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Learn about the names, roles and realms of influence of the Greek goddesses, from the Olympian goddesses to the minor goddesses. Find out their stories, origins, and connections to other deities and mortals.
- Overview
- Aphrodite
- Athena
- Artemis
- Ares
- Apollo
- Demeter
- Dionysus
- Hades
- Hera
- GeneratedCaptionsTabForHeroSec
Cruel and fickle, passionate and vindictive, jealous and insecure, petty and insane: the inhabitants of Mount Olympus represent an attempt by the ancient Greeks to explain the chaos of the universe through human nature. Thus, like every deity invented before and since, these gods and goddesses are embodiments of human solipsism. (Of course lightnin...
Aphrodite was the goddess of love, sex, and beauty. Unsurprisingly for a love goddess, she was said to have emerged from the foam generated when the severed testicles of her father, Uranus, were thrown into the sea by his son, the Titan Cronus. (Or is that surprising?) Kind of makes Botticelli’s surreally lovely Birth of Venus—which depicts Aphrodi...
Athena was the goddess of reason, wisdom, and war. She famously sprung fully formed from the forehead of Zeus. A major figure in the Odyssey, in which she instructed Odysseus, she also guided Perseus and Heracles through their trials. The Parthenon was her chief temple in Athens, which is named in her honor. Her Roman equivalent was Minerva.
Artemis was the fleet-footed goddess of the hunt. Often depicted in painting and sculpture with a deer or a hunting dog, she was both huntress and protectress of the living world. Her Roman equivalent was Diana.
Ares was the god of bloodlust. (His half-sister Athena represented the more "noble" aspects of combat and civil conduct during war.) Though his fellow deities weren’t particularly fond of him, the Spartans had no problems, er, donating some prisoners of war to his worship. And sacrificing dogs…yeah, that’s right, Ares liked dead puppies. Jerk. His ...
The twin brother of Artemis, Apollo was among the most important (read: feared) of the gods. Son of Zeus, he disseminated the will of his divine compatriots through various means, notably oracles. The Oracle at Delphi was his mouthpiece; a 2001 study determined that the oracle was likely hallucinating due to ethylene gas rising from the rocks benea...
Demeter, an agricultural goddess, was mother to Persephone, who was abducted by the underworld god Hades to be his bride. While searching for her stolen daughter, she accepted the hospitality of the royal family of Eleusis. The Eleusinian Mysteries, perhaps the most important religious rites in ancient Greece, are attributed to her teachings. Her R...
Dionysus was a son of Zeus born to a mortal mother. When Zeus accidentally killed her, he sewed the young Dionysus into his thigh and, when the young god emerged, passed him to the care of the maenads. The cult of Dionysus revolved around intoxication, sex, and savage ritual sacrifice. He was often symbolized by a bull due to his association with t...
Hades ruled the world of the dead, with which he was sometimes synonymous. The chilly lord of the underworld was among the few Greek gods to come across as dispassionate. He was not the ultimate judge of the souls that wandered his domain nor did he mete out their punishments for sins committed during their mortal lives. He was, however, cunning; h...
The queen goddess of Olympus, Hera was both sister and wife to Zeus. Though she is often depicted as reserved and austere, she was mercilessly vindictive when it came to her husband’s [many] extramarital adventures. Unfortunately for the objects of Zeus’s godly affections, Hera tended to torment the "other women" (and their offspring, including Her...
Learn about the main deities of the ancient Greek pantheon, their attributes, origins, and stories. From Aphrodite to Zeus, discover how they shaped the culture, myths, and art of Greece.
- Richard Pallardy
May 1, 2024 · Learn about the roles and symbols of 10 of the best-known Greek goddesses, such as Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis and Persephone. Discover how they influenced the culture, beliefs and practices of ancient Greece and beyond.
- Marie Look
In Greek mythology a goddess was just as important as a god - sometimes more so. The Greek goddesses covered everything from fertility to death and from poetry to war. The following is a list of both major and minor goddess names.
- Aphrodite: Greek Goddess of Love. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of beauty, love, and sexuality. She is sometimes known as the Cyprian because there was a cult center of Aphrodite on Cyprus.
- Artemis: Greek Goddess of the Hunt. Artemis, the sister of Apollo and daughter of Zeus and Leto, is the Greek virgin goddess of the hunt who also assists in childbirth.
- Athena: Greek Goddess of Wisdom. Athena is the patron goddess of Athens, the Greek goddess of wisdom, a goddess of crafts, and as a war goddess, an active participant in the Trojan War.
- Demeter: Greek Goddess of Grain. Demeter is a Greek goddess of fertility, grain, and agriculture. She is pictured as a mature motherly figure. Although she is the goddess who taught mankind about agriculture, she is also the goddess responsible for creating winter and a mysterious religious cult.
Mar 31, 2020 · To understand the entire Greek god family tree, it’s important to understand the three different groups: primordial gods, the Greek Titans, and the 12 Olympian gods. Primordial Gods: The First Generation of Greek Gods. The Untangling of Chaos, or the Creation of the Four Elements by Hendrik Goltzius (1589)
May 7, 2024 · Athena, in Greek religion, the city protectress, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, identified by the Romans with Minerva. She was essentially urban and civilized, the antithesis in many respects of Artemis, goddess of the outdoors. Athena was probably a pre-Hellenic goddess and was later taken over by the Greeks.
