Alala

For the song by Brazilian band Cansei de Ser Sexy, see Alala (song).

For the sacred raven of Hawaiʻi, ʻalalā, see ʻAlala.

Alala, (Greek: Ἀλαλά), was the female personification of the war cry in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of Polemos.^[1] Her name, ironically "dumb, mute, speechless" (from the Greek ἄλαλος, alalos), she was an attendant of the war god Ares and the daughter of Polemos, the daemon of War. In Greek mythology, Ares' war cry was her name, "Alale alala". Greek soldiers adopted this and would cry out her name as their battle cry. It is reputedly the term derived from the horrific sound owls make.

In modern times, the producers of Xena: Warrior Princess, played by Lucy Lawless, used the war-cries "Alalaes", an alternate writing for Alale as a war-cry for the titled character of the show.

Quote

"Harken! O Alala, daughter of Polemos! Prelude of spears! To whom soldiers are sacrificed for their city’s sake in the holy sacrifice of death." - Pindar. Dithyrambs, Frag. 78.