The Olympian Gods
The Greeks believed in many gods. Greeks
thought the gods were very much like people. They had both supernatural powers and human
weaknesses. The gods would fight with each other, fall in love, play tricks on one
another, get angry or jealous, and steal from each other. The Greeks made up stories
about all the things the gods did. These stories called myths were passed down through the
generations.
The Greeks believed that
Mount Olympus, the tallest mountain in Greece, was the home of the gods. The Greeks
worshipped twelve major gods and goddesses. Zeus was considered the most powerful of the
Greek gods. He was not the creator of the world though. The Greeks thought there had been
several generations of gods. Zeus had a mother and father as well as a number of sons and
daughters. Some of these gods were mortal and others were immortal. Not all the gods were
pleasant. Some were ugly or deformed.
The gods made their presence know to
people through signs, such as the sound of thunder. The Greeks built temples to shelter
the gods from the elements.
The Twelve Olympians
Name
of God |
Title |
Parents |
Sacred
Objects |
Roman Name |
Additional
Information |
Zeus
|
King of the Gods,
God of the Heavens
 |
Cronus and Rhea |
eagle, thunderbolt, shield, oak
tree |
Jupiter |
|
Aphrodite |
Goddess of Love
and Beauty
 |
Zeus and Dione |
dove, goose, sparrow, myrtle |
Venus |
very beautiful - wife of
Hephaestus |
Poseidon |
God of the Sea
 |
Cronus and Rhea |
trident, horse, bull |
Neptune |
lived in a beautiful palace under
the sea |
Ares |
God of War
 |
Zeus and Hera |
vulture, dog |
Mars |
represented the brute side of war |
Hades |
God of the
Underworld
 |
Cronus and Rhea |
helmet, metal, jewels |
Pluto |
wife Persephone |
Hephaestus |
God of metals and
fires who rules over volcanoes
 |
Zeus and Hera |
fire, blacksmith's hammer |
Vulcan |
only ugly god - lame |
Athena |
Goddess of Wisdom,
of the City, of War, of Arts and Crafts
 |
Zeus and Metis |
owl, shield, olive tree
-
favorite city was Athens |
Minerva |
proud goddess with blue-green eyes |
Artemis |
Goddess of the
Moon, the Hunt, of Children
 |
Zeus and Leto |
stag, crescent moon, cypress -
favorite animal was deer |
Diana |
twin sister of Apollo |
Apollo |
God of Light and
Truth, Healing, Archery, Music Zeus and Leto
 |
Zeus and Leto |
crow, dolphin, laurel, lyre |
Apollo |
twin brother of Artemis - tall and
well-built with long dark curls |
Demeter |
Goddess of the
Harvest, of Agriculture
 |
Cronus and Rhea |
wheat |
Ceres |
|
Hera |
Queen of the Gods
 |
Cronus and Rhea |
peacock, cow |
Juno |
Zeus's sister and wife - one of
the most beautiful goddesses - mean natured |
Hermes
|
God of Motion,
Sleep and Dreams, Travelers, Thieves
 |
Zeus and Maia |
wand, winged sandals, winged
helmet, |
Mercury |
master thief |
Lesser
Immorals and Gods
Name
of God |
Title |
Additional
Information |
| Athene |
The Spoiler |
|
| Aurora |
Goddess of the Dawn |
fingers were the color of roses |
| Cheiron |
The Centaur |
|
| Circe |
The Dread Goddess |
|
| Dawn |
The Goddess Eos |
|
| Dione |
A mother to Aphrodite |
|
| Eileithyia |
Goddess of Childbirth |
|
| Enyo |
One of the Gray Sisters |
|
| Eos |
Goddess of the Dawn |
|
| Eurynome |
Mother of The Graces |
|
| Fates |
All will kneel before them |
|
| Gorgon |
Snake-Headed Medusa |
|
| Graces |
May They Bless You |
|
| Hebe |
Goddess of Youth |
Wife of Herakles |
| Helios |
The Sun |
|
| Herakles |
Penultimate Hero |
|
| Hecate |
Goddess of the Underworld |
|
| Hermes |
Messenger of the Gods |
|
| Hestia |
Goddess of the Hearth |
|
| Hours |
Sisters of the Fates |
|
| Hyperion |
The Titan, Father of Dawn |
|
| Hypnos |
Sleep, Brother of Thanatos |
|
| Io |
The Heifer Maiden |
