Zeus
was the king of the gods. He
could control the weather. The ancient Greek
poet, Hesiod, called him the 'cloud-gatherer'
and the 'thunderer'. His most powerful
weapon was the thunderbolt. The ancient
Greeks believed that when lightning struck
earth, it was a sign of Zeus being present.
Zeus was also concerned with hospitality. If you treated a guest or
stranger badly you could outrage Zeus.
Symbols
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The thunderbolt
Sometimes seated on a throne
Zeus and Kronos
Kronos was the king of the Titans. He was very
afraid that one of his children would kill him just
as he had murdered his own father. He was so worried he started to eat
his own children after they were born, much to his wife Rhea's horror!
After the birth of their sixth child, Zeus, Rhea played a trick on Kronos.
She gave him a stone to swallow instead of the baby. She hid Zeus in a
cave and the young god was brought up by a goat.
When Zeus was older he asked to become
Kronos' cup-bearer. He put a special potion in
his father's wine that caused Kronos to vomit
up his children. He also vomited up the stone
which he was tricked into swallowing. Then
Zeus led his brothers and sisters into battle
against Kronos and the Titans. Zeus and his
brothers and sisters won the battle and Zeus
became the king of the gods.
The Olympic Games
The Olympic Games was a festival dedicated
to Zeus. It was held every four years in
Olympia. The most important part of the festival were the athletic
competitions. Men from all over the Greek world competed in many
different types of sports. Winners of the games were treated like heroes.
Hera
was the wife of Zeus and the
queen of the gods. She is the goddess of
weddings and marriage. She was extremely
jealous of the many affairs of her husband
Zeus. She took terrible revenge on the
girlfriends and illegitimate children of her
husband.
Symbols
 Polos - a high crown.
 Sceptre. - a royal symbol of office
Hera and Herakles
Zeus fell in love with the mortal woman Alkmene. She had Zeus' child
and he was called Herakles. Hera was so jealous of the child, she
stopped him becoming a king by delaying the day of his birth so that a
different woman's child became king. She also placed two snakes in the
baby Herakles' cot. Herakles survived by strangling the two serpents.
Even at such a young age Herakles had superhuman strength.
Heraia
The Heraia were a festival dedicated to Hera. Like the Olympic Games
this festival contained athletic competitions and was held at Olympia.
However, only women were allowed to compete at the Heraia.
Athena
is the goddess of war and cunning
wisdom. She is also the goddess of pot-making and
wool-working. She is associated with the city, and
almost every town in Greece had a sanctuary
dedicated to Athena.
She invented the chariot, the bridle and built the first
ship. The olive tree is sacred to her.
Symbols
 Shown in full armour and helmet.
 Aegis - a goat skin cloak fringed with snakes.
 Associated with the owl.
Birth of Athena
Zeus was the father of Athena and her mother was
Metis, which means wisdom. Zeus was told before
Athena was born, that any child born to Metis would be
more powerful than its father. Zeus was very worried
by this and decided to swallow Metis before she could give birth to the
child. Sometime later Zeus began to have terrible headaches. The pain
grew so unbearable that Zeus asked Hephaistos to cut his head open to
see what was wrong. When Hephaistos opened his head, Athena
emerged from Zeus' skull, fully grown and dressed for battle.
Athens
Most Greek cities had a sanctuary or temple dedicated to Athena
because she was the 'protectress of the city'. She is particularly
associated with the city of Athens. There is a myth that Athena's gift to
the city was the olive tree. It grew on the Acropolis. Other sacred olive
trees grew near Plato's Academy - they provided the oil for the prizes at
the Panathenaic Games. In the 5th century BC a great temple to Athena
was built on the Athenian Acropolis. The temple was called the
Parthenon.
The Panathenaia was a huge festival held at Athens in Athena's
honour. All sections of Athenian society were involved: men, women,
citizens, slaves and foreigners living in Athens. The festival consisted of
sacrifices, competitions and a huge procession to present a new robe to
the ancient statue of Athena on the Acropolis.
Apollo
was the god of the sun, truth,
music, poetry, dance and healing. Poets and
bards put themselves under his protection.
Symbols
In times of war the bow was his symbol
 In times of peace his symbol was the lyre
or kithara (types of musical instrument).
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Apollo and Daphne
Apollo had made one too many jokes at Eros'
expense. To punish him, Eros shot Apollo with
one of his golden arrows, which made Apollo fall madly in love with
the nymph Daphne. Unfortunately for Apollo, Eros had shot
Daphne with a lead arrow, which made her reject the god.
