Cheiron Hellenic Pagan site

Zeus or Dias

The father of all Gods and mortals, is the son of Kronos and Rhea and brother of Poseidon, Hades, Demetra, Hera and
Hestia. He is a sky god and his symbols are the thunderbolt, the eagle, the scepter, the oak leaves and Aigis (the
goat-skin of Amaltheia).
Zeus has many epithets, to name some:
Herkeios (from fence) who protects the house and the area around it.
Xenios (hospitable), Ikesios, Phyxios who protects the strangers and the poor.
Lykaios the God of light (Lykaion is the name of a peloponesian mountain which its top receives the first and last light
from the sun and was dedicated to Zeus).
Hyetios, Hombrios (of rain) cause is responsible for the weather conditions and rain which fertilizes.
Horkios, Pistios (oath) protector of the deals which are sealed with oaths, between men.
Basileus (King), O King of the Kings, Blissful of the Blissful.
Teleios (he who fulfils) because the fulfillment of all depends on him.
Moiragetes (he who controls fate) he defines the destiny of all men.
Meilikhios (meek, calm) he  who receives all the prayers with kindness and helps everybody and the weak and the poor,
he forgives all who really repent even the murders.
Ephestios, the god of the family.
Nepheligeretis, as the master of the clouds and weather.
Philios as a god of friendship.
Polieus as the protector of the city.
PanHellenios, Eleutherios the protector of the Hellenic race and the Hellenic nation (near to the common grave of
Hellenes there was a shrine of Zeus Eleutherios, the liberator god, and every five years a festival with gymnastic games
took place to honor the god and the deliverance of Hellas). While the other gods are more or less worshiped depending on
the place or the race (i.e Athena suits better for the Ionians, Poseidon for the Aioleans, Apollon for the Dorians, ..), Zeus is
the only god that is worshiped throughout the dominion of Hellas with the same magnificence.
Soter (savior) as the god who protects from everything that could harm the humans.
Areios as the god who helps in the war.
Kronion, from the name of his father Kronos (or Khronos = time) with the meaning, he who exists for ever and ever since
Maimaktes as the god of thunders and storms.
Elhanos, Talaios as a young god who represents the youth and the power of renewal and freshness.
Asterios the lord of the starry heaven.
Ammon as a horned sun god, like the egyptian god Amoun Rha.
Triopas (three holes) the god is represented with a wooden statue which has three holes, two for the eyes and a third hole
in the middle of the forehead (Pausanias wrote that the three holes represents the three parts of the universe).

All those names which has been given to Zeus show how important was to ancient Hellenes and his major part in their
religious beliefs. For the ancient Hellenes Zeus is "the Aether, the Earth, the Sky, Zeus is everything and whatever is
above everything, is everywhere, is invisible, .. Zeus fills all the streets, fills all the public squares, fills the sea, ..

The most famous shrine of Zeus is at Dodone, where his holy oak tree is located but the most splendid is at Olympia.

Zeus as a sun god with his thunderbolt and lighting rules over the daemons of the night and as a god of natural order and
harmony dominates the formless powers of nature. Zeus is also famous for his divine sense of justice.

According to the theogony, Zeus first mates with Metes (who knew more things than all gods and men together).
Metis is wisdom and Zeus captured her inside him in order to reveal to him the knowledge of good and evil, showing this
way that this knowledge is part of his essence and its mandatory part of his divinity. Athena is their child.
Themis is the law, moral and natural and she was Zeus' next wife. She gives birth to Horae (seasons), Eunomia, Dike
(justice), Eirene (peace), Moirai (fates). Mnemosyne as his wife gives birth to Mouses, Leto gives birth to Apollon (sungod)
and Artemis (moon-goddess), Eurynome gives birth to Charites (graces).
Hera is the 'official' wife of Zeus who gave birth to Ares, Hephaestos, Hebe and Eileithyia.

Hera

Queen of heaven, daughter of Rhea and Kronos, and wife and sister of Zeus. She is known as a goddess of marriage and
birth. She is a sky goddess and her symbols are the peacock, the goat, the cuckoo and the pomegranate.
Hera's main sanctuary is at Argos (in Peloponnesos), also mainly worshipped in Samos, Mycenes and Sparte.

She is worshiped as the goddess of the night-light emanated from the moon or as the goddess of the storms or as the
goddess of fertility.

