Family tree of the Greek gods

Last updated

The following is a family tree of gods, goddesses, and other divine and semi-divine figures from Ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion.

Contents

Chaos
The Void
Tartarus
The Abyss
Gaia
The Earth
Eros
Desire [a]
Erebus
Darkness
Nyx
The Night
Moros
Doom
the Oneiroi
Dreams
Nemesis
Retribution
Momus
Blame
Philotes
Affection
Geras
Aging
Typhon Uranus
The Sky
the Ourea
Mountains
Pontus
The Sea
Aether
Heaven
Hemera
The Day
Thanatos
Death
Hypnos
Sleep
Eris
Strife
Apate
Deceit
Oizys
Distress
the Erinyes the Gigantes the Meliae Aphrodite [b] the Hecatonchires the Titans the Cyclopes Echidna the Hesperides [c] the Keres the Moirae Charon
Oceanus Tethys Hyperion Theia Coeus Phoebe Cronus Rhea Themis Mnemosyne Crius Iapetus
the Oceanids Clymene Helios
Sun
Eos
Dawn
Asteria Demeter Hestia [d] Hera Prometheus Epimetheus
Inachus Melia the Heliades Selene
Moon
Leto Hades Poseidon Zeus the Muses Atlas
Io Pleione
Apollo Artemis Persephone Athena Hebe Hephaestus Ares
Amphitrite the Hyades the Pleiades
Epaphus Dione Enyo Eileithyia
Dryope Maia
Alcmene Semele Hermes Aphrodite [b]
Heracles Dionysus [d] Pan Rhode Peitho Hermaphroditus Eros [a] Harmonia Deimos
Anteros Himeros Phobos

Key: The names of the generally accepted Olympians [11] are given in bold font.

Key: The names of groups of gods or other mythological beings are given in italic font

Key: The names of the Titans have a green background.

Key: Dotted lines show a marriage or affair.

Key: Solid lines show children.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 There are conflicting stories regarding the origins of Eros. Eros is usually mentioned as the son of Aphrodite and Ares, but Hesiod's Theogony places him as one of the primordial beings which came after Chaos. [1]
  2. 1 2 There are two major conflicting stories for Aphrodite's origins: Hesiod, in his Theogony , claims that she was "born" from the foam of the sea after Cronus castrated Uranus, thus making her Uranus' daughter; [2] Homer, however, in his Iliad , has Aphrodite as daughter of Zeus and Dione. [3] According to Plato, however, the two were entirely separate entities: Aphrodite Urania and Aphrodite Pandemos. [4]
  3. Hesiod puts Nyx as the mother of the Hesperides; [5] they are alternatively daughters of Nyx and Erebus, [6] of Atlas, [7] of Atlas and Hesperis, [8] of Phorcys and Ceto, [9] or of Zeus and Themis. [10]
  4. 1 2 Either Hestia or Dionysus is considered the 12th Olympian.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ares</span> God of war in ancient Greek religion

Ares is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war but can also personify sheer brutality and bloodlust, in contrast to his sister Athena, whose martial functions include military strategy and generalship. An association with Ares endows places, objects, and other deities with a savage, dangerous, or militarized quality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hephaestus</span> Greek god of blacksmiths

Hephaestus is the Greek god of artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, craftsmen, fire, metallurgy, metalworking, sculpture and volcanoes. Hephaestus's Roman counterpart is Vulcan. In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was either the son of Zeus and Hera or he was Hera's parthenogenous child. He was cast off Mount Olympus by his mother Hera because of his lameness, the result of a congenital impairment; or in another account, by Zeus for protecting Hera from his advances.

<i>Theogony</i> Poem by Hesiod

The Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed c. 730–700 BC. It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contains 1022 lines. It is one of the most important sources for the understanding of early Greek cosmology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zeus</span> Greek god of the sky and king of the gods

Zeus is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. His name is cognate with the first syllable of his Roman equivalent Jupiter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Titans</span> Order of divine beings in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, the Titans were the pre-Olympian gods. According to the Theogony of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth), with six male Titans—Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Cronus—and six female Titans, called the Titanides or Titanesses—Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, and Tethys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oceanus</span> Ancient Greek god of the earth-encircling river, Oceanos

In Greek mythology, Oceanus was a Titan son of Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys, and the father of the river gods and the Oceanids, as well as being the great river which encircled the entire world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhea (mythology)</span> Ancient Greek goddess and mother of the gods

Rhea or Rheia is a mother goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Titan daughter of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god Uranus, himself a son of Gaia. She is the older sister of Cronus, who was also her consort, and the mother of the five eldest Olympian gods and Hades, king of the underworld.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Themis</span> Greek goddess of divine law

In Greek mythology and religion, Themis is the goddess and personification of justice, divine order, law, and custom. She is one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia and Uranus, and the second wife of Zeus. She is associated with oracles and prophecies, including the Oracle of Delphi. Her symbol is the Scales of Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Titanomachy</span> Ancient Greek mythic war

