This page does not intend to encompass the entire spectrum of Greek deities, just those that have either had appearances or have been mentioned on the show.
Before the reign of the Gods of Olympus there were the Titans. For a vast span of time, Titans were said to be the supreme rulers of the universe. They were described in early Greek mythology as incredibly strong and colossal in size. Cronus, the most important of the Titans, ruled the universe until he was dethroned by his son Zeus.
Of all the Titans, only Prometheus (the friend and protector of humanity and the creator of mortals) and Oceanus (the river that flowed around the world) sided
with Zeus against Cronus. As a result, they were honored and the others were bound in Tartarus. Eventually, however, Zeus was reconciled with the Titans, and Cronus was made ruler of the Golden Age.
PROMETHEUS
He was one of the Titans and known as the friend and protector of humanity. Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were given the task of creating humanity and providing humans and all the animals on earth with the abilities they would need to survive.
Epimetheus (whose name means afterthought) accordingly proceeded to bestow on the various animals gifts of courage, strength, swiftness, and feathers, fur, and other protective coverings. When it came time to create a being who was to be superior to all
other living creatures, Epimetheus found he had been so reckless with his resources that he had nothing left to bestow. He was forced to ask his brother's help, and Prometheus (whose name means forethought) took over the task of creation. To make humans
superior to the animals, he fashioned them in nobler form and enabled them to walk upright. He then went up to heaven and lit a torch with fire from the sun. The gift of fire that Prometheus bestowed upon humanity was more valuable than any of the gifts the animals had received.
ZEUS
He was considered the father of the gods and of mortals. He did not create either gods or mortals but was considered their father in the sense of being the protector and ruler both of the Olympian family and of the human race. He was lord of the sky, the rain god, and the cloud gatherer, who wielded the terrible thunderbolt which he hurled at those who displeased him. Zeus is described as falling in love with one woman after another and
resorting to all kinds of tricks to hide his infidelity from his wife Hera. Stories of his escapades were numerous in ancient mythology, and many of his offspring, such as Hercules, were a result of his love affairs with both goddesses and mortal women. His many affairs with mortals are sometimes explained as the wish of the early Greeks to trace their lineage to him.
HERA
She was the sister and wife of Zeus and the queen of the gods. She was the goddess of marriage and protector of married women. Hera's marriage with Zeus was one of strife. She often schemed against Zeus's plans and she was often able to outwit him. Most
stories concerning Hera have to do with her revenge for Zeus's infidelities. A jealous and vindictive wife, she often persecuted Zeus's mistresses and children, especially the half-god Hercules.
HADES
He was the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. After the overthrow of their father Cronus, Hades drew lots with his two brothers for shares of the world. Hades was awarded the underworld and ruled over the dead (although death itself is another god, Thanatos). The underworld itself was often called Hades. It was divided into two regions: Erebus, where the dead pass as soon as they die, and Tartarus, the deeper region where the Titans had been imprisoned. It was a dim and unhappy place. Sinister rivers separated the underworld from the world above, and the aged boatman Charon ferried the souls of the dead across these waters.
Hades was considered a greedy god who was greatly concerned with increasing his number of subjects and as being disinclined to allowing any of his subjects to leave. He was also the god of riches since it was believed that the precious metals mined from the earth came from his kingdom below ground. Although Hades was said to have a helmet that made him invisible, he rarely left the underworld.
POSEIDON
After the overthrow of Cronus, Poseidon drew lots with his two brothers, Zeus and Hades, for shares of the world. His prize was to become ruler of the sea and was widely worshiped by seamen. His weapon was a trident, which was said to shake the earth and
shatter any object. Amongst the gods, he was second only to Zeus in power. Poseidon had a difficult quarrelsome personality and was described as being greedy. However, Poseidon played a prominent part in numerous ancient myths and legends. In art, he is represented as a bearded and majestic figure, holding a trident and often accompanied by a dolphin.
HESTIA
Hestia, the virgin goddess, was Zeus's sister. She plays no part in myths. She is the Goddess of the Hearth, the symbol of the house around which a new born child is carried before it is received into the family. Each city had a public hearth sacred to Hestia, where the fire was never allowed to go out. Of all the Olympians, she was the mildest, most upright and most charitable.
ARES
Ares was the god of war and the son of Zeus and Hera. He was disliked by both parents. He was considered murderous, bloodstained and overly fond of looting and slaughter, and
cowardly besides. Aggressive and sanguinary, Ares personified the brutal nature of war. He was unpopular with both gods and humans. Although fierce and warlike, Ares was not invincible, even against mortals. The worship of Ares, believed to have originated in Thrace, was not extensive in ancient Greece, and where it existed, it lacked social or moral significance. Ares was an ancestral deity of Thebes and had a temple at Athens, at the foot
of the Areopagus, or Hill of Ares.
APHRODITE
She was the goddess of love, desire and beauty in Greek mythology. She is said to be the daughter of Zeus and Dione, one of his consorts, but in later legends she is described as
having sprung from the foam of the sea and her name may be translated "foam-risen." She was married to Hephaestus, the god of fire and smithy to the gods.
