The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the statue of a god or goddess, or multiple deities, and might be decorated with relief scenes depicting myths. Divine images were common on coins. Drinking cups and other vessels were painted with scenes from Greek myths.
Goddess of beauty, love, desire, and pleasure. In Hesiod's Theogony (188–206), she was born from sea-foam and the severed genitals of Uranus; in Homer's Iliad (5.370–417), she is daughter of Zeus and Dione. She was married to Hephaestus, but bore him no children. She had many lovers, most notably Ares, to whom she bore Harmonia, Phobos, and Deimos. She was also a lover to Adonis and Anchises, to whom she bore Aeneas. She is usually depicted as a naked or semi-nude beautiful woman. Her symbols include the magical girdle, myrtle, roses, and the scallop shell. Her sacred animals include doves and sparrows. Her Roman counterpart is Venus.[1]
God of music, arts, knowledge, healing, plague, prophecy, poetry, manly beauty, and archery. He is the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis. Both Apollo and Artemis use a bow and arrow. Apollo is depicted as young, beardless, handsome and athletic. In myth, he can be cruel and destructive, and his love affairs are rarely happy. He is often accompanied by the Muses. His most famous temple is in Delphi, where he established his oracular shrine. His signs and symbols include the laurel wreath, bow and arrow, and lyre. His sacred animals include roe deer, swans, and pythons. Some late Roman and Greek poetry and mythography identifies him as a sun-god, equivalent to Roman Sol and Greek Helios.[2]
God of courage, war, bloodshed, and violence. The son of Zeus and Hera, he was depicted as a beardless youth, either nude with a helmet and spear or sword, or as an armed warrior. Homer portrays him as moody and unreliable, and as being the most unpopular god on earth and Olympus (Iliad 5.890–1). He generally represents the chaos of war in contrast to Athena, a goddess of military strategy and skill. Ares is known for cuckolding his brother Hephaestus, conducting an affair with his wife Aphrodite. His sacred animals include vultures, venomous snakes, dogs, and boars. His Roman counterpart Mars by contrast was regarded as the dignified ancestor of the Roman people.[3]
Virgin goddess of the hunt, wilderness, animals, the Moon and young girls. Both she and Apollo are archery gods. She is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and twin sister of Apollo. In art she is often depicted as a young woman dressed in a short knee-length chiton and equipped with a silver hunting bow and a quiver of arrows. Her attributes include hunting knives and spears, animal pelts, deer and other wild animals. Her sacred animal is a deer. Her Roman counterpart is Diana.[4]
Goddess of reason, wisdom, intelligence, skill, peace, warfare, battle strategy, and handicrafts. According to most traditions, she was born from Zeus's forehead, fully formed and armored, after Zeus swallowed her mother, Metis, whole. She is depicted as being crowned with a crested helm, armed with shield and spear, and wearing the aegis over a long dress. Poets describe her as "grey-eyed" or having especially bright, keen eyes. She is a special patron of heroes such as Odysseus. She is the patron of the city Athens (from which she takes her name) and is attributed to various inventions in arts and literature. Her symbol is the olive tree. She is commonly shown as being accompanied by her sacred animal, the owl. Her Roman counterpart is Minerva.[5]
Goddess of grain, agriculture, harvest, growth, and nourishment. Demeter, whose Roman counterpart is Ceres, is a daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and was swallowed and then regurgitated by her father. She is a sister of Zeus, by whom she bore Persephone, who is also known as Kore, i.e. "the girl." One of the central myths associated with Demeter involves Hades' abduction of Persephone and Demeter's lengthy search for her. Demeter is one of the main deities of the Eleusinian Mysteries, in which the rites seemed to center around Demeter's search for and reunion with her daughter, which symbolized both the rebirth of crops in spring and the rebirth of the initiates after death. She is depicted as a mature woman, often crowned and holding sheafs of wheat and a torch.[6] Her symbols are the cornucopia, wheat-ears, the winged serpent, and the lotus staff. Her sacred animals include pigs and snakes.
