Maris was the Etruscan god of agriculture later associated with the Roman war/agricultual god Mars.

Maris was also a major character on the television show Frasier. She was the wife of David Hyde Pierce's character Niles Crane, before they eventually divorced but she continued resurfacing, even being arrested for murder in the show's 11th and final season.

The interesting thing about this character was that she was never seen. Despite the fact that we knew so much about her, we never met Maris. At the beginning of the 11th season, the producers dropped hints that they may reveal her in the final episode, but ultimately didn't - possibly because it would have been too hard to find any actress who could embody the hundreds of crazy things we knew about the character.