ANCIENT GREEK ON RELIGION
GREEK GODS AND GODDESSES
Zeus
King of the Gods
Zeus
Zeus was the king of the gods. He was
all-powerful. If you were an ancient
Greek, you would pray to Zeus. Zeus is
lord of the sky, and rain god. His weapon
is a thunderbolt which he hurls at those
who displease him. He is the 1st main God
of Greece.
Symbol or Attribute: Thunderbolt
Hera
The wife of Zeus and
Queen of the
Heavens
Hera
Hera was the wife of Zeus and Queen of
the heavens. She protected married
women and their children. Married to
Zeus and is his sister too. Her sacred
animals are the cow and the peacock.
Symbol or Attribute: The peacock
Athena
Daughter of Zeus
Athena
Athena was the daughter of Zeus. She was
stern and wise. She protected the city of
Athens, and olive trees. She sprang full grown in
armor from his forehead, thus has no mother.
She is the goddess of the city, handicrafts, and
agriculture. She invented the bridle, which
permitted man to tame horses, the trumpet, the
flute, the pot, the rake, the plow, the yoke, the
ship, and the chariot. Her tree is the olive. The
owl is her bird.
Symbol or Attribute: Owl, signifying
watchfulness and wisdom.
Apollo
Son of Zeus and Leto
Apollo
Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto. Apollo was the god of
music. He was bold, brave, and very handsome. He
protected singers and poets. Zeus's wife Hera was
outraged and convinced the earth to refuse to allow Leto to
give birth anywhere on its surface. But the island of Delos
allowed Leto to take refuge there and give birth to Apollo
and his twin sister, Artemis.
Apollo is the god of music, playing a golden lyre. He is also
the Archer, far shooting with a silver bow. He took place as
the god of healing who taught man medicine, the god of
light, and the god of truth, who cannot speak a lie. His tree
was the laurel.
Symbol or Attribute: The Sun itself, the lyre (a type of
musical instrument), the bow, and the chariot he drives
across the sky daily
Artemis
Twin Sister of Apollo
Artemis
Artemis was Apollo’s sister. A fierce
hunter, she protected wild animals and girls.
She is the daughter of Zeus and Leto. Her
twin brother is Apollo. Artemis is the
huntsman of the gods. She is the protector
of the young. Like Apollo she hunts with
silver arrows.
Symbol or Attribute: Her bow, which she
uses to hunt, and her hounds. She often
wears the lunar crescent on her brow.
Ares
The God of War
Ares
Ares was the god of war. He was brave,
angry and terrible. He protected soldiers.
His bird is the vulture. His animal is the
dog.
Symbol or Attribute: The spear. He is
also associated with vultures and dogs.
Aphrodite
The God of Love
Aphrodite
Aphrodite was the beautiful goddess of
love. She protected lovers everywhere. She
is the wife of Hephaestus, the Goddess of
love, desire and beauty. Aphrodite rises
from the foam of the waves of the sea,
enchanting anyone who sees her and inciting
feelings of love wherever she goes.
The myrtle is her tree. The dove, the swan,
and the sparrow her birds.
Symbol or Attribute: Her Girdle, which has
magical powers to compel love
Demeter
Goddess of
Agriculture
Demeter
Demeter is a goddess of fertility, grain,
and agriculture. She is pictured as a
mature motherly figure. Although she is
the goddess who taught mankind about
agriculture, she is also the goddess
responsible for creating winter and a
mystery religious cult. Demeter is usually
accompanied by her daughter Persephone.
Hermes
The Messenger of
the Gods
Hermes
Hermes was the swift, silent, messenger of
the gods; he reported events on earth. He is
the son of Zeus and Maia and is the
messenger of the gods. He is also the
fastest of the gods. He wears winged
sandals, a winged hat, and carries a magic
wand. Hermes is the god of thieves and god
of commerce. He is the guide for the dead
to go to the underworld.
Symbol or Attribute: His staff, called
kerykerion in Greek, caduceus in Latin.
Dionysius
God of Wine
Dionysius
The god Dionysius brought wine and
drunkenness. His gifts were a blessing
and a curse.