God of wine, fruitfulness, parties, festivals, madness, chaos, drunkenness, vegetation, ecstasy, and the theater. He is the twice-born son of Zeus and Semele, in that Zeus snatched him from his mother's womb and stitched Dionysus into his own thigh and carried him until he was ready to be born. In art he is depicted as either an older bearded god (particularly before 430 BC) or an effeminate, long-haired youth (particularly after 430 BC). His attributes include the thyrsus, a drinking cup, the grape vine, and a crown of ivy. He is often in the company of his thiasos, a group of attendants including satyrs, maenads, and his old tutor Silenus. The consort of Dionysus was Ariadne. It was once held that Dionysius was a later addition to the Greek pantheon, but the discovery of Linear B tablets confirm his status as a deity from an early period. Bacchus was another name for him in Greek, and came into common usage among the Romans.[7] His sacred animals include dolphins, serpents, tigers, and donkeys.
King of the underworld and the dead. He is also a god of wealth. His consort is Persephone. His attributes are the drinking horn or cornucopia, key, sceptre, and the three-headed dog Cerberus. His sacred animals include the screech owl. He was one of three sons of Cronus and Rhea, and thus sovereign over one of the three realms of the universe, the underworld. As a chthonic god, however, his place among the Olympians is ambiguous. In the mystery religions and Athenian literature, Plouton ("the Rich one") was his preferred name, because of the idea that all riches came from the earth. The term Hades was used in this literature to refer to the underworld itself. The Romans translated Plouton as Dis Pater ("the Rich Father") or Pluto.[8]
God of fire, metalworking, and crafts. Either the son of Zeus and Hera or Hera alone, he is the smith of the gods and the husband of the adulterous Aphrodite. He was usually depicted as a bearded, crippled man with hammer, tongs, and anvil, and sometimes riding a donkey. His sacred animals include the donkey, the guard dog, and the crane. Among his creations was the armor of Achilles. Hephaestus used the fire of the forge as a creative force, but his Roman counterpart Vulcan was feared for his destructive potential and associated with the volcanic power of the earth.
Queen of the gods, and goddess of women, marriage, childbirth, heirs, kings, and empires. She is the goddess of the sky, the wife and sister of Zeus, and the daughter of Cronus and Rhea. She was usually depicted as a regal woman in the prime of her life, wearing a diadem and veil and holding a lotus-tipped staff. Although she is the goddess of marriage, Zeus's many infidelities drive her to jealousy and vengefulness. Her sacred animals include the heifer, the peacock, and the cuckoo. Her Roman counterpart is Juno.
God of boundaries, travel, trade, communication, language, writing, cunning and thieves. Hermes was also responsible for protecting livestock and presided over the spheres associated with fertility, music, luck, and deception.[9] The son of Zeus and Maia, Hermes is the messenger of the gods, and a psychopomp who leads the souls of the dead into the afterlife. He was depicted either as a handsome and athletic beardless youth, or as an older bearded man. His attributes include the herald's wand or caduceus, winged sandals, and a traveler's cap. His sacred animals include the tortoise. His Roman counterpart is Mercury.
Virgin goddess of the hearth, home, domesticity and chastity. She is a daughter of Rhea and Cronus, and a sister of Zeus. Not often identifiable in Greek art, she appeared as a modestly veiled woman. Her symbols are the hearth and kettle. She plays little role in Greek myths, and although she is omitted in some lists of the twelve Olympians in favour of Dionysus, no ancient tale tells of her abdicating or giving her seat to Dionysus.[10] Her Roman counterpart Vesta, however, was a major deity of the Roman state.
Goddess of spring, Queen of the Underworld, wife of Hades and daughter of Demeter and Zeus. Her symbols include the pomegranate, grain, torches, wheat and the asphodelus. After her abduction by Hades, she was forced to split the year between the world of the dead with her husband and the world of the living with her mother. She was worshipped in conjunction with Demeter, especially in the Eleusinian Mysteries. In ancient art she is usually depicted as a young woman, usually in the scene of her abduction.
God of the sea, rivers, floods, droughts, and earthquakes. He is a son of Cronus and Rhea, and the brother of Zeus and Hades. He rules one of the three realms of the universe, as king of the sea and the waters. In art he is depicted as a mature man of sturdy build, often with a luxuriant beard, and holding a trident. His sacred animals include the horse and the dolphin. His wedding with Amphitrite is often presented as a triumphal procession. In some stories he rapes Medusa, leading to her transformation into a hideous Gorgon and also to the birth of their two children, Pegasus and Chrysaor. His Roman counterpart is Neptune.
