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The Greek Gods
First Greek Gods
- Theogony
- Chaos
- The Titans
The ancient Greek people created their own splendid, yet human-like world of gods to account for abstract significances like Love, Birth or Death. The origins of the gods of ancient Greek religion are described in the Theogony, the famous poem of the Greek writer Hesiod (around 700 BC) and the Library of Apollodorus.
Olympian Gods
The Olympian gods were the main deities in Ancient Greece. After overthrowing their ancestors, the Titans, the Olympian gods became the rulers of the Cosmos representing the civilization of the world. The Olympian gods were majestically and democratically dwelling on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece, built by the Cyclopes. The leader of the Olympian gods was Zeus.
The gods were born and grew just like human beings, some of them even married, however they were unaging and death never came to them. They lived inside human-like bodies with an ethereal fluid called ichor running through the veins. They had passions and human weaknesses and were many times at fault, but were then obliged to take the full responsibility of their actions.
Greek myths always refer to the twelve Gods of Mount Olympus, but actually, in total there were more Olympian Gods in Greek Mythology. However, there were never more than twelve at one time. The four alternative gods were Hestia, Hades, Dionysus and Demeter, depending on the location.
- Aphrodite
- Apollo
- Ares
- Artemis
- Athena
- Demeter
- Dionysus
- Hades
- Hephaestus
- Hera
- Hermes
- Hestia
- Poseidon
- Zeus
Family Tree:
- a1 Oceanus - Titan x Tethys
- a2 Coeus - Titan x Phoebe
- a2b1 Leto x Zeus
- a2b2 Asteria (star goddess) x Perses
- a3 Crius - Titan x Eurybia, daughter of Gaia ("Earth") and Pontus ("Sea")
- a3b1 Astraios x Eos
- a3b1c1 Eosphoros
- a3b1c2 Hesperus
- a3b1c3 Astraea
- a3b1c4 the other stars and the winds
- a3b2 Pallas
- a3b3 Perses x Asteria
- a3b3c1 Hecate
- a4 Hyperion - Titan x Theia
- a4b1 Helios (Sun)
- a4b2 Selene (Moon)
- a4b3 Eos (Dawn)
- a5 Iapetus - Titan x Clymene (or Asia)
- a5b1 Atlas
- a5b2 Menoetius
- a5b3 Prometheus
- a5b4 Epimetheus
- a6 Theia - Titan x Hyperion
- a7 Rhea - Titan x Cronus
- a8 Themis - Titan x Zeus
- a9 Mnemosyne - Titan x Zeus
- a10 Phoebe - Titan x Cous
- a11 Tethys - Titan x Oceanus
- a12 Cronus - Titan
x Rhea
x Metis
- a12b6c1 Athena
xx Hera
- a12b6c2 Hephaistos
- a12b6c3 Ares
- a12b6c4 Hebe
- a12b6c5 Eileithyia
xxx Maia - nymph
- a12b6c6 Hermes
xxx Semele
- a12b6c7 Dionysos
xxx Alkmene
- a12b6c8 Hercules
xxx Danae
- a12b6c9 Perseus
xxx Demeter
- a12b6c10 Persophone
- a12b6c11 Iacchus
xxx Leda
- a12b6c12 Helen
- a12b6c13 the Dioskouroi
- a12b6c14 Polydeuces
xxx Euryonme
- a12b6c15 (Splendour) - Grace
- a12b6c16 Euphrosyne (Joy) - Grace
- a12b6c17 Thalia (Good Cheer) - Grace
xxx Europa
- a12b6c18 Minos
- a12b6c19 Rhadamanthys
- a12b6c20 Sarpedon
xxx Io
- a12b6c21 Epaphos
xxx Electra
- a12b6c22 Iasion
xxx Callisto - Nymph
- a12b6c23 Arcas
xxx Themis
- a12b6c24 Auxo (the grower) - Hora (hours/seasons)
- a12b6c25 (the fruit-bringer) - Hora (hours/seasons)
- a12b6c26 (the plant-raiser) - Hora (hours/seasons)
- a12b6c27 Dike (justice) - Hora (hours/seasons)
- a12b6c28 Eirene (peace) - Hora (hours/seasons)
- a12b6c29 Eunomia (order of law) - Hora (hours/seasons)
- a12b6c30 Clotho (the weaver) - Moira (fates)
- a12b6c31 Lachesis (the lot-caster) - Moira (fates)
- a12b6c32 Atropos (the inevitable) - Moira (fates)
xxx Mnemosyne
- a12b6c33 Calliope (epic poetry) - Muse
- a12b6c34 Clio (history) - Muse
- a12b6c35 Euterpe (music and lyric poetry) - Muse
- a12b6c36 Erato (love poetry) - Muse
- a12b6c37 Melpomene (tragedy) - Muse
- a12b6c38 Polyhymnia (hymns) - Muse
- a12b6c39 Terpsichore (dance) - Muse
- a12b6c40 Thalia (comedy) - Muse
- a12b6c41 Urania (astronomy) - Muse
xxx Leto
