Greek Mythology
Note Cards: Gods and Goddesses
Kronos
• Creator of the Gods and Goddesses
• Father of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades,
Hestia, Demeter, and Hera.
Zeus
• Supreme God of the Olympians. God of Olympia.
God of the sky.
• Married to Hera. Father of Perseus and Hercules.
Hera
• Queen of Olympus. Married to Zeus.
• Goddess of marriage and
child birth.
Hestia
• Goddess and Guardian of the home and taught
mortals how to build houses.
Demeter
• Goddess of Grain. She taught mortals how to save
the kernels of wild corn, plant them where they
wanted corn to grow, and harvest the mature
plants.
Athena
• The goddess of arts and crafts, goddess of reason,
intelligent activity defensive war.
• Daughter of Zeus. Born with no
Mother, sprang from Zeus’ forehead
Apollo
• The God of prophecy, medicine, and archery. One
of Apollo’s most important daily tasks was to
harness his four-horse chariot, in order to move the
Sun across the sky.
Artemis
• The Goddess of the hunt, the moon, and the
natural environment. She was the protector of
nature and the hunt; both wild and tame animals
were under her protection. She also protected the
agriculture and animal herding.
Hermes
• Zeus’ messenger. Link
between Gods and
mortals. He was the
protector of travelers,
thieves and athletes. He
occasionally tricked Gods
for own amusement or in
an effort to protect
humans.
Persephone
• The Queen of the Underworld.
Ares
• The God of War. He represented the raw violence
and untamed acts that occurred in wartime.
Hephaestus
Greek god of
blacksmiths, sculptors,
metallurgy, fire and
volcanoes; thus, he is
symbolized with a
hammer, an anvil and a
pair of tongs.
Midas
• Mythological possessor of the "Midas touch", the
power to transmute whatever he touched into
gold. Midas was a king of a region nowadays part of
Turkey.
Pandora
• She was the first human woman
created by the gods. She was
given many characteristics that
would manipulate humans into
thinking she was good.
However, she was created to
become a punishment to
mortals. She unleashed all
things bad into the universe by
opening a jar given to her by
the Gods. Hope was trapped in
the jar forever when she closed
it.
Daedalus
• Greek inventor, architect, and sculptor,
who was said to have built, among
other things, Labyrinth for King Minos
of Crete. In a fit of envy he murdered
his talented nephew and apprentice
named Perdix who is said to have
created both the first compass (the
type used in drafting) and the first
saw. After being held prisoner at
Labyrinth with his son Icarus, they
escaped by using Daedalus’ invention
of wings. During the escape, Icarus
flew too high toward the sun. This
caused his wings to melt, he fell to the
sea and died.
Prometheus
• Created all living creatures out of mud
and water. He created all animals and
humans. He gave Epimethus the task of
giving all creatures their characteristics.
Teacher of mortals. Stole fire to teach
humans how to feed and protect
themselves. He loved humans more the
Olympia. So when Zeus decreed that
man must sacrifice a portion of each
food to the gods, Prometheus decided to
trick Zeus. He created two piles, one with
bones wrapped in juicy fat, and another
with the finest meat hidden inside
a hide. Zeus punished him forever and
punished mortals for Prometheus’ acts.
Aphrodite
• The goddess of love, desire, and beauty.
Poseidon
• God of the Sea
and protector of all
aquatic features. His
weapon was a
trident, with which
he could make the
earth shake, causing
earthquakes, and
shatter any object.
He was second to
Zeus in power
amongst the gods.
Hades
• God of the underworld. Hades
preferred the Underworld and
rarely left his kingdom. His
weapon was a pitchfork, which
he used to create earthquakes,
similar to the way Poseidon
used his trident. He also had a
helmet of invisibility, which he
had received as a gift from the
Cyclopes, in order to use it
during the clash of the Titans.
He was married to
Persephone, daughter of
Demeter, whom Hades
abducted and carried down to
the Underworld.
Eros
• The Greek god of love. He
was depicted as a
blindfolded male, who,
carrying his bow and
arrow, could target any
human being and make
them fall in love with the
first person they would
see.
Psyche
• Psyche was a woman
gifted with extreme
beauty and grace, one
of the mortal women
whose love and
sacrifice for her
beloved God Eros
earned her
immortality. She is
goddess of the soul.
Narcissus
• The hunter known for his beauty. Narcissus is the
origin of the term narcissism, a fixation with
oneself and one's physical appearance.
The Underworld
• An otherworld where souls went
after death and was the Greek
idea of afterlife. At the moment of
death the soul was separated
from the corpse, taking on the
shape of the former person, and
was transported to the entrance
of Hades. Hades itself was
described as being either at the
outer bounds of the ocean or
beneath the depths or ends of the
earth. It was considered the dark
counterpart to the brightness of
Mount Olympus, and was the
kingdom of the dead that
corresponded to the kingdom of
the gods. Hades was a realm
invisible to the living and it was
made solely for the dead.
Echo
• Echo was a nymph whose myth provided an
explanation for the phenomenon of sound echoing.
Echo, in Greek mythology, mountain nymph. She
assisted Zeus in one of his amorous adventures by
distracting Hera with her chatter. For this Hera
made her unable to speak except to repeat
another's last words. She fell in love with Narcissus,
but when he rejected her, she pined away until only
her voice remained.
Olympus
• In Greek mythology, Mount Olympus was the
dwelling of the Olympian Gods.