The Areopagus is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Its English name is the composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos. In classical times, it functioned as the court for trying deliberate homicide. Ares was supposed to have been tried here by the gods for the murder of Poseidon’s son Halirrhothius a typical example of an aetiological myth. In pre-classical times before the 5th century BC, the Areopagus was the council of elders of the city, similar to the Roman Senate.