Greek gods and goddesses
Aphrodite
The goddess of love, who was born from sea foam
("Afros" is Greek for "foam of the sea") . She is the most
beautiful goddess, and very vain. She has a magic girdle
(belt) which can cause anyone to fall in love with her.
Though married to Hephaestus, her main boyfriend is
Ares. Her symbol is the dove.
Ares and Aphrodite: Aphrodite was the goddess of love
and beauty and with her exquisite features and pleasant
smile she attracted many suitors, gods and mortals alike.
However, she was married to the graceless and homely
Hephaestus, the god of fire. Her true love was Ares, the
god of war. Their child was the beautiful goddess
Harmonia. One day while Aphrodite and Ares were
together they were caught in an invisible, but strong,
golden net forged by Hephaestus, and exposed to the
ridicule and laughter of the
other gods at Mt. Olympus. Aphrodite was always
sneaking around with Ares behind her husband’s back,
and Hephaestus was always trying to catch them.
Apollo
The god of archery, divination and the arts. Later,
Apollo was also associated with the sun.
Handsome and talented, Apollo is the twin
brother of Artemis. He is the patron of archers,
and created music. He slew the great Python,
and became the force behind the Oracle at
Delphi, which could tell the future. There were
other oracles, but the one at Delphi was the
most famous. The Oracle often spoke in riddles
which were not clear until
after events came to pass. Apollo’s symbols are
the lyre, the laurel tree, and the mouse (an
animal which ran everywhere and overheard
many secrets).
Ares
The god of war, Ares is the proud and cruel son of
Zeus and Hera. He loves battle, but despite hi s
strength he is not a smart tactician. At heart, he is a
coward, like most bullies. His symbol is the wild boar
and his favorite weapon is the spear. He is Aphrodite’s
lover.
Ares and Aphrodite: Aphrodite was the goddess of
love and beauty and with her exquisite features and
pleasant smile she attracted many suitors, gods and
mortals alike. However, she was married to the
graceless and homely Hephaestus, the god of fire. Her
true love was Ares, the god of war. Their child was the
beautiful goddess Harmonia. One day while
Aphrodite and Ares were together they were caught
in an invisible, but strong, golden net forged by
Hephaestus, and exposed to the ridicule and laughter
of the
other gods at Mt. Olympus. Aphrodite was always
sneaking around with Ares behind her husband’s
back, and Hephaestus was always trying to catch
them.
Artemis
The goddess of the hunt and the moon.
Artemis vowed to always be a maiden. Because
of this, her followers tended to be young
unmarried girls who shunned men. A great
archer and hunter, Artemis roams the wilds of
the world with a band of maidens. Her symbols
are the deer and the bow.
Athena
Goddess of war, wisdom and useful crafts. The
patron goddess of Athens, from whom the city
got its name. Athena sprang from Zeus’ head,
which Hephaestus had to split open to relieve
the god’s headache. Athena invented many
things, including the chariot and the loom. She
granted mankind the olive tree. One of the
most popular
goddesses, she often helps heroes who use
their brains, like Odysseus. She dislikes
Poseidon and Ares. Her symbols are the owl,
the olive tree, and the aegis, a special shield
upon which is mounted the head of Medusa.
Demeter
The goddess of agriculture, sister of Hera and Zeus. The
most famous story about Demeter tells how her
daughter Persephone was captured by Hades (read
myth below) and taken to the Underworld. Demeter
and Hades finally worked out an agreement by which
Persephone would spend half the year with her mother
and half the year with her new husband Hades.
Demeter would only allow crops to grow during the
time Persephone was with her. Thus the seasons were
created.
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of wine and the son of Zeus
and Semele, and the rescuer of Ariadne after she
had been abandoned by Theseus. Dionysus also
rescued his mother from the Underworld, after
Zeus showed her his true nature as storm god and
consumed her in lightning. It was Dionysus who
granted Midas the power to turn whatever he
touched into gold, then was kind enough to take
the power back when it proved inconvenient
Hades
(HAY-deez) was the god of the Underworld. He
was the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. When
the brothers decided to divide up their rule he
chose the Underworld. This made him a
wealthy god since most of the wealth came
from the ground. The Underworld was
considered a horrible place to live. It was dark
and drab. In one legend Hades kidnapped
Persephone causing the earth to turn cold and
everything to die.
The God of the Underworld. Not technically an
Olympian since he has no throne on Olympus,
Zeus’ brother Hades was made lord of the
Underworld when the gods took over the
world. He oversees the Underworld and all the
riches under the earth. He also guards the pit
of Tartarus, where the titans and monsters
were imprisoned after the great war. His
servants include the three Furies, Charon the
ferryman, and the three-headed dog Cerberus.
Hephaestus
The god of fire and blacksmiths. As a baby,
Hephaestus was thrown from Olympus by his
father Zeus, because of this...well, he was sort of
homely and let's just say he had a face that only a
mother could love. : ) However, he was extremely
good at working with his hands. He could make
anything out of metal. He was given Aphrodite as
his bride, because Hera thought it would help
Aphrodite settle down. Unfortunately, Aphrodite
was always flirting behind her husband’s back,
and Hephaestus is
always trying to catch his wife.
Hera
Goddess of marriage and motherhood. The
wife of Zeus and also his sister, Hera is a
jealous goddess who resents her husband’s
unfaithfulness. Hera helps some heroes, like
Jason, but was the enemy to others, namely
Heracles (Hercules). Her symbols are the
cow (the most motherly animal) and the
colorful peacock.
