Gods and Goddesses of War

Deities of Death, Destruction and Valor from Around the World

Clay model of goddess Durga with her consorts in process of complete, Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Dinodia Photo / Getty Images

War and strife have never been far from human society. For the ancients, the practice and suffering of wars was a way of life, and its varied expressions and nuances were thought to be determined by the moods and actions of a host of patron deities. The Greeks, for example, distinguished between the art of war as influenced by the goddess Athena and the primal bloodlust craved by the war god Ares. In other cultures, war and violence formed integral parts of their creation myths, such as the Aztecs and the Sumerians. 

Below you will find a list of the war gods and goddesses from many of the world's ancient religions and from the Semitic goddess Agasaya to the Slavonic Zroya.

Name of God Country/Culture God or Goddess of War
Agasaya Semitic goddess
Ah Chuy Kak Maya god
Ah Cun Can Maya god
Ah Hulneb Maya god
Ahulane Maya god
Anahita Persian goddess
Anath Semitic goddess
Andraste Celtic goddess
Ankt Egypt goddess
Anouke Egypt goddess
Aray Armenia god
Ares Greece god
Ashtart Babylonia goddess
Ashur Assyria god
Athena Greece goddess
Badb Celtic goddess
Beg-tse Tibet god
Belatu-Cadros Celtic god
Bellona Rome goddess
Bishamon Japan god
Bugid Y Aiba Haiti god
Buluc Chabtan Maya god
Burijas Kassites god
Camaxtli Aztec god
Camulus Gaul god
Cariocienus Hispanic god
Caswallawn Celtic god
Chemosh Moabite god
Dev Persia god
Donar Teutonic god
Ekchuah Maya god
Enyalius Sparta god
Enyo Greece goddess
Erra Babylonia god
Eshara Chaldean goddess
Futsu-Nushi-no-Kami Japan god
Gu Dahomey god
Guan-di Taoist god
Gun Africa god
Hachiman Shinto god
Hadur Hungary god
Huitzilopochtli Aztec god
Ictinike Native American god
Inanna Sumer goddess
Indra Hindu god
Irmin Teutonic god
Janus
(a bit of a stretch)
Roman god
Jarovit Slavic god
Karttikeya Hindu god
Korrawi Tamil goddess
Kukailimoku Hawaiian god
Laran Etruscan god
Mars Rome god
Maru Polynesian/Maori god
Menhit Egypt goddess
Menthu (Montu) Egypt god
Mentu Egypt god
Mextli Mexico god
Minerva Rome goddess
Mixcoatl Aztec god
Morrigan Celtic goddess
Murukan Tamil god
Nacon Maya god
Nanaja Sumer goddess
Neith Egypt goddess
Ninurta Babylonia god
Ogoun Haiti god
Oro Tahiti god
Resef Phoenician god
Reshep Syria god
Rugiviet Slavic god
Sakhmet Egypt goddess
Samulayo Fiji god
Segomo Gaul god
Septu Egypt god
Seth Egypt god
Svantetit Slavic god
Svetovit Slavic god
Teutates Celtic god
Triglav Slavic god
Tu Polynesian god
Tu Matauenga Polynesian god
Turris Finland god
Tyr Germanic god
Wepwawet Egypt god
Wurukatte Hittite god
Zababa Akkad god
Zroya Slavonic goddess
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Your Citation
Gill, N.S. "Gods and Goddesses of War." Learn Religions, Dec. 6, 2021, learnreligions.com/gods-and-goddesses-of-war-118504. Gill, N.S. (2021, December 6). Gods and Goddesses of War. Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/gods-and-goddesses-of-war-118504 Gill, N.S. "Gods and Goddesses of War." Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/gods-and-goddesses-of-war-118504 (accessed March 28, 2024).