- a12b6c42 Apollo
- a12b6c43 Artemis
xx Philyra - Nymph
- a12b7 Chiron - Centaur
- a13 Brontes - Cyclops
- a14 Steropes - Cyclops
- a15 Arges - Cyclops
- a16 Cottus - Hecatoncheir ("Hundred-Handed One")
- a17 Briareus/ Aegaeon- Hecatoncheir ("Hundred-Handed One")
- a18 Gyges - Hecatoncheir ("Hundred-Handed One")
- a19 Alecto - Erinys (Fury)
- a20 Megaera - Erinys (Fury)
- a21 Tisiphone - Erinys (Fury)
- a22 Mneme - Muse
- a23 Melete - Muse
- a24 Aoide - Muse
- a25 Porphyrion - Gigante
- a26 Alcyoneus - Gigante
- a27 Ephialtes - Gigante
- a28 Eurytus - Gigante
- a29 Clytius - Gigante
- a30 Mimas - Gigante
- a31 Pallas - Gigante
- a32 Polybotes - Gigante
- a33 Enceladus - Gigante
- a34 Hippolytus - Gigante
- a35 Gration - Gigante
- a36 Agrius - Gigante
- a37 Thoas - Gigante
- a38 Actaeus - Telchine
- a39 Megalesius - Telchine
- a40 Ormenus - Telchine
- a41 Lycus - Telchine
- a42 The Melia - nymphs of the ash tree
- a43 The Curetes - Aetolians
- a44 Aetna - a Sicilian nymph
- a45 Aphrodite
Semi gods
In addition to the Greek gods of Olympus, there were also other greek deities and various spirits who were usually supplementing the Olympian gods' powers, but at times tended to dispute the Olympians' proposals.
The three Furies
The Erinyes (also known as Furies) were cruel earth goddesses who symbolized the divine vengeance. The Erinyes were three sisters in Greek mythology:
- Alecto("the angry")
- Megaera("the grudging")
- Tisiphone("the avenger")
The Three Graces
The Graces were daughters of Zeus, the King of the gods, and the Oceanid Eurynome. There were three Graces in Greek Mythology:
- Aglaia, the Grace that symbolized Beauty,
- Euphrosyne, the Grace of Delight and
- Thalia, the Grace of Blossom.
The Three Fates
The Fates were among the eldest goddesses in ancient Greek mythology. The Fates were either daughters of Zeus, the Lord of the gods, and Themis, the goddess of justice, or were created by goddess Nyx without the intervention of man.
- Clotho the spinner, was the youngest of the three Fates; she spun the thread of destiny with a distaff, determining the time of birth of an individual;
- Lachesis measured the thread length to determine the length of life;
- Atropos cut the thread of life, determining this way the time of death.
The Muses
The Muses were a group of nine very intelligent, beautiful and careless divinities. Each Muse was responsible for a different literary or poetic genre. They were created by Zeus, the King of the Gods, who secretly lay nine nights with Mnemosyne, the titaness of memory.
Calliope
Epic Poetry
Clio
History Erato
Love Poetry Euterpe
Music Polyhymnia
Hymns Terpsichore
Dance Thaleia
Comedy Urania
Astronomy
Home of the Muses was Mount Helicon in Central Greece, a mountain that was sacred to the Greek god Apollo, the Greek god of the music, the light and the sun.
The Nymphs
The Nymphs were the daughters of Zeus, the King of the gods. They ranged over beautiful groves and dwelled near springs, in mountains through which rivers flowed and in woods.
- Callisto the companion of Artemis
- Calypso the capturer of Odysseus
- Daphne the personification of the laurel tree
- Echo the Nymph of steady reply
- Io the priestess of Hera in Argos
- Pitys the personification of the pine
- Syrinx the Inspiration for Melody
The Sirens
The Sirens were special Sea Nymphs who were living in an isolated island, the island of the Faiakes. They had the body of a bird, but their head was human-like.
The Sirens had the gift of singing in a very seductive manner. Each sailor who was passing by this island got enchanted by their voice and was condemned to stay in their island forever and die.
The Sirens are mostly mentioned by Greek poet Homer in his Epos "Odyssey", where the Sirens encounter Odysseus and his companions on their journey back to the island of Ithaca.
- Charybdis drowning vessels
- Scylla destructing vessels