stories and histories THE MOST IMPORTANT GREEK GODS AND GREEK GODDESSES

The most important Greek gods
and Greek goddesses :
According to Greek beliefs, the
first creatures in the world were
the titans. An important figure
here is Kronos, the ruler who
devoured his own newborn
children fearing that one of them
would take away his power. The
only survivor was the youngest
Zeus, who was saved by his
mother – Rhea (wife and sister of
Kronos), who gave her husband
a stone wrapped in a swaddle.
Zeus grew up in hiding, but
when he grew up, he visited his
father and gave him a drink that
caused him to spit out the gods
he had eaten. Then the struggle
for the power of the titans with
the gods began. After long fight,
the war has been won by Zeus
and his siblings, and from then
on they ruled the world.
The mythology as we know it is
due to the two epic giants that
formed in antiquity – Homer and
Hesiod. They created the world
and the system of the gods,
placing them on Olympus, giving
them nicknames and defining
the extent of their power. The
hierarchy of importance was
especially important among the
Greek gods. We will present you
now with the most important
ones.
Gods on The Olympus Mountain:
Zeus
Son of Kronos and Rhea.
Supreme of gods, lord of heaven
and earth. He had great power,
as evidenced by his attributes:
thunderbolts and a shield – egis.
Zeus was known for his
impressive conquests (and it is
by no means a territorial but a
sexual one). From his many
relationships with mortals,
heroes were born. He often took
the form of an animal, but also
rain or some other deity to hide
from the anger and jealousy of
his wife.
Poseidon
Zeus’s brother. God of waters,
aquatic creatures, islands, and
earthquakes. He lived in an
underwater palace. His attribute
is a trident. Poseidon is the
violent and ill-tempered god of
the sea. One of the Twelve
Olympians, he was also feared as
the provoker of earthquakes and
worshipped as the creator of the
horse.
Hades
Brother of Zeus and Poseidon.
God of the underworld, which he
ruled with his wife Persephone.
He was strict and scared, but he
was fair. Its attributes are keys
and a scepter. He was always
accompanied by the three-
headed dog Cerberus, who
guarded the entrance to the
world of the dead.
Hera
Sister and wife of Zeus. She ruled
heaven, looked after women,
married couples and families,
also as the patroness of
motherhood. Ironically, she
struggled with her husband’s
infidelity. Due to the intrigues,
she plotted against the lovers
and illegitimate children of Zeus,
she became a symbol of jealousy.
Depicted with a fan of peacock
feathers.
Athena
Daughter of Zeus, born of his
head cut open with an ax by
Hephaestus, summoned by the
god of the gods, when he
complained of terrible pain. As
the goddess of wisdom (of
course, she finally emerged from
the head), good advice, just war
and peace, she is depicted in full
armor, and her symbol is, as you
might guess, an owl.
Apollo
Son of Zeus and Lathone. God of
all art, and therefore the head of
the muses, and also the god of
health, disease, and divination.
The oracle of Delphi was in the
Homeric period a place of
worship of Apollo. Priestess
Pythia, the god’s fortune teller,
during the entire ceremony, in
the holy state of connection and
dressed in a white robe, fell into
a kind of trance, and gave
answers to the questions asked.
However, they were
incomprehensible to ordinary
mortals, which is why they were
translated by temple priests
(which, in principle, was not
entirely clear). Apollo was the
most beautiful of the gods, and
his image was completed by the
harp he played as a champion.
Artemis
Apollo’s twin sister. Goddess of
hunting and nature, she ruled
forests and wild game. She
looked after the youth and
sailors. Her attribute was the
bow.
Ares
Son of Zeus and Hera. Due to his
non-manifestation of special
abilities, he was tutored by a
Titan who taught him physical
exercises. He became the god of
bloody war, violence and murder.
As you can imagine, he was not
very well liked on Olympus – not
even by his own parents.
Eris
Ares’ sister, hated as much by
both gods and men as he is. She
was the goddess of conflict,
competition, rivalry, and chaos.
Her unwelcome visit to the
wedding of Peleus and Tethys,
during which she threw the
apple of disagreement on the
table with the words “For the
most beautiful”, thus sparking a
dispute between Hera, Aphrodite,
and Athena, was the indirect
cause of the Trojan War.
Hermes
Son of Zeus and Maya. God of
commerce, roads, travelers,
merchants, shepherds, and
thieves. Known as the messenger
of the gods. He also escorted the
dead to Hades. Its attributes are
a caduceus, i.e., a cane made of
an olive or laurel stick entwined
with two snakes, ending in a pair
of wings, and a petasos (hat)
with wings. Sandals with wings
were also an inseparable element
of it. There is no point – it was a
winged boy! From the union of
Hermes and Aphrodite, a two-sex
deity was created –
Hermaphrodite.
