The Olympians
Anthony, Leigha, Matt, Madeline,
Shane, Mary Jess, Jaclyn, Mikayla,
and Katie V.
Gods
The gods were created so when something
went wrong on Earth the people would
"blame" it on the gods. They had a huge
impact on humans because the humans
would worship and give offerings to the
gods, so that the gods would help them with
their troubles, or not give anymore
punishments.
Zeus
God of the gods and of the
sky, pictured with a
thunderbolt or lightning in his
hand, Zeus was the most
powerful god. He had
overturned his father Cronus
and seized power, and
everything was ultimately in
his hands. Zeus was a
weather god, as well as the
protector of the law, the state,
the society, the city, the
family and strangers.
Hera
Zeus' sister and wife, daughter of
Cronus and Rhea. Hera was the
queen of heaven and the gods and
goddess of women and marriage.
She was generally described as an
avenging goddess, punishing those
that had displeased her severely.
Her husband Zeus was constantly
unfaithful to her, and she had a lot of
persecuting to do because of this.
Her children were Ares, Hephaestus,
Hebe and Illyria and the Romans
called her Juno. Hera was the patron
goddess of the landscape Argolis. In
Olympia her temple is even older
than that of Zeus, and games to her
honor were held there for women.
Poseidon
Poseidon is god of the sea and
protector of all waters. Poseidon
is the brother of Zeus and
Hades. When their father died
they drew lots for shares of the
earth. His prize was to become
lord of the sea. He was
worshiped by seamen.
Poseidon married Amphitrite.
Poseidon’s weapon is the
trident, which can shake the
earth, and shatter any object.
He is second to Zeus in power
amongst the gods. Poseidon is
very greedy. He had some fights
with other gods when he tried to
take over their cities.
Hades
Hades is the brother of Zeus
and Poseidon. When three
brothers drew lots of the world,
Hades got the worst pick, the
underworld. He is now the god
of the underworld, ruler of the
dead. He is also the god of
wealth, due to the precious
metals mined from the earth. He
has a helmet that makes him
invisible. He rarely leaves the
underworld. His wife is
Persephone whom Hades
abducted.
Aphrodite
Aphrodite [Roman name
Venus] was the goddess of
love, beauty and fertility.
When the Trojan prince
Paris was asked to judge
which of three Olympian
goddesses was the most
beautiful, he chose
Aphrodite over Hera and
Athena. She is the wife of
the ugliest of the gods,
Hephaestus.
Cupid
Cupid was the god of love in
Roman mythology. It was
commonly believed that Cupid
was the son of Venus - the
Roman goddess of love . The
ancient Romans often depicted
Cupid as winged child or baby
who carried a bow and quiver
full of arrows. One story about
Cupid story is his relationship
with the beautiful woman
named Psyche. His Greek
name is Eros.
Apollo
Apollo is the god of the sun and he
is the patron god of musicians and
poets. Son of Zeus and Leto, twin
brother of Artemis. He is
considered the ideal of manly
beauty. He replaced the Titan
Helios as the Sun god. He was
believed to bring about epidemics
of disease.
That is because Artemis and Apollo
were believed to shot arrows at
people to make them sick. So they
would pray to Apollo and hope that
the epidemic would be stopped.
Ares
Ares (or Mars) has a planet
named after him. The third
month of the year, March, in
his honor. He was also a
god of agriculture. He is the
patron god of the Romans
because they were warlike
people. He was a god who
took a savage delight in
slaughter, and the hordes of
slain upon the battlefield
filled him with a fierce joy.
(He loved war and killing
others.)
Artemis
Artemis is the daughter of
Zeus and Leto, and the twin
of Apollo. Artemis is the
great Olympian goddess of
hunting, wilderness and wild
animals. She is also a
goddess of childbirth, and
the protectress of the girl
child up to the age of
marriage. Artemis is also
bringer of sudden death and
disease, she targeted
mostly females.