King of the gods, ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of the sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and justice. He is the youngest son of Cronus and Rhea. He overthrew Cronus and gained the sovereignty of heaven for himself. In art he is depicted as a regal, mature man with a sturdy figure and dark beard. His usual attributes are the royal scepter and the lightning bolt. His sacred animals include the eagle and the bull. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter, also known as Jove.
God of harvests and personification of destructive time. The leader of the Titans, who overthrew his father Uranus only to be overthrown in turn by his son, Zeus. Not to be confused with Chronos.
Goddess of fertility, motherhood and the mountain wilds. She is the sister and consort of Cronus, and mother of Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia.
Athena (left) fighting Enceladus (inscribed retrograde) on an Atticred-figure dish, c. 550–500BC (Louvre CA3662).
The Gigantes were the offspring of Gaia (Earth), born from the blood that fell when Uranus (Sky) was castrated by their Titan son Cronus, who fought the Gigantomachy, their war with the Olympian gods for supremacy of the cosmos. They include:
Alcyoneus (Ἀλκυονεύς), a giant usually considered to be one of the Gigantes, slain by Heracles.
Cyclopes (Homeric), a tribe of one-eyed, man-eating giants who herded flocks of sheep on the island of Sicily.
Polyphemus (Πολύφημος), a Cyclops who briefly captured Odysseus and his men, only to be overcome and blinded by the hero.
The Gegenees (Γηγενέες), a tribe of six-armed giants fought by the Argonauts on Bear Mountain in Mysia.
Geryon (Γηρυων), a three-bodied giant who dwelt on the sunset isle at the ends of the earth. He was slain by Heracles when the hero arrived to fetch the giant's cattle as one of his twelve labours.
The Hekatoncheires (Ἑκατόγχειρες), or Centimanes (Latin), the Hundred-Handed Ones, giant gods of violent storms and hurricanes. Three sons of Uranus and Gaia, each with his own distinct characters.[12]
Briareus (Βριάρεως) or Aigaion (Αἰγαίων), The Vigorous.
Cottus (Κόττος), The Furious.
Gyges (Γύγης), The Big-Limbed.
The Laestrygonians (Λαιστρυγόνες), a tribe of man-eating giants encountered by Odysseus on his travels.
Talos (Τάλως), a giant forged from bronze by Hephaestus, and given by Zeus to his lover Europa as her personal protector.
Tityos (Τίτυος), a giant slain by Apollo and Artemis when he attempted to violate their mother Leto.
Typhon (Τυφῶν), a monstrous immortal storm-giant who attempted to launch an attack on Mount Olympus but was defeated by the Olympians and imprisoned in the pits of Tartarus.
Personified concepts
Achlys (Ἀχλύς), spirit of the death-mist, personification of sadness, misery and poison
Adephagia (Ἀδηφαγία), spirit of satiety and gluttony
Adikia (Ἀδικία), spirit of injustice and wrongdoing
Aergia (Ἀεργία), spirit of idleness, laziness, indolence and sloth
The Telchines (Τελχινες), sea spirits native to the island of Rhodes; the gods killed them when they turned to evil magic; They built the Trident of Poseidon.