Hephaestus
Son of Zeus and Hera. He worked
as a blacksmith and had his
workshop at the bottom of Etna
volcano, where he forged
lightning for Zeus and arrows for
Eros. He also created a beautiful
armor for Achilles, in which he
killed Hector under the walls of
Troy. God of fire, blacksmithing
and goldsmithing. The hammer
and the anvil are his attributes.
Aphrodite
She came into the world
emerging from the sea foam, and
therefore her symbol is a sea
shell. Goddess of beauty, love,
and youth. The most beautiful of
all goddesses. Wife of
Hephaestus, but their marriage
was not a happy one, because
Aphrodite was unfaithful.
Helios (Helius)
He was the god of the Sun in
Greek mythology. He was
thought to ride a golden chariot
which brought the Sun across
the skies each day from the east
(Ethiopia) to the west
(Hesperides) while at night he
did the return journey in leisurely
fashion lounging in a golden cup
Prometheus
Titan god of forethought and
crafty counsel who was given the
task of molding mankind out of
clay. He felt sorry for people that
is he created, when they were
freezing cols on the earth. So, he
decided, to help them. He stole
fire from the Mount Olympus and
give it to them. When Zeus find
out, he decided t punish him. He
chained him to the mountain
wall, where every day an eagle
was flying in, to tore and eat his
liver; and since he was immortal,
it was healing every day, and the
next day it was starting again.
Hypnos
He is the Greek god of sleep and
personification of sleep itself. . He
is the son of Nyx and Erebus and
the twin brother of Thanatos
(Death), as well as the father of
Morpheus. Staff and a horn were
the attributes that is he was
portrayed with. According to
tradition, he was to be in the
afterlife, near Hades, or
(according to the Homeric
tradition) on the island of
Lemnos, located in the land of
the Kimmer, where his seat was
a cave through which the Lethe
river of oblivion flowed.
Eros
He was the son of Ares and
Aphrodite. God of love and sexual
passion. He was usually depicted
as toddler, or a young man,
always with inseparable with
wings a bow and a quiver of
arrows ready to pierce human
hearts with love and those that
could also fill them with hatred.
Demeter
Earth goddess, mother of the
earth. The goddess of agriculture
and fertility, usually depicted with
a wreath of ears of corn on her
head. She is Persephone’s
mother; her daughter was
kidnapped one day by Hades.
Desperate Demeter was looking
for her daughter, and when she
found out about her fate, the
land immediately became barren.
After the gods intervened,
Persephone was allowed to stay
with her mother for eight
months – then the earth
flourished. She spent the rest of
the year in Hades, and nothing
grew on the earth. This is how
the Greeks interpreted the
seasons of the year.
Hestia
The eldest daughter of Kronos
and Rhea, and therefore she was
swallowed by her father first.
Goddess of the hearth, travelers,
newlyweds, peaceful family life
and orphans. She has never
participated in any dispute. Her
attributes are a torch and a fire.
Asclepios
Son of Apollo and Coronis. God of
medicine and regenerating
nature. Killed by Zeus, who was
afraid of his powers when he
started to resurrect the dead. Its
attribute is a cane (without
wings!) With a snake wrapped
around it, unfortunately often
confused with the attribute of
Hermes. However, it is the staff of
Asclepius that is a symbol of
medicine that can be seen, for
example, on ambulances and
medical clinics, till this day.
Dionysus
Son of Zeus and Semele. God of
fertility, wild nature and of
course wine. Dionysia, were the
really big celebratory parties with
dancing, singing and wine, lots
of wine, that took place in his
honor. The Great Dionysia gave
rise to a birth of Greek tragedy
(Greek Theater), and the Small
ones gives the beginning to a
comedy.
Persephone
She was the daughter of
Demeter. One day se was
kidnapped by Hades, the God of
the underworld. Se become his
wife , and queen of the
underworld.
Atlas
The Primeval deity of Astronomy.
He was from the generation of
Titans; Atlas was a leader of the
Titans in their war against Zeus
and after their defeat he was
condemned to carry the world
on his shoulders for eternity,
after the Titans lost the war.
Thanatos
He by himself was the
personification and god of death.
Its attributes are black wings, a
chain, and an extinguished and
inverted torch. Twin brother of
Hypnos – the god of sleep (sleep
was and is a frequent theme in
literature, about can you read
here: The theme of sleep-in
world literature).

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