In Hesiod's Theogony, the Machai are listed among the children of Eris (Strife).
[2] Like all of the children of Eris given by Hesiod, the Machai are a personified abstraction, allegorizing the meaning of their name, and representing one of the many harmful things which might be thought to result from discord and strife, with no other identity.
[3] Hesiod's Theogony, line 228, lists four personified plural abstractions, the Hysminai (Combats), the Machai (Battles), the Phonoi (Murders), and the Androktasiai (Slaughters), as being among the offspring of Eris (Strife): These four abstractions were associated in other ancient poetry.
The same four, in the same order, occur in a line from Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus describes the decorations on Heracles' golden belt: The abstraction μάχαι (battles) was also associated with ὑσμῖναί (combats) in the Homeric Hymn 5 To Aphrodite, and with ἀνδροκτασίαι (Slaughters) in Homer's, Iliad.
[6] That the Machai, the personification of battle and wars, would be considered to be the sons of Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, is fitting.