In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy was a ten-year series of battles fought in Ancient Thessaly, consisting of most of the Titans fighting against the Olympians and their allies. This event is also known as the War of the Titans, Battle of the Titans, Battle of the Gods, or just the Titan War. The war was fought to decide which generation of gods would have dominion over the universe; it ended in victory for the Olympian gods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemera</span> Ancient Greek goddess of the day

In Greek mythology, Hemera was the personification of day. According to Hesiod, she was the daughter of Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night), and the sister of Aether. Though separate entities in Hesiod's Theogony, Hemera and Eos (Dawn) were often identified with each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nyx</span> Ancient Greek goddess of the night

In Greek mythology, Nyx is the goddess and personification of the night. In Hesiod's Theogony, she is the offspring of Chaos, and the mother of Aether and Hemera (Day) by Erebus (Darkness). By herself, she produces a brood of children which are mainly personifications of primarily negative forces. She features in a number of early cosmogonies, which place her as one of the first deities to exist. In the works of poets and playwrights, she lives at the ends of the Earth, and is often described as a black-robed goddess who drives through the sky in a chariot pulled by horses. In the Iliad, Homer relates that even Zeus fears to displease her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tethys (mythology)</span> Ancient Greek mythological figure

In Greek mythology, Tethys was a Titan daughter of Uranus and Gaia, a sister and wife of the Titan Oceanus, and the mother of the river gods and the Oceanids. Although Tethys had no active role in Greek mythology and no established cults, she was depicted in mosaics decorating baths, pools, and triclinia in the Greek East, particularly in Antioch and its suburbs, either alone or with Oceanus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twelve Olympians</span> Major deities of the Greek pantheon

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the twelve Olympians are the major deities of the Greek pantheon, commonly considered to be Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus. They were called Olympians because, according to tradition, they resided on Mount Olympus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dione (Titaness)</span> Greek goddess, mother of Aphrodite

In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Dione is an oracular goddess, a Titaness primarily known from Book V of Homer's Iliad, where she tends to the wounds suffered by her daughter Aphrodite. Dione is presented as either an Oceanid, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, or the thirteenth Titan, daughter of Gaia and Uranus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aether (mythology)</span> Personification of the upper sky in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Aether, Æther, Aither, or Ether is the personification of the bright upper sky. According to Hesiod, he was the son of Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night), and the brother of Hemera (Day). In Orphic cosmogony Aether was the offspring of Chronos (Time), and the brother of Chaos and Erebus.

In Greek mythology, the primordial deities are the first generation of gods and goddesses. These deities represented the fundamental forces and physical foundations of the world and were generally not actively worshipped, as they, for the most part, were not given human characteristics; they were instead personifications of places or abstract concepts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cronus</span> Ruler of the Titans in Greek mythology

In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos was the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans, the divine descendants of the primordial Gaia and Uranus. He overthrew his father and ruled during the mythological Golden Age until he was overthrown by his son Zeus and imprisoned in Tartarus. According to Plato, however, the deities Phorcys, Cronus, and Rhea were the eldest children of Oceanus and Tethys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaia</span> Personification of the Earth in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Gaia, also spelled Gaea, is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (Sky), from whose sexual union she bore the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Giants, as well as of Pontus (Sea), from whose union she bore the primordial sea gods. Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uranus (mythology)</span> Primordial Greek deity, god of the sky

In Greek mythology, Uranus, sometimes written Ouranos, is the personification of the sky and one of the Greek primordial deities. According to Hesiod, Uranus was the son and husband of Gaia (Earth), with whom he fathered the first generation of Titans. However, no cult addressed directly to Uranus survived into classical times, and Uranus does not appear among the usual themes of Greek painted pottery. Elemental Earth, Sky, and Styx might be joined, however, in solemn invocation in Homeric epic. Uranus is associated with the Roman god Caelus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hecatoncheires</span> Greek mythological giants with 50 heads and 100 arms

In Greek mythology, the Hecatoncheires, also called Hundred-Handers or Centimanes, were three monstrous giants, of enormous size and strength, each with fifty heads and one hundred arms. They were individually named Cottus, Briareus and Gyges. In the standard tradition, they were the offspring of Uranus (Sky) and of Gaia (Earth), and helped Zeus and the Olympians to overthrow the Titans in the Titanomachy.

References

  1. Hesiod, Theogony 120.
  2. Hesiod, Theogony 190200.
  3. Homer, Iliad 370.
  4. Plato, Symposium , 180e.
  5. Hesiod, Theogony 215.
  6. Hyginus, Fabulae Preface; Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.44.
  7. Hyginus, De Astronomica 2.3.1 [= Pherecydes, fr. 33a ( FGrHist , p. 79)].
  8. Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 4.27.2.
  9. scholia in Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica , 4.1399.
  10. Scholiast on Euripides, Hippolytus 742 (Cavarezan, p. 288) [= Pherecydes fr. 16d Fowler (p. 286) = FGrH 3 F33a].
  11. Ogden, Daniel (2010-02-01). A Companion to Greek Religion. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   978-1-4443-3417-3.