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Learn about the names and roles of the Greek gods in ancient mythology, from the Olympian gods to the minor gods. Find out their personalities, powers, realms of influence and more.
- Adonis
In Greek mythology, Artemis was the god of hunting and wild...
- Kratos
The Son of Titans. In many myths, Kratos is referred to as...
- Prometheus
Prometheus’ Family. Hesiod’s Theogony states Prometheus was...
- Cronus
The practice of creating temples for the Greek gods and...
- Hephaestus
Hephaestus’ Siblings. As mentioned before, Hephaestus was...
- Daughters Of Zeus
As the King of the gods and ruler of Mount Olympus, Zeus is...
- Sons of Zeus
Ares is, perhaps, one of the most recognizable figures in...
- Atlas
Guardian Of The Pillars or Bearer of the Heavens. God of...
- Adonis
- 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
The following is a list of gods, goddesses, and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion. Immortals The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes.
Sep 10, 2024 · The term Greek mythology refers to the oral and literary traditions of the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes and the nature of the cosmos. The narratives influenced the arts of later centuries so that such stories as the abduction of Persephone and those from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey remained popular in the 21st century.
- Greek myth takes many forms, from religious myths of origin to folktales and legends of heroes. In terms of gods, the Greek pantheon consists of 12...
- Some of the most important and well-known works of Greek mythology are the epic poems of Homer: the Iliad and the Odyssey. In these, many of the ch...
- It is difficult to know when Greek mythology started, as it is believed to have stemmed from centuries of oral tradition. It is likely that Greek m...
Dec 2, 2009 · Learn about the origins, sources and characters of Greek mythology, a vast group of legends about gods and goddesses, heroes and monsters, warriors and fools. Explore the stories of the Olympian deities, the Trojan War, the Trojan horse and more.
The Greek gods ruled over every aspect of Hellenic existence—from war to love, from childbirth to the afterlife. Commonly depicted in human form, they were capricious deities who demanded worship and sacrifice to stave off misfortune and ruin.
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Learn about the Greek gods, their names, attributes, and stories. Explore the myths, creatures, elements, figures, heroes, monsters, and mortals of Greek mythology.