Apollon

God of Light, music, medicine, prophecy and archery, son of Leto and Zeus, brother of Artemis.
The most important god after Zeus of the Hellenic religion.
He is the Hellenic ideal model of music, poetry, youth, beauty, art, health and respect for law.
He is a sky god and his symbols are the dolphin, the swan, the wolf, the lyre, the laurel, the bow, the raven, the goat, the
palm tree, and the tripod, also the number seven.
Apollon's epithets:
Phoibos, Lykaios (radiant ) the luminous god.
Moiragetes (he who controls fate) he defines the destiny of all men.
Noumenios he controls the flow and renewal of the months, and the first day of each month is dedicated to him.
Kourotrophos god of the youth (the first cut hair of a young is offered to Apollon) and beauty.
Soter the god who saves from moral evil and forgives the truly regretted.
Alexikakos, Epikourios, Akesios, Nousolytes as a god who keeps away and helps from all bad physical or moral
conditions, illness and evil.
Delphinios as the god who helps the sea-men, protector of the colonists. When as a dolphin he occupies a ship with
Cretans and led them to Delpoi to make them the first priests/es of the most famous oracle.
Sitalkes, Sminthios, Parnopios the protector of the farmers and their fields.
Oulios the god of healing.
Mousagetes as the leader of the Mouses and god of music.
Hecatebolos who's arrows go far away.
Boedromios as the protector god to those who invoke him in the middle of a battle.
Pytthios from the name of the dragon Python (guardian of the ancient oracle of the goddess Gaia), which killed by his
golden arrows made by Hephaestos.
Nymphegetes who looks after the Nymphs.
Nomios the protector of the shepherds and their flocks.

Apollon tough to men tolerance and the abolition of vengeance and even the redemption of blood with gentle ways.

Athena

Goddess of wisdom and war, daughter of Metis and Zeus and beloved child of Zeus.
She is a sky goddess, virgin and her symbols are the owl and the olive.
Athena's epithets:
Glaphkopis, Ellotis, Ilias the goddess with the bright look, the goddess of lighting.
Areia as the furious goddess of the war who loves the sound of the battle with the merciless heart.
Promakhos, Sthenias, Alalkomenees the invisible goddess who placed in the front line, protects with her shield the
Hellenic army and destroys the enemy with her long spear.
Polias the war goddess who with her victory insures the gifts of peace to her favorite people.
Boulaia as the protector of the Hellenic parliament.
Kourotrophos responsible for the raise of children.
Apatouria as a goddess who protects and helps the growth of the family.
Pallas as a young virgin.
Agoraia who inspires the political prudence and has decreed the principals of the Attican justice.
Hygeia, Paioneia as the goddess of healing.
Stathmaia the goddess of the arts.
Ergane who helps with the feminine works (weaving, thread, spinning, ..).

Athena was the protector of many heroes, like Theseus, Odyddeus, Perseus, .. and her companion is goddess Nike.

Ares

God of war, son of Hera and Zeus and brother of Hephaestos.
He is pleased with war and bloodshed, that's why he is not often worshiped and none of the cities named him as
Poliouchos (city protector). His element is fire and his symbols are the sword, the dog and the vulture.
Ares epithets:
Theritas as a frightful god.
Chalkeos because of his shiny armor made of copper.
Aphneios as a rural god.

Aphrodite

Goddess of beauty and love, daughter of Dione and Zeus or from a white foam when the genitals from castrated Ouranos
fell in the sea. Her element is fire and her symbols are the the dolphin, the swan, the rabbit, the myrtle, the apple, the
pomegranate, and the goat. Most famous temple was in Paphos of Cyprus.
Aphrodite epithets:
Anadyomaene she who emerges from the sea.
Kypris from her 'birthplace' Cyprus.
Philomeides as a goddess with a sweet smile.
Chrysheie because she is radiant like gold.
Nikephoros as the indomitable triumph of love.
Nymphia as the ideal wife.
Pandemos as the goddess of lust and vulgar love.
Pontia, Pelagia as the goddess protector of sailors.

Hephaestos

God of fire and craftsmen working with metals, son of Hera and Zeus. His wife is Aphrodite.
His element is fire and his symbols are the fire, the hammer and the pincers.