Athena
Daughter of Zeus, and only by
him. She leaped from the head of
Zeus, already adult, dressed with
her armor. Zeus chose Metis as
his first wife. As she was about to
give birth to Athena, Zeus
deceived his pregnant wife with
cunning words and took her into
his own body. She is, above all,
the Goddess of the City, the
protectress of civilized life, of
artesian activities, and of
agriculture.
Hephaestus
Hephaestus was the God of fire,
especially a blacksmith's
furnace. He made all of the
armor and weapons for the
gods. He was a very peaceful
man. He was the son of Zeus
and Hera. He married Aphrodite
but she never fully committed
herself to him. Hephaestus was
also called Vulcan, son of
Jupiter and Juno. He was the
God of fire and of volcanoes. He
was the husband of Maia and
Venus.
Hestia
Hestia was the most gentle and
charitable of all the gods. She is
the goddess of the hearth, and
doesn't play a role in any of the
myths. She was the sister of Zeus
and the oldest of the Olympians.
Her Roman name was Vesta.
Vesta was just like Hestia, but
she also was the goddess of the
personification of the ceremonial
flame. Vestal virgins took a vow
of chastity for 30 years during
which they honored her.
Hermes
Hermes supposedly
invented boxing and
gymnastics. He was the son
of Zeus and the constellation
Maia. He was the fastest of
all the gods. Hermes carries
around a magic wand and
wears a winged sandals and
hat. His roman name is
Mercury. Hermes is the
messenger god. He was a
trickster and a friend of
thieves.
Demeter
Demeter is the goddess
of harvest. Her Roman
name is Ceres. She was
the sister of Zeus. Her
daughter is Persephone.
Her daughter lives with
Hades each winter and
during that time no crops
will grow.
Persephone
Persephone is the daughter of
Demeter and Zeus (before Zeus'
marriage with Hera). Her sisters
are Athena and Aphrodite. After
she was kidnapped, Hades (Zeus'
brother) tricked her into eating a
pomegranate, which made her
Queen of the dead. Also by eating
it, it meant she couldn't return to
her mother, so she made a
compromise she would visit her
mother occasionally, but when she
was in the underworld, it was
winter- which her mother made
terrible because of her grief of her
daughter. She was married to
Hades.
Dionysus
Dionysus is the son of Zeus and
Semele (a mortal). God of wine
and festivities. Dionysus is called
"twice born. "He is called this
because of the unusual manner in
which he grew, which was in the
womb, and the thigh. Hera tricked
Semele to prove her knowledge of
Zeus being a God. So, Zeus had
no choice but to reveal himself.
The lightning brightness that was
his divinity killed Semele, but first,
Zeus took the unborn from her
womb and sewed it inside his thigh.
There it developed until it was time
for birth. His symbols are ivy,
snakes, and grapes.
Pan
Pan was the son of Hermes and
Penelope in some myths and the son
of Zeus and the nymph Callisto in
others. He was the god of flocks and
shepherds. He is mostly human in
appearance but with goat horns and
goat feet. He is a musician and plays
the pipes. He is merry and playful. He
is at home in any wild place but is
favorite is Arcady where he was born.
He is always in pursuit of one of the
nymphs but always rejected because
he is ugly.
His name is the basis for the word
"panic". There are two differing
explanations for this. The first is that
he was present when Zeus defeated
the Titans and claimed that it has his
yelling that caused the Titans to flee.
However, this seems at odds with his
being Hermes son. The second is that
Janus
Janus was used to symbolize change
and transitions. Janus was worshipped
at the beginnings of the harvest and
planting times, as well as marriages,
births and other beginnings. He was
representative of the middle ground
between barbarity and civilization,
rural country and urban cities, and
youth and adulthood. They had many
children, including Tiberinus. Janus
and his later wife, Juturna, were the
parents of Fontus. Another wife was
named Jana. Historically, however, he
was one of the few Roman gods who
had no ready-made Greek
counterpart, or analogous mythology.
As the sole ruler of Latium, Janus
heralded the Golden Age, introducing
money, laws and agriculture (making
him a culture hero).