Gods and Goddesses of the Greeks – The Hellenic Deities

An Overview of the Greek Gods

I follow a Hellenic path. I am not a reconstructionist, but like many people, I have been enthralled by the Greek Gods since I learned about them in school. The Greek Gods seem relatable, I think, because they have exaggerated personalities, but they are plagued with personal flaws and negative emotions despite their immortality and superhero-like powers. They seem very human to us, but also removed because of their deity.

The Olympians

The twelve gods of Olympus are the most famous ones and were indeed at the center of the ancient Greek religion.

Zeus: Zeus was recognized as the father of gods and humans. He regulated the celestial phenomena and defined the laws that govern people, so he held the lightning bolt with one hand and the scepter with the other, which had an eagle at the top. He was known as the ‘Lord of Justice’. People respected and feared him at the same time. He was taking care of the families, keeping vigil in the home of every mortal and protecting strangers and passers-by from evil. Zeus’ wife was the goddess Hera, to whom he was not always faithful. Greek mythology is full of love stories about Zeus, who liked to transform himself into anything he could think of and mingle with other goddesses or mortals.

Hera: Goddess Hera was the sister of Zeus, daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and at the same time Zeus’ wife. Hera symbolized and protected the sacred institution of marriage. She blessed and helped the women in labor. Greek mythology presents Hera as a modest, measured and faithful woman, but at the same time very jealous. There are almost no myths that refer exclusively to Hera. Her name is almost always associated with the myths about Zeus. However, Hera does not present herself as a goddess submissive to her sovereign husband. She had a strong female personality and she was the only one that dared to object to him.

Aphrodite: The most beautiful among mortals and immortals, was born from the foam of the sea when Uranus’ blood fell on it after his defeat by Cronus. This fact makes her the eldest among the Olympian Gods. Her name literally means “risen from the foam”. Aphrodite was worshipped as the goddess of beauty and passion. She could inspire love in the hearts of men and women. Most myths generally present Aphrodite as a vengeful woman. Aphrodite was worshiped in all parts of Greece and many priestesses were serving her. According to Greek mythology, she married the god of fire and blacksmiths, Hephaestus, but she was in love with the god of war, Ares, with whom she bared many children among which the winged god of love, Eros.

Apollo: Apollo and Artemis were siblings, twins actually, children of Zeus and Leto, a Titan goddess. According to tradition, the two children were born on the island of Delos. Apollo is one of the most important and complex Greek gods. Apollo is the god of light, music and poetry, healing and prophecy. He was the one that established the great Oracle of Delphi, which was considered the center of the ancient world. He was the teacher of the nine Muses and when they sang he accompanied them with his famous lyre.

Ares: The god of war was the son of the Greek gods Zeus and Hera. He was always followed by two of his faithful sons and followers, the gods Deimos and Phobos. Ares was handsome and strong, young and well-armed. He loved war and battles, so he was hated by people and his worship was limited. Only in Sparta he was particularly worshipped and had a statue dedicated to him. Ares was tried, according to tradition, for his many war crimes, in one of Athens’ hills, the Areopagus Hill, which later became the seat of the criminal court of ancient Athens.

Artemis: Apollo’s twin sister was the goddess of hunting, wild animals and the wilderness. Artemis spent her time in the woods, accompanied by the Nymphs, hunting, with her bow and arrows. She was a virgin goddess and protector of young girls, and she was also worshipped as one of the primary goddesses of childbirth and midwifery, relieving the women in labor from diseases. She was sometimes associated with the goddess of the moon.

Athena: The goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare. Athena was the beloved daughter of Zeus. Her mother was the Titaness Metis, the first wife of Zeus. Zeus received a prophecy informing him that Metis would give birth to the child who would overthrow his father. To escape the prophecy, Zeus swallowed Metis while she was pregnant in Athena. Later, Zeus began to suffer from headaches and called on Hephaestus to help him. Hephaestus hit the head of Zeus with his hammer and Athena sprang out in full armor. She is always pictured to be armed, never as a child, always a virgin. She won the battle for the patronage of Athens over Poseidon. The Parthenon in Athens is the most famous temple dedicated to her. Protector of heroes and wisest among the Gods, Athena was considered one of the most powerful and important Olympian Gods.

Demeter: The Greek goddess of agriculture and protected the trees, plants and grains. She was the first to make the earth fruitful and taught people how to grow wheat, barley and other plants. Demeter is somewhat isolated from the twelve gods in ancient myths and this is because she is an even more ancient goddess herself. The Greeks received her cult from the Pelasgians, who originally lived in Greece. According to Greek mythology, Demeter’s daughter is mentioned as Persephone, who was once abducted by God Hades and became his wife. The most sacred and secret religious rites of ancient Greece, the Eleusinian Mysteries, were held in honor of Demeter.

