The Goddesses

The Gods

Zeus

Zeus was the chief God, the God of thunder and lightning, and the sky. He was stronger and more powerful than any other God, yet he could be fooled (Iliad). He was usually, however, kind and thoughtful. His main weakness was a love for women, and those women usually are persacuted by his wife because of his love. He is married to Hera. His oracle was in Dodona, the land of oak trees.

Poseidon

Poseidon was the God of the Underwater Realm, and brother to Zeus. He was generally portrayed as rotten tempered and bad to hold grudges (Odyssey). He was married to Amphritrite.

Hades

Hades was the mirthless god of the Underworld. He was not heartless, but merely unpitying. He was King of the Dead, but not Death himself, who the Greeks called Thanatos. He is married to Persephone.

Phoebus Apollo

Apollo was usually called "the most Greek of all the Gods." He was a beautiful figure in Greek Poetry, a master musician, the archer God, the God of Light, and the God of Truth who from his lips no darkness fell.

O Phoebus, from your throne of truth, From your dwelling-place at the heart of the world, You speak to men. By Zeus's decree no lie comes there. no shadow to darken the world of truth. Zeus sealed by an everlasting right Apollo's honor, that all may trust with unshaken faith when he speaks.

His oracle, Delphi, was for many years the center of the World. People came from all over the world to hear what Apollo's Priestesses prophecied. And it was always true. Delphi was a direct link to the Gods showing them how to make peace with each other and even how to cleanse the blood stains from their concience. Zeus was his father, Leto his mother. He was born on the tiny island of Delos.Artemis was his twin sister.

Hermes

Hermes was the Messenger God,God of Commerce and Trading, shrewd and cunning, who started thieving before he was a day old when He stole Apollo's cattle.

The babe was born at the break of day, and ere the night he had stolen away Apollo's herds.

Zeus, of course, made him give them back, and Hermes presented Apollo with the lyre, which he had made, and they were great friends after that. He was the Son of Zeus and Maia.

Dionysus

Dionysus was the God of Wine, the last God to enter Olympus, and the only God to have a mortal parent. His mother Semele was a Theban princess

At Thebes alone do mortal women bear Immortal Gods.

Semele was the most unfortunate of Zeus's wives. Hera put the wish into her heart to make Zeus promise to show his Godliness to her. He swore it, unknowingly, and watched sadly as she burned to her death. But he grabbed the child Dionysus and sewed him up into his hip until he was born, when he sent him to the nymphs of Hysa. On his way to Olympus, he was kidnapped by a group of sailors. When Dionysus was set aboard, his ropes fell off. The helmsman alone saw that this must be a God, but the rest of the crew bade him a fool.Just then, wine flowed throughout the ship, and Dionysus changed the crew into dolphins, all but the helmsman. He had an army of wine-crazed women called the Maenads or the Bacchantes. They rushed through the forest devouring wild animals, and singing

O Bacchanals, come, Oh, come. Sing Dionysus, Sing to the timbrel, the deep-voiced timbrel. Joyfully Praise him, Him who brings joy. Holy, all holy Music is calling. To the hills, to the hills, Fly O Bacchanal Swift of Foot. On, O joyful, be fleet.

Ares

Ares was the God of war, who was so ruthless even his parents, Zeus and Hera hated him. He is a coward, though, who bellows away when wounded.(Homer) He is not a distinct personality like Zeus and Hermes.

Hephaestus

Hephaestus was the ugly and lame craftsman god. He was thrown from Heaven by Zeus after he sided with Hera in an argument.

Thrown by angry Jove, Sheer o'er the crystal battlements; from morn to dewy eve, A summer's day, and with the setting sun Dropt from the zrnith like a falling star, On Lemnos, the Aegean isle.

He is portrayed as a kindly, peaceful God. He was very important in the city. In the Odyssey, he was married to Aphrodite. In the Iliad, he was married to Aglaia, one of the three Graces.

Hera

Hera was the Goddess of marriage and family. She was the wife and sister of Zeus. She was not painted as particularly beautiful by the poets, but one did write,

Golden-throned Hera, among immortals the Queen. Chief among them in beauty, the glorious lady All the blessed in high Olympus revere, Honor even as Zeus, lord of the thunder.

But usually she was painted as a goddess that never forgot a wrong against her. She spent most of her time in pursuit of mortals her husband married. Argos was her city.

Pallas Athena

Athena was the Goddess of wisdom, the city, handicrafts and agriculture, and protector of civilised life. She was child of Zeus only.She sprang out of his head, fully clothed in armor nad full grown. She was his favorite child, the only one he trusted to carry his aegis, his buckler, and his thunderbolts. She was the chief of the three virgin goddesses, and was called the maiden. Her city was Athens, and her temple the Parthenon.

Artemis

Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo, daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was one of the three virgin Goddesses of Olympus-

Golden Aphrodite who stirs with love all creation, Cannot bend nor ensnare three hearts:The pure maiden Vesta, Gray-eyed Athena who cares but for war and the arts of the craftsman, Artemis, lover of woods and wild chase over the mountain.

She is the protector of wild things, huntsman-in-chief to the Gods, an odd office for a female. But, she was a good huntsman, and she strove to protect the dewy youth. When women died painlessly, they are said to have been shot by her silver arrows.

Aphrodite

The Goddess of Love and Beauty who tempted all, man and Gods alike; the laughter Goddess who laughed mockingly at those who were conquered by her wiles; the irrestible Goddess who stole even wise men's wits. In the Iliad, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione, but in later poems she is said to have sprung from the sea-foam near Cythera. A Homeric poem says of her-

The breath of the west wind bore her Over the sounding sea, up from the delicate foam, to wave- ringed Cyprus, her isle. And the Hours golden-wreathed Welcomed her joyously. They clad her in rainment immortal, and brought her to the Gods. Wonder siezed them all as they saw Violet-crowned Cytherea.

Yet, she had another side. In the Iliad, the battle-poem, she was a soft, weak figure. In later poetry she was a malicious Goddess, exerting a deadly and destructive force over men. She is usually married to Hephaestus.

Demeter

Demeter was the Goddess of the Corn, a Goddess who had an altar on every threshing-floor. Her Chief Festival was at harvest time, with processions and singing in every town. Her great temple was at Eleusis, a small town near Athens. Her Worship was the Eleusinian Mysteries. She had one daughter, Persephone, abducted by Hades to be his wife. Persephone lives eight months with Demeter and four with Hades. During those four months, the Earth has winter while Demeter mourns for her lost daughter.

Beside Demeter when the cymbals sound Enthroned sits Dionysus of the flowing hair

Hestia

Hestia was the sister of Zeus, and was a virgin like Athena and Artemis. She did not have a distinct personality, yet played a very important part in the Greek home. She was the Goddess of the hearth, the symbol of the home. Every meal began and ended with an offering to her.

Hestia, in all dwellings of men and immortals, Yours is the highest honor, the sweet wine offered first and last at the feast, poured out to you duly. Never without you can Gods or mortals hold banquet.

Every city had a public hearth sacred to hestia, where the fire was never allowed to go out. In Rome, her fire was cared for by six virgin priestesses called Vestals.