Apollo pursued Daphne and she tried to run away to escape him.
Daphne called out to her father, the river god, for help. He
changed her into a laurel tree just as Apollo was about to catch
her.
Apollo was heartbroken. Even as a tree Daphne shuddered at
Apollo's touch.
The Pythian games were held at Delphi. Unlike other sporting
festivals, the Olympics and the Heraia games, the Pythian games
also had music and poetry competitions. Winners in the games
were presented with a wreath made from laurel leaves - a tree that
was sacred to Apollo.
Demeter
was the goddess
of fertility and agriculture. She was an
important goddess for farmers and
women. Demeter was also associated
with the underworld.
Symbols
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A mature woman.
Sheaves of grain.
Demeter and Persephone
Persephone was Demeter's daughter. One day while Persephone was
gathering flowers, Hades, god of the underworld, captured her. No one
had any idea where she had gone to or what had happened to her.
Demeter was sick with worry and grief. She asked Helios the sun god
what had happened. When she learned that Hades had captured her
daughter she became very angry. For a year she caused crops and
plants to wither and die. A terrible famine gripped the earth.
Zeus commanded that Hades release Persephone. Persephone was
overjoyed. However he tricked her into eating some pomegranate seeds
before she left the underworld. He knew that if she ate anything from the
land of the dead, she would have to return to him for a part of each year.
Demeter was delighted that her daughter had returned to her. However
every time Persephone had to return to Hades, Demeter mourned
terribly again. This is why for a part of each year the plants and crops
stop growing. When Persephone returns to earth, the land once again
bursts with life.
The Thesmophoria was a festival for women only that
was dedicated to Demeter. The festival was celebrated
all over Greece. Women would sacrifice piglets to the
goddess. On the second day of the festival they would
fast, and on the last day they would have a large feast.
Poseidon
was the god of the sea
and horses. He was the brother of Zeus. He was
known for his bad temper and was greatly feared
because of his ability to cause earthquakes. He was
believed to be able to make fresh water gush forth
from the earth.
Symbols
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The trident, a three-pronged spear.
White horses and a golden chariot.
Sometimes shown with a fish or a dolphin in his hand.
Poseidon and Odysseus
Poseidon never forgave the Greek hero, Odysseus, for blinding his son
Polyphemos, the Cyclops. When Odysseus was nearly home after many
years of being lost at sea, Poseidon created a massive storm The huge
waves wrecked the ship Odysseus was sailing on. Odysseus would
certainly have died if Athena hadn't helped him.
The Isthmian Games were dedicated to Poseidon and held every two
years at the god's sanctuary at Isthmia. They were the second most
important games in Greece after the Olympics.
Aphrodite
is the goddess of
love and beauty. She was the wife of
Hephaistos but was in love with the war
god Ares.
Symbols
Often accompanied by birds,
especially doves, geese and sparrows.
 She is usually portrayed with another
god, Eros, the god of love. Eros is shown
as a young winged boy.
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Judgement of Paris
Eris the goddess of strife was offended that she
had not been invited to the wedding of Peleus and
Thetis. In revenge, she threw down a golden apple
inscribed with the words 'to the fairest', knowing
that this would cause an argument amongst the
other goddesses. Aphrodite, Hera and Athena all
asked Zeus to decide to whom the apple belonged.
Zeus did not want to cause any more trouble. He
knew that by choosing one of the goddesses he
would incur the resentment of the other two.
Instead he decided that the mortal Paris should decide.
All three goddesses appeared before Paris. All three goddesses
promised Paris different prizes if he picked them. Aphrodite promised
him the most beautiful woman in the world. This woman was Helen, the
wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Aphrodite made Helen fall in love with
Paris. The couple ran off together. Menelaus called together his allies in
Greece. They set off to recapture Helen. The resulting war lasted for ten
years.
Adonis
This was a festival for women only. It marked the death of Adonis, the
lover of Aphrodite. During the festival, women sang mourning songs and
re-enacted Adonis' funeral. They would also create gardens on the roofs
of houses.
Hermes
was the god of travel,
business, weights and measures and sports.
He was the messenger of the gods and
guided the souls of the dead to the
underworld. He was also the patron of
herdsmen, thieves, graves and messengers.
His staff caused men to fall asleep instantly.
Symbols
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Traveller's hat.
Herald's staff.
Winged sandals
Herme’s and Apollo’s Cattle
On the day he was born, Hermes stole and hid Apollo's cattle. When
Apollo came to retrieve the cattle, the baby Hermes jumped back into
bed and pretended to be an innocent child.