Hades: The brother of Zeus and Poseidon and the god of the Underworld. He was allotted this kingdom when the three brothers took a draw to decide who will take each of three (heavens, sea and the Underworld). He liked to live in the dark and shadowed world of the dead and was rarely seen on Olympus. This is why, although he is one of the most important gods, some lists do not include him in the 12 Olympians.

He was also known as Pluto. “Plutos” in Greek means wealth. The Earth is giving us a lot of treasures and since Hades’ kingdom is underneath it, the ancient Greeks believed that he was the one delivering the wealth to them. They actually preferred to call him Pluto because the name Hades was another name for the Underworld, and they did not like the idea of death. The entrance to the Underworld is guarded by a monstrous dog, Hades’ favorite pet, the three-headed Cerberus. In order for your soul to cross the silent river, you need to pay the ferryman, Charon, to carry you to the other side on his boat.

Hephaestus: The god of fire and blacksmiths. He was born ugly and that is why his mother, the goddess Hera, unable to nourish him, threw him out of Olympus. Since then he has been limping. Hephaestus fell into the sea, where he was picked up by the Nereids and raised by them.

Growing up, he became a famous craftsman and set up his workshop on Mount Etna in Sicily. With his various metals, he made works of art of incomparable beauty. He once made a golden throne and sent it to his mother Hera. As soon as Hera sat down, invisible chains bound her without anyone being able to untie them. They tried to persuade Hephaestus, but they only succeeded after they got him drunk first. Hephaestus, the god of fire, gave his name to the volcanoes in the Greek language. It was from him, that the Titan Prometheus took the fire and gave it to the people. Hephaestus was also the one who built the brass and gold palaces of Olympus.

Hermes: The god of wealth, trade, thieves and travelers, and he was also known as the Messenger God, being the herald of the Olympians and carrying messages between them. He was the son of Zeus and Maia, daughter of Titan Atlas. He was a clever, inventive and arrogant god. As soon as he was born, Hermes saw a turtle. Hermes took her shell, placed seven strings in it and invented the lyre. He once stole the oxen guarded by god Apollo and locked them in a cave. He wouldn’t admit the theft, but in the end, he confessed. To avoid punishment, he gifted the lyre to Apollo. Hermes wore winged sandals and held the caduceus, his wand which had two serpents twined around it. He was the one who accompanied the souls of the dead to Hades and for that, he was known as the “soul-bearer”.

Poseidon: One of the six children of Cronus and Rhea and brother of Zeus. He was allotted the kingdom of the sea but he was also considered the god of horses and earthquakes. This is why he was called “the earth-shaker”. He rarely lived on Olympus, preferring the depths of the ocean. He was sitting on a famous chariot drawn by immortal horses and holding in his hand the famous trident, forged by the Cyclops. When Poseidon was angry, he plunged the trident into the sea and shook it whole from end to end. The sailors prayed to Poseidon so that he spares them from his wrath.

Other Important Gods

Cronos: The god of time. Not to be confused with Cronus, the Titan father of Zeus.

Dionysus: An Olympian god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, religious ecstasy and theatre.

Eros: The winged god of desire. See also, Eros (Primordial God).

Hecate:

Helios: God of the Sun and also known as Sol.

Hestia:

Nemesis:

Pan: God of nature, the wild, shepherds, flocks, goats, mountain wilds, and is often associated with sexuality. Also a satyr (half man, half-goat).

Persephone:

The Four Winds / Directions

Boreas: A wind god (Anemoi) and Greek god of the cold north wind and the bringer of winter. . Known as “The North Wind”

Eurus: A wind god (Anemoi) and Greek god of the unlucky east wind. Known as “The East Wind”.

Notus: A wind god (Anemoi) and Greek god of the south wind. Known as “The South Wind”.

Zephrus: A wind god (Anemoi)and Greek god of the west wind and known as “The West Wind”.

The Primordial Gods

The Mother and Father of the Titans

Gaia: The goddess of the earth (Mother Earth). She is the mother of all – the primeval mother. At a cosmogenic level, she symbolizes the material side of the Universe whereas Chaos symbolizes the space of the Universe. Eros symbolizes the driving force that unites everything, giving birth to the rest.

Uranus: The god of the heavens. He soon became ruler of the world and father of the Titans.

Other Important Primordial Gods

Achlys: The goddess of the eternal night. The first creature that some say existed even before Chaos himself. According to Hesiod, she is the demon of death.

Αether: The god of light. The spark of life for every creature. Etymologically, Aether means the highest and purest layer of air.

Αion: The god of eternity. He was a ghostly primordial deity who personified the meaning of time (sometimes he is confused with god Chronos). In Greek, Aion means “century”. Although incorporeal, he was also portrayed as a monster with a snake body and three heads: one human (male), one bull and one lion. According to a myth, Aion and his companion, Ananke (also with a snake body), wrapped themselves around the cosmic egg and broke it to form the “sorted” Universe (earth – sky – sea).

