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Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology.
- Greek Mythological Creatures
A host of legendary creatures, animals, and mythic humanoids...
- Titans
In Greek mythology, the Titans (Ancient Greek: οἱ Τῑτᾶνες,...
- Classical Mythology
Le Rapt d'Europe ("The Abduction of Europa," 1750) by...
- Talk
Greek mythology is a former featured article. Please see the...
- Ancient Greek Folklore
Greek and Roman Folklore: A Handbook. Greenwood Publishing...
- Leda
Leda and the Swan, ancient fresco from Pompeii. In Greek...
- Greek Mythological Creatures
The following is a family tree of gods, goddesses, and other divine and semi-divine figures from Ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion.
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Greek Gods and Goddesses: An Introduction. As in many ancient religions, there were hundreds of beings recognized as deities by the Greeks. These deities were mostly associated with abstract concepts like memory and justice and natural forces and features like rivers, seasons, death, and rebirth.
- Overview
- Aphrodite
- Athena
- Artemis
- Ares
- Apollo
- Demeter
- Dionysus
- Hades
- Hera
Cruel and fickle, passionate and vindictive, jealous and insecure, petty and insane: the inhabitants of Mount Olympus represent an attempt by the ancient Greeks to explain the chaos of the universe through human nature. Thus, like every deity invented before and since, these gods and goddesses are embodiments of human solipsism. (Of course lightnin...
Aphrodite was the goddess of love, sex, and beauty. Unsurprisingly for a love goddess, she was said to have emerged from the foam generated when the severed testicles of her father, Uranus, were thrown into the sea by his son, the Titan Cronus. (Or is that surprising?) Kind of makes Botticelli’s surreally lovely Birth of Venus—which depicts Aphrodi...
Athena was the goddess of reason, wisdom, and war. She famously sprung fully formed from the forehead of Zeus. A major figure in the Odyssey, in which she instructed Odysseus, she also guided Perseus and Heracles through their trials. The Parthenon was her chief temple in Athens, which is named in her honor. Her Roman equivalent was Minerva.
Artemis was the fleet-footed goddess of the hunt. Often depicted in painting and sculpture with a deer or a hunting dog, she was both huntress and protectress of the living world. Her Roman equivalent was Diana.
Ares was the god of bloodlust. (His half-sister Athena represented the more "noble" aspects of combat and civil conduct during war.) Though his fellow deities weren’t particularly fond of him, the Spartans had no problems, er, donating some prisoners of war to his worship. And sacrificing dogs…yeah, that’s right, Ares liked dead puppies. Jerk. His ...
The twin brother of Artemis, Apollo was among the most important (read: feared) of the gods. Son of Zeus, he disseminated the will of his divine compatriots through various means, notably oracles. The Oracle at Delphi was his mouthpiece; a 2001 study determined that the oracle was likely hallucinating due to ethylene gas rising from the rocks benea...
Demeter, an agricultural goddess, was mother to Persephone, who was abducted by the underworld god Hades to be his bride. While searching for her stolen daughter, she accepted the hospitality of the royal family of Eleusis. The Eleusinian Mysteries, perhaps the most important religious rites in ancient Greece, are attributed to her teachings. Her R...
Dionysus was a son of Zeus born to a mortal mother. When Zeus accidentally killed her, he sewed the young Dionysus into his thigh and, when the young god emerged, passed him to the care of the maenads. The cult of Dionysus revolved around intoxication, sex, and savage ritual sacrifice. He was often symbolized by a bull due to his association with t...
Hades ruled the world of the dead, with which he was sometimes synonymous. The chilly lord of the underworld was among the few Greek gods to come across as dispassionate. He was not the ultimate judge of the souls that wandered his domain nor did he mete out their punishments for sins committed during their mortal lives. He was, however, cunning; h...
The queen goddess of Olympus, Hera was both sister and wife to Zeus. Though she is often depicted as reserved and austere, she was mercilessly vindictive when it came to her husband’s [many] extramarital adventures. Unfortunately for the objects of Zeus’s godly affections, Hera tended to torment the "other women" (and their offspring, including Her...
- Richard Pallardy
The Greek gods ruled over every aspect of Hellenic existence—from war to love, from childbirth to the afterlife. Commonly depicted in human form, they were capricious deities who demanded worship and sacrifice to stave off misfortune and ruin. Collection.
Kisosen, the Abenaki solar deity, an eagle whose wings opened to create the day and closed to cause the nighttime. Napioa, the Blackfoot deity of the Sun. Tawa, the Hopi creator and god of the Sun. Wi, Lakota god of the Sun. Aba' Bínni'li', the Chickasaw creator deity, strongly associated with the sun.
The following is a family tree of gods, goddesses, and other divine and semi-divine figures from Ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion.