Aphrodite was the rival of Persephone, queen of the underworld, for the love of the beautiful Greek youth Adonis. She represented sex, affection, and the attraction that binds people together. In addition to her natural gifts she had a magical girdle that compeled anyone she wished to desire her. Aphrodite was identified in early Greek religious beliefs with the Phoenician Astarte and was known as Aphrodite Urania, queen of the heavens,
and as Aphrodite Pandemos, goddess of the people.
CUPID
He was originally the Greek God of love and the son of Chaos, the primeval emptiness of the universe. To the earliest Greeks, Cupid symbolized love in its purest form. Later tradition made him the son of Aphrodite and he was chiefly identified with her, but also
with any other figure related to a story of love and seduction.. In early Greek art he is shown as a handsome youth with bow and quiver, but by Hellenic Period, about 300 B.C to 300 A. D., when Greek and Roman cultures merged and Christianity was established,
he had already evolved into the baby-like figure so well loved by the Victorians.
ARTEMIS
Artemis was one of the principal goddesses of Greek mythology. She was the daughter of the gods Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of the god Apollo. She was goddess of chastity, virginity, the hunt, the moon, and the natural environment. Even though she was a virgin goddess, she also presides over childbirth, which goes back to causing Leto no pain when she was born.
Artemis was the lady of the wild things and all wild animals were sacred to her, especially the deer. She was the goddess of the hunt and, like Apollo, she hunted with silver arrows. Also like Apollo, Artemis was armed with a bow and arrows, which she often used to punish mortals who angered her. In other legends, she is praised for giving young women who died in childbirth a swift and painless death. Artemis was traditionally the friend and protector of youth, especially young women. She was worshiped by the Amazons.
ATHENA
Athena was the daughter of Zeus and said to be his favorite. She sprang full grown in armor from his forehead, thus has no mother. Zeus entrusted her with his shield, which was adorned with the hideous head of Medusa, his buckler, and his principal weapon, the thunderbolt. A virgin goddess, she was called Parthenos ("the maiden"). Her major temple, the Parthenon, was in Athens, which, according to legend, became hers as a result of her gift of the olive tree to the Athenian people.
Athena was primarily the goddess of the Greek cities, of industry and the arts, and, in later mythology, of wisdom; she was also goddess of war. She was fierce and brave in battle but, only fought to protect the state and home from outside enemies. Athena was also a patron of the agricultural arts and of the crafts of women, especially spinning and weaving. Among her gifts to man were the inventions of the plow and the flute and the arts of
taming animals, building ships, and making shoes. She was often associated with birds, especially the owl.
BACCHUS
In Greek and Roman mythology, Bacchus was identified with Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, and Liber, the Roman god of wine. The son of Zeus, Bacchus is usually characterized in two ways. One characterization is that he was the god of vegetation,
specifically of the fruit of the trees, who is often represented on Attic vases with a drinking horn and vine branches. As he came to be the popular national Greek god of wine and cheer, wine miracles were reputedly performed at certain of his festivals. The second characterization of the god, that of a deity whose mysteries inspired ecstatic, orgiastic worship, is exemplified by the Maenads, or Bacchantes. This group of female devotees left
their homes to roam the wilderness in ecstatic devotion to the god. They wore fawn skins and were believed to possess occult powers.
The name Bacchus came into use in ancient Greece during the 5th century BC. It refers to the loud cries with which he was worshiped at the Bacchanalia, frenetic celebrations in his
honor. These events, which supposedly originated in spring nature festivals, became occasions for licentiousness and intoxication, at which the celebrants danced, drank, and generally debauched themselves. The Bacchanalia became more and more extreme and
were prohibited by the Roman Senate in 186 BC. In the first century AD, however, the Dionysiac mysteries were still popular, as evidenced by representations of them found on Greek sarcophagi.
The Fates (The Moirae)
The three powerful goddesses who determined the lives of men. Clotho wove the thread of life, Lachesis measured it out, and Atropos cut it off with her scissors of death.
The Furies (The Erinyes)
In Greek mythology they were known as the Erinyes. They are the three goddesses of revenge, sometimes called the daughters of Night. They were brought about by murder, perjury, ingratitude, disrespect, harshness, violation of filial piety and the laws of
hospitality. They are impartial and impersonal and pursue these wrongdoers until they are driven mad and die. But even in death, the criminal does not find rest until he shows remorse. Then the Erinyes become the Eumenides ("protectors of the suppliant", "the
well-disposed ones") or the Semnai ("the venerable ones").
They are usually represented as three sisters: Alecto ("the Unceasing"), Megaera ("the Grudging") and Tisiphone ("the Avenging"). They were created from drops of blood, coming from the wounds of Uranus when he was castrated by his son Cronus and which fell upon the Earth.
Artists in those times depicted them as women with fiery eyes and snake hair and with attributes such as torches and whips. Sometimes they were dressed as hunters. Amongst the Romans they were known as Furies ("the furious") or Dirae ("the terrible").
Greek mythology is also not without its share of monsters and mythical creatures. Some of the more common ones include the Centaurs, the Cyclopses, the Minotaur, the Gorgon, and the Sirens.
The Sirens
They were the sisters who sat on rocks by the sea and lured sailors to their doom by singing to them.
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