Ananke: The goddess of inevitability, compulsion, and necessity. She was an inevitable divine force.

Chaos: The god of the void. He was the beginning of all life. According to most versions of Greek myths, Chaos pre-existed all.

Chronos: The god of time. Not to be confused with Aion (god of eternity) or Cronus (the Titan that we will meet later).

Erebus: The god of darkness and shadow. He symbolizes the silence and the depth of the night together with his sister, the goddess Nyx. He is usually represented as a winged, dark and huge being, a duo with Nyx.

Eros: The god of love and procreation. Not to be confused with Eros, the winged god of desire that we will meet later.

Hemera: The goddess of day.

Hypnos: The god of sleep and father of Morpheus.

Nemesis: The goddess of retribution.

Nesoi: The goddesses of islands.

Nyx: The goddess of night. She was a sovereign, primordial and cosmogenic entity, respected and feared by most gods. She is the sister of Erebus, the god of darkness and shadow.

Ourea: The gods of mountains.

Pontus: The god of the sea and father of the sea creatures.

Tartarus: The god of the darkest and deepest part of the Underworld – the original god of the Underworld. The Underworld was the place where the wicked are imprisoned and tortured eternally after their death.

Thalassa: The goddess of the sea and consort of god Pontus.

Thanatos: The god of death. He is the twin brother of Hypnos (god of sleep) and lives in the dark Tartarus.

The Titans

The first Titans, children of Uranus and Gaia, were twelve; six males and six females.

The Mother and Father of the Olympians

Cronus: The Titan god of the harvest. Cronus, although the youngest of the first twelve Titans, became the ruler of the world after overthrowing his father, Uranus. He then married his older sister, Rhea.

Rhea: The Titan goddess of fertility and generation. She determines the flow of things and her name literally means “the one that flows” in Greek.

Other Important Titan Gods

Oceanus: The Titan god of the oceans. He was the eldest son of Uranus and Gaia. His dominion extended in every corner of the Earth and all parts of the horizon. Oceanus was the personification of water and he paired with his sister, the Titaness Tethys.

Tethys: The Titan goddess of the rivers and fresh water. She was the wife of Oceanus and the mother of more than 3000 River gods (rivers personified by the Ancient Greeks), the Oceanids (nymphs of springs, streams and fountains) and the Nephelai (nymphs of clouds).

Hyperion: The Titan god of light. His dazzling light shone in all directions. His name means “the one who goes above the earth” in Greek. He symbolized eternal splendor. He fell in love with his sister, the Titan goddess Theia.

Theia: The Titan goddess of the aether. Theia bore the Titan Hyperion three shining children: Helios (the Sun), Eos (the Dawn), and Selene (the Moon).

Iapetus: The Titan god of mortal life. He was symbolizing mortality and the mortal life-span. He fathered the Titans Atlas (who was responsible for bearing the weight of the heavens on his shoulders), Prometheus (who gifted fire to men) and Epimetheus (who married Pandora, the first mortal woman). Iapetus was also considered the personification of one of the four pillars that hold the heavens and the earth apart. He represented the pillar of the west, the other three being represented by his brothers Crius, Coeus and Hyperion. The four brothers actively played a role in the dethroning of their father Uranus; as they were all in the four corners of the earth, they held Uranus firmly in place while their brother Cronus castrated him with a sickle.

Crius: The Titan god of constellations. His name in Greek means “ram” and it shows his connection with the constellation Aries.

Coeus: The Titan god of intellect. He was also considered the embodiment of the celestial axis around which the heavens revolve. He married his sister, Phoebe.

Phoebe: The Titan goddess of prophecy and oracular intellect. Phoebe bore the Titan Coeus two children, Leto and Asteria. The Titaness Leto later copulated with the Olympian god Zeus and bore the Olympians Artemis and Apollo. Given that Phoebe symbolized prophetic wisdom just as Coeus represented rational intelligence, the couple may have possibly functioned together as the primal font of all knowledge in the cosmos.

Themis: The Titan goddess of divine law and order. She also had the ability to predict the future and thus, she later became one of the Oracles in Delphi.

Mnemosyne: The Titan goddess of memory. Mnemosyne was generally regarded as the personification of memory and remembrance. Later, Zeus slept with Mnemosyne for nine consecutive days, eventually leading to the birth of the nine Muses. In Hesiod’s Theogony, the kings and poets were inspired by Mnemosyne and the Muses, thus getting their extraordinary abilities in speech and using powerful words. All the ancient writers appeal to the Muses at the beginning of their work. Homer asks the Muses both in the Iliad and Odyssey to help him tell the story in the most proper way, and even until today the Muses are symbols of inspiration and artistic creation.