The Greek Pantheon
Intro to the Iliad
What is a “pantheon”?
According to Dictionary.com a pantheon is:
• All the gods/goddesses of a people or religion
collectively
• (esp. in ancient Greece or Rome) A temple
dedicated to the gods
At the outset of the Trojan War the gods
separated into pro-Greek and pro-Trojan
factions.
On the side of Greeks
On the side of the Trojans
Athena
Aphrodite
Posiden
Hera
Hades
Apollo
Hermes
Artemis
Hephaestus
Leto
Thetis
Ares (later)
Xanthus (the river god of Scamander)
Greek’s Side
Athena
• She was also the:
– The defender of cities
– The defender of heroes
• She is the goddess of:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
wisdom
courage
Inspiration
Civilization
Law
Justice
just warfare
Math
Strategy
Arts skill
• She
aided the Greeks with military
prowess. Helping them fool the Trojans.
Poseidon
• He is the God of the
seas and the protector
of oceans.
• He married Amphitrite,
a granddaughter of the
Titan Oceanus.
• His weapon is a trident,
which can shake the
earth, and shatter any
object.
Poseidon: In Iliad
• As the Trojan War was entering it’s most
bloody phase, Poseidon, against the strict
orders of Zeus, entered the fray. He went
through the ranks of the stronggrievedAkhaians (Akhaians) and urged them
to have courage and to lust for victory over
the Trojans, who seemed to be winning the
war.
Hades
• Hades is the brother of Zeus and the
husband of Persephone.
• He is the god of the underworld and
of wealth.
• He is NOT the god of death (who is:
Thanatos).
• He has a helmet that makes him
invisible.
• He is often depicted with “Cerberus”
the three headed dog that guards the
gate to the underworld.
Hermes
• Hermes is the son of Zeus and Maia.
• He is Zeus’s messenger.
• He is the fastest of the gods. He wears
winged sandals, a winged hat, and carries a
magic wand.
• He is the:
– god of thieves and god of commerce.
– the guide to the underworld.
• He invented:
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–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Lyre
Pipes
the musical scale
astronomy ,
weights
measures
boxing,
gymnastics,
• He also the caretaker of olive trees.
Hermes: In Iliad
• Near the end if the Trojan War, when the king
of Troy, Priam, went to retrieve the body of his
fallen son, Hector. Hermes met him on the
road disguised as a young man and guided
Priam through the battle lines and past
the guards without being seen.
• When dawn came Hermes took Priam and
Hector back to Troy where his family could
give him a proper burial.
Hephaestus
• Hephaestus is the son
of Zeus and Hera.
• He is the only god to be physically
ugly.
• He is also crippled (limps).
• He is the god of fire and the forge.
He is the smith and armourer of
the gods.
• He uses a volcano as his forge. He
is the patron god of both smiths
and weavers.
• His wife is Aphrodite.
• He also created many animals;
including the horse.
Hephaestus: In Iliad
• Hephaestus forges armour for Achilles.
• He also battles Scamander.
Thetis
• Thetis was one of the Nereids (sea/water
goddesses).
• The goddess Themis then revealed that
Thetis was fated to bear a son who was
mightier than his father; fearing for his
dominion, Zeus gave Thetis as bride to a
mortal, Peleus.
• Thetis is the mother of Achilles, whom
she tried unsuccessfully to make
immortal.
– In one version of the story, she tried to burn
away his mortal parts; when she was
interrupted by the child's horrified father, she
deserted their household in a rage.
– In a later version, she dipped the child in the
river Styx holding him by the heel; all the
parts that the river touched became
invulnerable, but the heel remained dry.
• Achilles was later killed in the Trojan war.
Ironically shot in the Achilles tenant.
Trojan’s
Side
Aphrodite
• She was the goddess of beauty,
love, pleasure and procreation.
• She was depicted as a beautiful
woman usually accompanied by
the winged godling Eros (God of
love).
• Her attributes included a dove,
apple, scallop shell and mirror.
Aphrodite: In Iliad
• She convinced Ares to support the Trojans.
• In the tenth year of the war the Greeks and Trojans
swear an oath to award Helene to the winner of a
duel. In the fight, Menelaos bests Paris, and would
have slain him, but Aphrodite saves him and
convinced Helene not to go to Menelaos.
• After Achilles slays Hector and drags his body back to
camp, Aphrodite and Apollo work together to
preserve and protect the hero's corpse until King
Priamos achieves a ransom.
Hera
• Hera is Zeus’s wife and
sister (daughter of
Cronus)
• She is the goddess of
childbirth and marriage
and takes special care of
married women.
• Her sacred animals are
the cow and the peacock.
• Her favourite city is
Argos.
Hera: In Iliad
• She manipulates both other gods and mortals
in order to try to keep Zeus from destroying
Troy.
• Hera realizes that her attempts are futile, but
she tries to bypass Zeus' will that the Trojans
have glory as well as the Greeks.
Apollo
• Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto.
• He is the twin of Artemis.
• He is the god of:
– music (plays a golden lyre).
– Archery
– The god of healing (taught man
medicine).
– The god of light.
– The god of truth (who can not
speak a lie).
• One of Apollo's daily tasks is to
drive the Sun across the sky in his
chariot.
• He is famous for his oracle at
Delphi.
• His tree is the laurel. The crow his
bird. The dolphin his animal.
Apollo: In Iliad
• In the beginning of the Iliad, it is Apollo who
brings a plague to the Greeks, because
Agamemnon disrespects one of his human
priests.
Artemis
• She was goddess of chastity,
virginity, the hunt, the moon, and
the natural environment.
• Artemis is the daughter
of Zeus and Letho. Her twin
brother is Apollo.
• She is the lady of the wild things,
the huntsman of the gods, the
protector of the young.
• She became associated with the
moon.
• The cypress is her tree. All wild
animals are sacred to her,
especially the deer.
• She takes part in many of the
battles at Troy and is shamed by
Hera.
Letho
• She was one of the female Titans , a
bride of Zeus, and the mother of the
twin gods Apollo and Artemis.
• She was the goddess of motherhood
and with her children, a protector of the
young.
• She was usually depicted accompanied
by her two children.
• The exact meaning of her name is
obscure, some commentators connect it
with the word lethô, to move unseen,
suggestive of modesty.
• Letho helps heal Aineias in the battle of
troy along with Artemis.
Ares
• He was the god of war, battle
lust, civil order and manly
courage.
• He was known for his
adulterous affair with
Aphrodite.
• In the Trojan war:
– First he promised his mother Hera
and sister Athena that he would
side with the Greeks in the War.
– However, Aphrodite convinced
him to break his alliance and join
her in support of the Trojans.
Xanthus or Scamander
• He is a river god, son of Oceanus and Tethys.
• He fathered King Teucer (King of Troy).
• He also fought against Achilles in the Trojan war and was
only saved due to the intervention of Hera, Athena and
Hephaestus.
• In this context, he is the personification of the Scamander
River that flowed from Mount Ida across the plain beneath
the city of Troy, joining the Hellespont north of the city.
• The Achaeans, according to Homer, had set up their camp
near its mouth, and their battles with the Trojans were
fought on the plain of Scamander.
• According to Homer, he was called Xanthus by gods and
Scamander by men, which might indicate that the former
name refers to the god and the latter one to the river itself.
Where was Zeus?
• Zeus tried to stay impartial and
stand for justice and fate, but
ended up being partial to the
Greeks.
• He could be easily manipulated
by the trickery of the other gods
(I.e. Seduced by Hera.)
• However the gods and
goddesses had to follow Zeus’s
orders once they were made.