|
| Iris |
The Swift Footed Messenger |
personification of the rainbow
|
| Kalypso |
The Queenly Nympth |
|
| Kronos |
Lord of the Titans |
|
| Leto |
Mother of Apollo and Artemis |
|
| Medusa |
The Gorgon |
|
| Muses |
The Nine Sisters of arts and
sciences |
|
| Nereids |
Daughters of Nereus |
|
| Nike |
|
|
| Odysseus |
A Very Resourceful Traveler |
|
| Pan |
The God of Shepherds |
half goat and haf man |
| Persephone |
Wife of Hades |
|
| Prometheus |
The Rebel God |
|
| Psyche |
personification of the soul. |
|
| Rheia |
Mother of the Olympians |
wife and sister of Cronus |
| Rivers |
in The Iliad |
|
| Skylla |
The Beast with Six Heads |
|
| Styx |
The Oath River |
|
| Thanatos |
The God of Death |
|
| Thetis |
Mother of Achilleus |
|
| Tyche |
Goddess of Chance |
|
| Winds |
Children of the Dawn |
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Family Tree
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 1
Gaea
(earth)____________________ |
__________Uranos
(sky and the mountains) |
| | |
| |
| |
| |
| Three
Cyclopes |
Three
Hecatonchires
(monsters with 100 hands and 50 heads)Briarus
Cottus
Gyes |
Six Titans(One was Cronus)__ |
__Six Titanesses(One was Rhea) |
Coeus - father of Leto
Phoebe - The bright one, mother of Leto
Oceanus - Personification of the ocean
Tethys - Wife of Oceanus, mother of the oceanids
Crius
Hyperion - The father of the sun, the moon, and the dawn.
Iapetus - father of Atlas
Thea
Themis - Personification of justice
Memnosyne - Personification of memory
Atlas - holds the sky on his shoulders
Leto - mother of Apollo and Artemis
Perses
Asterie
Prometheus - Savior of mankind
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cronus - Father time of the
Greeks
Rhea - Mother of the gods, identified with Cybele |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
Hestia |
Demeter |
Hera |
Hades |
Poseidon |
Zeus |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 2
Family Tree - Zeus
Hera_____________________ |
_____________________Zeus |
| | |
| |
| Hephaestus |
Ares |
Family Tree -
Zeus
Eurynome,
The Graces(charities) _____________________ |
_____________________Zeus |
| |
|
Aglaia
Euphrosyne
Thalia |
Family Tree -
Zeus
Themis_____________________ |
_____________________Zeus |
| |
|
|
Horae (Seasons):
- Eirene (Peace)
- Eunomia (Order)
- Dike (Justice)
Moerae (Fates), Moirai
- Clotho - spinner
- Lachesis - apportioner
- Atropos - inflexible (cutter)
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Muses: (Presided over the arts and sciences
and inspired those who excelled in these pursuits)
- Calliope
- Clio
- Erato
- Euterpe
- Melpomene
- Polhymnia
- Terpsichore
- Thalia
- Urania
Charities: (Personifications of Grace and
Beauty)
- Kleta
- Phaenna
- Auxo
- Hegemone
Nymphs:
- Alseides
- Amalthea
- Arethusa
- Calisto
- Calypso - The concealer
- Daphne
- Echo - Nymph who only repeats.
- Liriope
- Napaeae
- Oenone
- Oreithyia
- Orestiads
- Salamacis
- Syrinx
Hesperides (guarders of the golden
apples of Hera)
- Aegle
- Erytheia
- Hestia
- Arethusa
- Hesperia
Monsters
- Centaur
- Sirens
- Sphinx
- Gorgons
- Scylla, many headed sea monster
- Charybdis, whirlpool
- Chimera
- Minotaur - lower half man, upperhalf bull
- Python - very large snake
- Satyr
- Triton
The Furies (Three ladies who pursued
evil doers and sinners. They were persistent but just.)
The Gorgons (Three ladies with snakes as
hair and eyes that could turn people to stone.)
Sirens
- Parthenope
- Teles, Raidne, Molpe, and Thelxiope
- Parthenope, Leucosia, and Ligia
- Pisinoe, Aglaope, and Thelxiepia
Wind gods:
- Aeolus - King of the Winds
- Boreas - North Wind
- Zephyr - West Wind
- Notus - South Wind
- Eurus - East Wind
Return
to Greek Facts Index Page
|