Triteia (Τριτεια), daughter of Triton and companion of Ares
Triton (Τρίτων), fish-tailed son and herald of Poseidon
Tritones (Τρίτωνες), fish-tailed spirits in Poseidon's retinue
Poseidon and Amphitrite framed by erotes and riding in a chariot drawn by hippocamps; below them are fishermen at work, with nymphs and creatures of the sea in the waters (color-enhanced Roman-era mosaic)
Amphiaraus (Ἀμφιάραος), a hero of the war of the Seven against Thebes who became an oracular spirit of the Underworld after his death
Ariadne (Αριάδνη), a Cretan princess who became the immortal wife of Dionysus
Aristaeus (Ἀρισταῖος), a Thessalian hero, his inventions saw him immortalised as the god of bee-keeping, cheese-making, herding, olive-growing, and hunting
Asclepius (Ἀσκληπιός), a Thessalian physician who was struck down by Zeus for reviving the dead, to be later recovered by his father Apollo
Attis (Ἄττις), a consort of Cybele, granted immortality as one of her attendants
Bolina (Βολίνα), a mortal woman transformed into an immortal nymph by Apollo
Endymion (Ἐνδυμίων), lover of Selene, granted eternal sleep so as never to age or die
Ganymede (Γανυμήδης), a handsome Trojan prince, abducted by Zeus and made cup-bearer of the gods
Glaucus (Γλαῦκος), the fisherman's sea god, made immortal after eating a magical herb
Hemithea (Ἡμιθέα) and Parthenos (Παρθένος), princesses of the Island of Naxos who leapt into the sea to escape their father's wrath; Apollo transformed them into demi-goddesses
Bouzyges, a hero credited with inventing agricultural practices such as yoking oxen to a plough
Castor, the mortal Dioscuri twin; after Castor's death, his immortal brother Pollux shared his divinity with him in order that they might remain together
Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς or Ὀδυσεύς), a hero and king of Ithaca whose adventures are the subject of Homer's Odyssey; he also played a key role during the Trojan War
Orpheus (Ὀρφεύς), a legendary musician and poet who attempted to retrieve his dead wife from the Underworld
Pandion (Πανδίων), the eponymous hero of the Attic tribe Pandionis, usually assumed to be one of the legendary Athenian kings Pandion I or Pandion II
Perseus (Περσεύς), son of Zeus and the founder-king of Mycenae and slayer of the Gorgon Medusa
Rhadamanthys, a king of Crete; after his death, he became a judge of the dead in the Underworld
Rhesus, a king of Thrace who sided with Troy in the Trojan War
Sarpedon, a king of Lycia and son of Zeus who fought on the side of Troy during the Trojan War
Sisyphus, a king of Thessaly who attempted to cheat death and was sentenced to an eternity of rolling a boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down
The Danaides, forty-nine daughters of Danaus who murdered their husbands and were condemned to an eternity of carrying water in leaky jugs
Ixion, a king of the Lapiths who attempted to rape Hera and was bound to a flaming wheel in Tartarus
Sisyphus, a king of Thessaly who attempted to cheat death and was sentenced to an eternity of rolling a boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down
Tantalus, a king of Anatolia who butchered his son Pelops and served him as a meal to the gods; he was punished with the torment of starvation, food and drink eternally dangling just out of reach
Apollo is one of the Olympian deities in ancient Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more. One of the most important and complex of the Greek gods, he is the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. He is considered to be the most beautiful god and is represented as the ideal of the kouros. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu.
In ancient Greek religion, Hera is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Olympus, sister and wife of Zeus, and daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. One of her defining characteristics in myth is her jealous and vengeful nature in dealing with any who offended her, especially Zeus's numerous adulterous lovers and illegitimate offspring.
Heracles, born Alcaeus or Alcides, was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon. He was a descendant and half-brother of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae (Ἡρακλεῖδαι), and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Rome and the modern West, he is known as Hercules, with whom the later Roman emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximian, often identified themselves. Details of his cult were adapted to Rome as well.
Jason was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea, the granddaughter of the sungod Helios.
Poseidon is one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses. He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cities and colonies. In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, Poseidon was venerated as a chief deity at Pylos and Thebes, with the cult title "earth shaker"; in the myths of isolated Arcadia, he is related to Demeter and Persephone and was venerated as a horse, and as a god of the waters. Poseidon maintained both associations among most Greeks: he was regarded as the tamer or father of horses, who, with a strike of his trident, created springs. His Roman equivalent is Neptune.
The Argonauts were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, Argo, named after its builder, Argus. They were sometimes called Minyans, after a prehistoric tribe in the area.
In Greek mythology, Laomedon was a Trojan king, son of Ilus and thus nephew of Ganymede and Assaracus.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Iris is a daughter of the gods Thaumas and Electra, the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods, a servant to the Olympians and especially Queen Hera.
Twins in mythology are in many cultures around the world. In some cultures they are seen as ominous, and in others they are seen as auspicious. Twins in mythology are often cast as two halves of the same whole, sharing a bond deeper than that of ordinary siblings, or seen as fierce rivals. They can be seen as representations of a dualistic worldview. They can represent another aspect of the self, a doppelgänger, or a shadow.
