atsma) and again later during a war scene as being "…eager to plunge amidst the fighting men," (Atsma).

Phobos is often depicted as having a lion’s or lion-like head. This can be seen in Description of Greece by Pausanias, "On the shield of Agamemnon is Phobos (Fear), who head is a lion’s…" (Atsma).

History

According to Plutarch

Plutarch

Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

, Alexander the Great offered sacrifices to Phobos on the eve of the Battle of Gaugamela

Battle of Gaugamela

The Battle of Gaugamela took place in 331 BC between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia. The battle, which is also called the Battle of Arbela, resulted in a massive victory for the ancient Macedonians and led to the fall of the Achaemenid Empire.-Location:Darius chose a flat, open plain...

. This was believed by Mary Renault

Mary Renault

Mary Renault born Eileen Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece...

 to be part of Alexander’s psychological warfare campaign against Darius III

Darius III of Persia

Darius III , also known by his given name of Codomannus, was the last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia from 336 BC to 330 BC....

. Darius fled from the field of Gaugamela, which makes Alexander’s praying to Phobos (in all probability asking him to fill Darius with fear) seem successful as a tactic.

Astronomy

American astronomer

Astronomy

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

 Asaph Hall

Asaph Hall

Asaph Hall III was an American astronomer who is most famous for having discovered the moons of Mars in 1877...

 named one of planet Mars'

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

 satellites "Phobos

Phobos (moon)

Phobos is the larger and closer of the two natural satellites of Mars. Both moons were discovered in 1877. With a mean radius of , Phobos is 7.24 times as massive as Deimos...

", which he discovered along with the second Mars satellite, "Deimos

Deimos (moon)

Deimos is the smaller and outer of Mars's two moons . It is named after Deimos, a figure representing dread in Greek Mythology. Its systematic designation is '.-Discovery:Deimos was discovered by Asaph Hall, Sr...

", in 1877. Phobos is the larger of the two satellites.

Psychology

The word "phobia

Phobia

A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational...

" derives from phobos, (Φόβος), meaning fear.