Hermes
The god of merchants, travelers, thieves, and
medicine. Hermes watches over all who use
the roads and are involved in commerce. The
son of Zeus, Hermes could talk when he was
only a baby and once stole cattle from Apollo.
He made up for this by giving Apollo the lyre,
which baby Hermes invented. Hermes uses his
speedy winged sandals to deliver messages for
the gods. He carries a caduceus, a winged staff
entwined with serpents, which today is the
symbol of medicine. Hermes owned...
helmet - Hermes's helmet had the power of
invisibility. He wore the helmet in his fight
against the giant Hippolytus. Hermes also
loaned this helmet to Persus.
winged shoes - In one legend he loaned these
to Perseus so he could fly as he was fighting
against the Gorgon Medusa.
Poseidon
The god of the sea, Zeus’ brother. Poseidon is a
changeable god, like the ocean itself, sometimes
violent, sometimes calm. He created horses from sea
foam, and like his brother Zeus he "dated" many
goddesses and mortal women. Theseus was his most
famous demigod son. Poseidon’s symbol is the
trident, which he uses to stir up terrible storms at
sea.
Zeus
Occupation: Lord of the sky & Chief god
Known For (K.F.): Overthrowing Dad, Titan
Kronos
Weapon of Choice (W.O.C.): Lightning Bolt
Symbol: Eagle
Marital Status: Married to Hera
Demigod Kids: Perseus and Heracles
Creatures from Greek Mythology
The Nymphs were young goddesses of
Nature-the sea, the land and the woods
The Nymphs were the daughters of Zeus,
the King of the gods. They ranged over
beautiful groves and dwelled near springs,
in mountains through which rivers flowed
and in woods.
There were Sea Nymphs, Land Nymphs
and Wood Nymphs in Greek Mythology.
Because of their close connection to water,
a fertilizing element, the nymphs were
worshipped as agents of vegetation.The
nymphs protected the plants and animals
and were also playing the role of nurses
who occasionaly raised human beings such
as Kronos.
The Nymphs joined the Greek gods
Artemis and Apollo and also Acheloos, the
river god, and played with them. However,
most of all, the Nymphs enjoyed playing
with Hermes, the messenger of the gods
and Hermes' son, the Satyr Pan.
Medusa was once a lovely young girl who
had a boyfriend she loved very much. One
afternoon she and her boyfriend, Poseidon,
were looking for a place to secretly meet,
and they went inside the temple of the
goddess Athena. Seeing that nobody else
was there, they sat down. Athena, looking
down from the sky, saw them, and she was
very angry. She made Medusa grow very
ugly, and have snakes instead of hair.
Poseidon ran away, frightened.
The Minotaur was half-man, half-bull. He
caused so much destruction that King Minos
had his famous architect Daedalus build a maze
called the Labyrinth to imprison the beast. Each
year, maidens and young men from Athens were
sacrificed to the Minotaur until Theseus killed
the monster.
Naiads: Water nymphs who lived in wells
and caves from which the rivers sprung.
They were knowlgeable in medicine and
could foretell the future. The Naiads were
young and beautiful, but could cause
madness and death.
The Nemean Lion
THE LEON NEMEIOS (or Nemean lion)
was a large lion, whose hide was
impervious to weapons, which plagued
the district of Nemea in the Argolis.
King Eurystheus commanded Herakles
(or Hercules) to destroy the beast as
the first of his twelve Labors. The hero
cornered the lion in its cave and seizing
it by the neck wrestled it to death.
This was no easy feat, for the beast's
parentage was supernatural and it was
more of a monster than an ordinary
lion. Its skin could not be penetrated by
spears or arrows. Heracles blocked off
the entrances to the lion's cave,
crawled into the close confines where it
would have to fight face to face and
throttled it with his bare hands. Ever
afterwards he wore the lion's skin as a
cloak and its gaping jaws as a helmet.
Pan
He was the god of shepherds and
flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting
and rustic music. He was the son of
Hermes. He wandered the hills and
mountains of Arkadia playing his
pan-pipes and chasing the nymphs.
His presence aroused feelings of
panic in men passing through the
remote, lonely places of the wilds.
That's where we got the word,
"panic," as in Pan-Ick!!
Satyrs (SAY-turz or SAT-urz)Woodland
spirits who looked like men with various
animal features such as horses' tails or
goats' legs.
Chimera
The Chimera was one monstrous offspring of
Echidna. It had the body of a goat, the head
of a lion and the tail of a serpent. It
terrorized Asia Minor until it was killed by
the hero Bellerophon. it belched a long and
steady stream of fire from its three mouths,
incinerating all around--rather handy at a
barbecue, I must admit, but one had to be
real careful, for the monster had terrible
table manners. Oh. Did I mention that the
Chimaera had extreme halitosis? Zeus have
mercy and pass the extra-strength Clorets!
Chiron
A kindly centaur, Chiron was sired by Cronus
(Kronos) when in the form of a horse. The other
centaurs, who were notoriously uncivilized and
prone to violence, were of a different lineage.
Chiron was tutor to Jason and Heracles. In the
Lightning Thief, it is Mr. Brunner who turns out to
be Chiron. Who is his tutee?
Cyclopes
Strong, One-eyed giants. These were
the monster sons of Gaea and
Uranus.