The Greek Heroic Age, in mythology, is the period between the coming of the Greeks to Thessaly and the Greek warriors' return from Troy. The poet Hesiod identified this mythological era as one of his five Ages of Man. The period spans roughly six generations; the heroes denoted by the term are superhuman, though not divine, and are celebrated in the literature of Homer and of others, such as Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides.
The ancient Greeks had numerous water deities. The philosopher Plato once remarked that the Greek people were like frogs sitting around a pond—their many cities hugging close to the Mediterranean coastline from the Hellenic homeland to Asia Minor, Libya, Sicily, and southern Italy. Thus, they venerated a rich variety of water divinities. The range of Greek water deities of the classical era range from primordial powers and an Olympian on the one hand, to heroized mortals, chthonic nymphs, trickster-figures, and monsters on the other.
A characteristic of Homer's style is the use of epithets, as in "rosy-fingered" Dawn or "swift-footed" Achilles. Epithets are used because of the constraints of the dactylic hexameter and because of the oral transmission of the poems; they are mnemonic aids to the singer and the audience alike.
The Odyssean gods are the ancient Greek gods referenced in Homer's Odyssey.
Mythic Warriors is a 1998–2000 anthology animated television series, which featured retellings of popular Greek myths that were altered so as to be appropriate for younger audiences, co-produced by Nelvana Limited and Marathon Media. Two seasons of episodes were produced in February 8, 1998 and March 14, 1999; then aired as reruns until May 21, 2000, when CBS' abolition of its Nelvana Limited-produced children's programming in favor of Nick Jr. and later, Nickelodeon content resulted in its cancellation. The series was based on the book series Myth Men Guardians of the Legend written in 1996 and 1997 by Laura Geringer and illustrated by Peter Bollinger.
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancient Greek religion's view of the origin and nature of the world; the lives and activities of deities, heroes, and mythological creatures; and the origins and significance of the ancient Greeks' cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars study the myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of ancient Greece, and to better understand the nature of mythmaking itself.
The religious element is difficult to identify in Mycenaean Greece, especially as regards archaeological sites, where it remains very problematic to pick out a place of worship with certainty. John Chadwick points out that at least six centuries lie between the earliest presence of Proto-Greek speakers in Hellas and the earliest inscriptions in the Mycenaean script known as Linear B, during which concepts and practices will have fused with indigenous Pre-Greek beliefs, and—if cultural influences in material culture reflect influences in religious beliefs—with Minoan religion. As for these texts, the few lists of offerings that give names of gods as recipients of goods reveal little about religious practices, and there is no other surviving literature.
References
↑ March, Jennifer (2014). Dictionary of classical mythology. "Aphrodite". ISBN9781782976356.
↑ March, Jennifer (2014). Dictionary of classical mythology. "Apollo". ISBN9781782976356.
↑ March, Jennifer (2014). Dictionary of classical mythology. "Ares". ISBN9781782976356.
↑ March, Jennifer (2014). Dictionary of classical mythology. "Artemis". ISBN9781782976356.
↑ March, Jennifer (2014). Dictionary of classical mythology. "Athena". ISBN9781782976356.
↑ March, Jennifer (2014). Dictionary of classical mythology. "Demeter". ISBN9781782976356.
↑ March, Jennifer (2014). Dictionary of classical mythology. "Dionysus". ISBN9781782976356.
↑ March, Jennifer (2014). Dictionary of classical mythology. "Hades". ISBN9781782976356.
↑ Oppian, Halieutica 1. 383 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd A.D.): "The Delphines (Dolphins) both rejoice in the echoing shores and dwell in the deep seas, and there is no sea without Delphines (Dophins); for Poseidon loves them exceedingly, inasmuch as when he was seeking Amphitrite the dark-eyed daughter of Nereus who fled from his embraces, Delphines (the Dolphins) marked her hiding in the halls of Okeanos (Oceanus) and told Poseidon; and the god of the dark hair straightway carried off the maiden and overcame her against her will. Her he made his bride, queen of the sea, and for their tidings he commended his kindly attendants and bestowed on them exceeding honour for their portion."
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