Artemis

Moon goddess, protector of the wild life, newborn animals and woods, daughter of Leto and Zeus, twin sister of Apollon.
The virgin goddess whom her the worshippers dedicate fields, which animals never grazed neither touched by sickle,
and the spring-bloomed flowers are the symbols of virgin and pure souls.
She is a sky goddess and her symbols are the bow, the stag, the dog, the bull, the lion and the crescent moon.
Artemis epithets:
Britomartes the sweet virgin, protector of sailors and fishermen.
Potamia the goddess who bathes in the rivers and lakes together with the Nymphs, under the moonlight, and dance in the
woods over the bloomed fields.
Agrotera as the goddess of hunting, who protects the hunter as long as he/she doesn't kill newborn or small animals.
Also protector of the wild life and woods.
Tavropolos, Potnia Theron mistress of wild animals and beasts.
Lokheia as a rural goddess, protector of women in labor and childbirth.
Hymnia as the goddess of songs.
Orthia as the protector of vegetation and fertility goddess.

Poseidon

God of the seas, son of Rhea and Kronos, brother of Zeus, Hestia, Demetra, Hades and Hera.
His element is water and his symbols are the trident, the dolphin, the horse and the bull.
Poseidon epithets:
Seisichthon as the god who shakes the earth.
Phytalmios as the purveyor of the plants.

Demetra

Goddess of the agriculture, daughter of Rhea and Kronos and sister of Zeus, Hestia, Poseidon, Hades and Hera.
Her element is earth and her symbols are the wheat, the red poppy, the basket,
Sometimes she is identified as mother Gaia (earth) and with Persephone (or Kore) leads the rites of Eleusis.
Demetra epithets:
Proerosia as the goddess invoked before plowing.
Chloe (green) as the goddess invoked during the spring.
Thesmophoria as legislator.

Hermes

Messenger of the gods, son of Maia and Zeus. He is also the god of shepherds, literature, merchants, athletics and
thieves, and known for his cunning and shrewdness.
He is sky god and his symbols are the Kyreikion (a shaft with wings and two intertwined snakes, which can put to sleep
and wake up the mortals and draw back to underworld the souls of the dead), the Petaso (winged cap), winged sandals,
the ram, the tortoise and the cock.
Hermes epithets:
Argeiophontes (dusk and dawn) god of the faint light and master of the thieves.
Egemonios, Agetor, Enodios protect and lead the travelers.
Pyledokos, Prothyraios guardian of the two gates (one to the underworld and the other one let the light of the day), the
medium between dark and light.
Enagonios as the lord of athletics.
Nomios, Epimelios the protector of the shepherds.
Psichopombos guide of the souls to the underworld.
Charidotes he who gives the charm.

Hermes is the father of Pan, the semi-god of the shepherds and wilderness.

Hestia

Goddess of the hearth fire and family life, daughter of Rhea and Kronos and sister of Zeus, Poseidon, Demetra, Hades
and Hera. She is a virgin goddess, her shrine in the middle of a circle (home, city, ..) and her symbol a circular object.
Her element is fire.
Hestia epithets:
Presveira as she is the elder of the new gods.

Dionysos or Bacchos

The younger god of all Olympians and probably the most popular to Hellas. He's the son of the mortal Semele and Zeus.
Most known as the god of wine and vine-growing and husband of Ariadne of Crete.
A dual-nature god, who was honored at his shrine at Delphoi during the winter, when Apollon has left to the land of light,
also worshiped during the rites of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
His symbols are the Thyrsos (a stick decorated with leaves of ivy or vine), the ivy, the laurel, the goat,
the panther, the lion, the bull, the donkey, the dolphin.
During his festivals there is a holy attendance consisted of the Bacches (also called Mainades or Thyiades) representing
his life companion, the forces of wild-nature (Nymphs and Satyrs).
Dionysos epithets:
Demetor as he had two births.
Dendritis as the god of vegetation.
Evanthes as the spring blooming god.
Eleptherios as the libarator of the human souls from the illusion of existence.
Hyis as moist from his nurses the Nymphs .
Evios for making big noise.
Zagreus, Iacchos, Bromios, Savazios, Lenaios, Vassareus, Dithyramvos, Paianas, ..

Religion \| Festivals \| Philosophy \| Tribune \| Gallery \| Music \| Cheiron \| Member \| Support \| Credits \| Web Rings \| Links
	® 1999, 2000 Cheiron Hellenic Pagan site
Page last updated 23 Feb 2000