Asclepius
God of Medicine
Asclepius
Asclepius was the god of medicine. His
priests worked as doctors in special
healing sanctuaries.
Pan
God of the Wild
Pan
Goat-legged Pan was the god of wild,
empty places. The fear you felt there was
called “panic”.
Poseidon
Brother of Zeus
Poseidon
Poseidon was god of earthquakes and the
sea. Protector of sailors, he caused
shipwrecks, too. Brother of Zeus. The God
of the sea and worshiped by seamen. He
married Amphitrite. His weapon is a trident,
which can shake the earth, and shatter any
object. He is second most powerful god.
Poseidon is the 2nd main God of Greece.
Symbol or Attribute: Three-pronged
trident
Medusa
Girlfriend Of
Poseidon
Medusa
Medusa is Poseidon's girlfriend. When
Poseidon and Medusa met together at Athena,
the god of Wisdom's temple, Athena turned
Medusa into a monster with hair as snake. She
was very vulnerable since anyone who looks at
her eyes, they turn into stone. After Medusa's
head was chopped off, if you look at her eyes,
this time, you become petrified.
Hades
The brother of Zeus
Hades
He is the brother of Zeus and the God of the underworld,
ruling over the dead. He is also the god of wealth, due to the
precious metals mined from the earth. Hades has a helmet
that makes him invisible. Hades springs out of the earth
and captures Persephone, dragging her off to be his queen
in the Underworld. Her mother Demeter searches for her
and stops all foods from growing until Persephone is
returned. Finally, a deal is worked out where Persephone
stays one-third of the year with Hades, one-third of the year
serving as a handmaiden to Zeus at Mount Olympus, and
one-third with her mother. He is the 3rd main God of
Greece.
The Family Tree
ANCIENT GREEK RITUALS
Ancient Greek Rituals
Religion was a very important aspect of Greek
society and culture, with the sacrifices and
regular worships of Gods serving to unify the
people in a common goal to please the Gods.
The Greeks also placed an immense faith in
the idea that an afterlife awaited them after
their death. They firmly believed that this life
was not the only reality in which the soul
lives, but after this lifetime, a whole new and
different one awaited them.
Ancient Greek Rituals
Gods can be worshipped under different
names, for example Zeus can be
worshipped under the name Omrios. The
Greeks used the Gods to explain the
occurrence of things, which they could
not understand through lack of scientific
proof. For example they thought that the
Gods controlled the rising and setting of
the sun and created great myths about
such events.
Ancient Greek Rituals
In order to show their appreciation to the Gods and
Oracles, the Greeks would perform a series of rituals,
ceremonies, sacrifices and offerings. Sacrifices of animals;
sheep, cows, goats, pigs and bulls were made, as well as the
occasional human sacrifice as a present to the Gods. Many
temples and shrines were also erected as a mark of respect
and for a place to offer their sacrifices. It is obvious that the
Greeks placed a lot of pride in their temples and shrines.
Further evidence of the Greeks desire to please the Gods
can be seen through their offerings. The Greeks offered
such things as stone freezes, "gold vessels, wheat, wine and
honey, milk, water and first fruits." Prayers and hymns
accompanied sacrifices and sometimes performances and
other ritual acts followed such as dances or early forms of
drama.
After Lives
The Greeks held a strong belief that your body
needed to be buried with the goods and wealth
that you had accumulated in this lifetime in
order to carry them through into the next life.
Gravesites recovered have shown that people
have been buried with food, cloths and jeweled
ornaments. Kings were buried with bronze
weapons, chariots and their horses. In some
cases the wives and slaves were killed and buried
beside the dead so that the person could take
their family with them into the next lifetime.
Their bodies are well preserved and embalmed
so that they are not ruined for the next life.
Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRe38
9uQhmo&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9coj
MxsgZY&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqiKUz
kGC3g&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR57F
jeY_lk&feature=youtu.be
Bibliography
Internet Resources
http://www.chiddingstone.kent.sch.uk/homework/greece/gods.htm
www.youtube.com
http://library.thinkquest.org/28111/newpage2.htm
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_is_Medusa
Books
The Greek News-Olympic Scandal
How would you survive as an Ancient Greek?