Apollo was very angry. He complained to Zeus about how he had been
treated. However Zeus found the incident very funny.
The 'Day of the Pots'
On the third day of the Anthesteria, the 'day
of the pots', a meal was made and offered
to Hermes of the Underworld, on behalf of
the dead. This was a day when the spirits of
the dead roamed around the earth. People
smeared their doorways with pitch, a black,
tar-like substance, to stop the ghosts from
entering their house. When the day was
over, the householder would go around his
house saying 'Get out goblins, the
Anthesteria is over!'.
Artemis
was the goddess of
hunting, archery and childbirth. She was
also the goddess of wild animals and was
normally portrayed as living in the
countryside. She had the ability to send
plagues or sudden death to mortals, but
she could also heal them. She was the twin
sister of the god Apollo.
Symbols
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Bow and arrow.
Wild animals.
Artemis and Actaeon
Actaeon was a hunter. In the woods one day
he accidentally came upon Artemis and her
nymphs bathing. The goddess became angry
that a mortal had seen her naked. In revenge
she turned Actaeon into a stag. His hunting
dogs did not recognise him in his new form, so
he was hunted and eventually killed by his own
dogs.
Brauronia
This was a festival celebrated each year at
Brauron near Athens. An unusual feature of
the festival involved young girls aged between
5 and 10. The girls dressed up and acted as
bears to appease the goddess.
Ares
was the god of war. However, unlike
Athena, he was not very cunning in battle. He was not
a popular god. In 'The Iliad' Zeus complained that
Ares was the most hated of all his children.
Symbols

Armour and helmet.
Ares and Aphrodite
Ares and Aphrodite were lovers even though Aphrodite was married to
Hephaistos. Hephaistos found out about their affair and planned his
revenge.
He began to make a metal net that was so fine it was almost invisible.
He hung it over Aphrodite's bed. The next time Ares visited Aphrodite's
room, Hephaistos released the net. Ares and Aphrodite were trapped in
the bed. All the other gods came to laugh at the lovers.
Sacrifices before Battle
There were very few festivals dedicated to Ares. However, it was
traditional for soldiers to offer a sacrifice to him before a battle.
Hephaestos
was the god
of fire, volcanoes, blacksmiths and
craftworkers. He was lame and this led to him
being thrown out of Mount Olympus. He was
married to the goddess Aphrodite. He was the
father of Erechtheus the legendary king of
Athens.
Symbols
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Twisted Foot.
Tools.
Hephaestos and Hera
Hera, Hephaistos' mother, was horrified by his imperfections and threw
him out of Mount Olympus in disgust. The sea nymph Thetis looked after
the young god.
Hephaistos soon discovered he had a great talent for making beautiful
and useful things. News spread about his talent as a smith. When Hera
heard about this, she welcomed her son back to Mount Olympus.
He was called on many times to make armour for heroes such as
Achilles and Herakles.
The Chalkeia and Hephaesteia
The Chalkeia was a special feast of bronzeworkers. Hephaistos, as the patron of bronzeworkers, was one of the gods honoured at the
festival.
The Hephaisteia was another festival
dedicated to Hephaistos. One of the major
features of the festival was a torch race.
Torch races occurred at many festivals but
are particularly relevant to Hephaistos
because of his connection with fire.
Dionysus
was the fun loving god of
high spirits, strong emotions and wine. He is also
closely associated with drama and the theatre.
Symbols
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Vines.
Holds a kantharos, a special wine cup.
Often accompanied by satyrs and maenads.
Dionysos and the Dolphins
Dionysos, who was drunk on wine, was captured by a
gang of pirates. Dionysos awoke to find himself far out to sea. He tried to
convince them of who he was but the pirates jeered and laughed at him.
One of the pirates, however, believed what Dionysos said and begged
the other sailors to release him. The rest of the pirates refused to listen.
Dionysos finally lost his temper. He filled the boat with wine. Vines went
shooting through the masts and broke the sails on the boat. The pirates
were terrified and hurled themselves into the sea. The god turned them
into dolphins, all except for the pirate who believed what Dionysos said.
The Great Dionysis and Anthesteria
The Great Dionysia was held annually in Athens. The main feature of the
festival was a theatre competition. Many different plays by different
playwrights were performed and a winner was picked at the end of the
festival.
The Anthesteria was a great festival held in honour of Dionysos when
the year's new wine jars were opened. During this festival children aged
three were given their first taste of wine.