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MARS, MARTE. Mars, son of Jupiter and Juno, was the most important god in the Roman pantheon because he was father of Romulus, Rome's founder. As the god of war, red, the color of blood, was his color, and the wolf, the symbol of Rome, his animal. Mars and Venus fell in love, and the Sun told Vulcan, her husband, of their amours. Vulcan forged a fine golden net, which was almost invisible, and he installed it above Venus's bed. Locked in each other's arms, Venus and Mars were caught in the net. Vulcan opened the doors and called the gods to see their embarrassment. The gods laughed, and the story became the talk of heaven (Met IV.173-189; OM IV.1268-1371; Confessio Amantis, V.635-746).

Mars is Theseus's patron throughout The Knight's Tale. The red image of Mars appears on his banner, KnT 975. He builds an oratory to Mars, Arcite's patron, KnT 975, a description of which comes largely from Tes VII.29-37 and from Thebaid VII.34-73, a temple decorated with pictures of war and death. The statue of Mars stands on a cart, and over his head are two figures from geomancy, Puella and Rubeus; at his feet a red-eyed wolf eats a man. Jean Seznec has published illustrations from several manuscripts in which Mars stands in a heavy peasant's cart, accompanied by a wolf. The archaic form Mavors emphasizes the connection between Mars and mors (death) and is a blend of Mars and vorans (devouring) in Petrus Berchorius, De formis figurisque deorum, fol.4rb.18-19 and in Isidore's Etymologiae VIII.xi.50-51. Iron is Mars's metal, so Mars is called iron in alchemy, CYT 827; HF III.1446. Arcita is devoted to Mars in Anelida and Arcite. Anelida sacrifices to Mars, Anel 351-357. Mars is the god of war throughout Troilus and Criseyde. To look on Troilus is to see Mars, Tr II.624-630. Troilus asks Mars to help him, for love of Cipris, Tr III.724-725; he refers to the story of the love affair between Venus and Mars. Mars is Theseus's patron, LGW 2063, 2109.

Mars is also the fifth planet counting away from the earth, and the third planet counting toward the earth from Saturn (see Ptolemaic map). It is the planet of battles; conquerors, fierce and desirous of war, are born under this sign (Confessio Amantis VII.889-906).

The "infortune of Mars" is the evil caused by the planet, KnT 2021, graphically depicted on the walls of the temple. The planet's position is unfavorable at the time of Custance's wedding, MLT 295-308: the conjunction of Mars and Luna is the sign Scorpio, as well as the eighth house, the house of death. Aries, the house or mansion of Mars, compounds its evil, MLT 302, because it is "tortuous"; that is, it ascends most obliquely of the eastern signs. In Dame Alys's case, the influence of Mars has nullified the good influence of Venus; her heart is Martian, and Mars gave her her sturdiness, WBP 610-619. On March 15, Cambyuskan's birthday, the sun is in Aries, Mars's mansion, also called the face of Mars, SqT 50. At Ypermestra's birth red Mars is so feeble that there is no malice in it; thus it influences Ypermestra so that she cannot hold the knife to murder Lyno, LGW 2589-2595. The third and tenth hours of Saturday belong to Mars, Astr II.12.24, 28.

The Complaint of Mars may be compared with several types of poems: the moralized Ovid, the astrological poem, the aubade, the Valentine poem, the lover's complaint, and the courtly-love poem. It is built on the Venus and Mars myth. [Arcita: Emetreus: Theseus: Venus]

In The Knight's Tale Mars occurs once initially, KnT 2669; twenty-three times in medial positions, KnT 975, 1559, 1682, 1708, 1747, 1907, 1969, 1972, 1974, 1982, 2035, 2041, 2050, 2248, 2367, 2369, 2372, 2431, 2434, 2441, 2473, 2480, 2815; and once in final rhyming position, KnT 2159. In the rest of the tales, Mars occurs initially, CYT 827; medially MLT 301, 305; WBP 612, 613. In Anelida and Arcite, Mars appears once initially, Anel 50; three times in medial positions, Anel 1, 31, 355; in Troilus and Criseyde, eight times in medial positions, Tr II.593, 630; III.22, 716, 724; IV.25; V.306, 1853. In The Legend of Good Women, five times in medial positions, LGW 535, 2063, 2109, 2589, 2593. In The Complaint of Mars, once initially, Mars 148; ten times in medial positions, Mars 25, 45, 53, 75, 77, 78, 90, 92, 106, 123.

Marte, the Italian variant, with final syllabic -e, occurs only in final rhyming position, KnT 2021, 2581; Tr II.435, 988; LGW 2244. Martes, ME genitive case, and derived from Italian Marte, occurs only in medial positions, KnT 2024; WBP 619; SqT 50; Tr III.437; HF III.1446.


Petrus Berchorius, Ovidius moralizatus, ed. J. Engels, 15; Boccaccio, Tutte le opere, ed. V. Branca, II: 453-458; W.C. Curry, Chaucer and the Mediaeval Sciences, 91-118; John Gower, The Complete Works, ed. G.C. Macaulay, II: 419-422, III: 257; Isidore, Etymologiae, ed. W.M. Lindsay, I; OM, ed. C. de Boer, II, deel 21: 39-41; J. Parr and N.A. Holtz, "The Astronomy and Astrology in Chaucer's The Complaint of Mars." ChauR 15 (1981): 255-266; J. Seznec, The Survival of the Pagan Gods, trans. B.F. Sessions, 190-194; G. Stillwell, "Convention and Individuality in Chaucer's Complaint of Mars." PQ 35 (1956): 69-89; M. Storm, "The Mythological Tradition in Chaucer's Complaint of Mars." PQ 57 (1978): 323-335.
From CHAUCER NAME DICTIONARY
Copyright © 1988, 1996 Jacqueline de Weever
Published by Garland Publishing, Inc., New York and London.

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