GREEK MYTHOLOGY

MYTHOLOGY is generally supposed to show us the way the human race thought and felt untold ages ago.

Through it, according to this view, we can retrace the path from civilized man who lives so far from nature, to man who lived in close companionship with nature; and the real interest of the myths is that they lead us back to a time when the world was young and people had a connection with the earth, with trees and seas and flowers and hills, unlike anything we ourselves can feel.

When the stories were being shaped, we are given to understand, little distinction had as yet been made between the real and the unreal. The imagination was vividly alive and not checked by the reason, so that anyone in the woods might see through the trees a fleeing nymph, or bending over a clear pool to drink behold in the depths a naiad’s face.

GREEKS

Mythology of the

The Greeks had their roots in the primeval slime. Of course they too once lived a savage life, ugly and brutal.

The myths show how high they had risen above the ancient filth and fierceness by the time we have any knowledge of them.

The Greeks made their gods in their own image with the inspiration that “the invisible must be understood by the visible.”

THE 12 OLYMPIANS

ZEUS Roman Name: Jupiter

• The Supreme Ruler, Lord of the Sky, Rain-god, the Cloud-gatherer.

• He wields the awful thunderbolt.

•His breastplate was the aegis.

• His bird the eagle.

•His tree the oak.

•His oracle Dodona in the land of oak trees.

• The harpies are considered “the hounds of Zeus.”

HERARoman Name: Juno

• Zeus’ wife and sister.

•Queen of the gods and goddesses.

•Protector of marriage and married women.

•The cow and the peacock are her sacred animals.

•Argos is her favorite city.

POSEIDONRoman Name: Neptune

•Ruler of the sea. Commonly called “earth-shaker.

•Giver of horses to men.

•As god of horses, Poseidon often adopted the shape of a steed.

•He is also associated with bulls.

HADESRoman Name: Pluto

• The God of the Underworld and the Dead.

• Also the God of Wealth and precious metals hidden in the earth.

• Abductor of Persephone.

• Referred to also by his Latin name Dis meaning “rich.”

PALLAS ATHENARoman Name: Minerva

• The goddess of wisdom and protectress of cities/state.

•No mother bore her, she sprang full-grown from the head of Zeus.

• Zeus favorite child, bearer of his breastplate, the aegis.

•Her favorite city is Athens.

•Her bird is the owl.

•She created the olive tree.

PHOEBUS APOLLO• Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto.

•God of the sun, arts and poetry and music.

• God of Truth from whose lips only the truth is ever uttered.

•An Archer-god possessing the brazen arrows. A symbol of youth.

•Artemis’ twin brother.

• The dolphin and the crow are his sacred creatures.

•The laurel is his tree.

• His oracle is found in Delphi.

ARTEMISRoman Name: Diana

• Goddess of the moon, wilderness and of wild creatures.

•Protectress of dewy youth.

•Huntsman-in-chief to the gods.

•A virgin goddess.

•The deer is especially sacred to her.

•The cypress is her tree.

APHRODITERoman Name: Venus

• The goddess of love and beauty said to have been raised from sea foams in the island of Cyprus.

•In most stories, she is the wife of Hephaestus.

•Eros (Cupid) is her son.

•The myrtle is her tree.

•The dove her bird.

HERMESRoman Name: Mercury

• The Messenger of the Gods.

• God of Commerce, Medicine and also god of the thieves.

•He possess a winged sandals, winged low-crowned hat and the magic wand Caduceus.

•The Divine Herald who led souls down to their last home.

•Inventor of lyre.

ARESRoman Name: Mars

• The (cowardly) God of War.

• Son of Zeus and Hera.

• He is oftenest describe as ruthless, murderous and bloodstained.

•The vulture is his bird.

•The dog his animal.

HEPHAESTUSRoman Name: Vulcan

•The Blacksmith of the Gods, the God of Fire.

•The cripple patron of handicrafts.

• He was often dejected by Hera for his lameness.

•Hephaestus accomplished numerous prodigies of craftsmanship, such as the marvelous palaces that he built for the gods atop Mount Olympus.

HESTIARoman Name: Vesta

• Goddess of the Hearth. The symbol of home.

• Zeus’ sister.

• Also a virgin goddess like Athena and Artemis.

The Lesser Gods of Olympus

EROS

•He is the god of Love identified by the Latin name Cupid.•He was accordingly Aphrodite’s son. •He is often depicted by poets as a mischievous, naughty boy.•In attendance upon him was ANTEROS (avenger of slighted love), HIMEROS (longing) and HYMEN (the god of the wedding feast.

HEBE

•The goddess of youth.

•The daughter of Zeus and Hera.

•Sometimes, she appear as cupbearer to the gods.

•She was married to Hercules.

A beautiful young Trojan prince who was seized and carried up to Olympus by Zeus’ eagle.

GANYMEDE

IRISGoddess of the Rainbow and messenger of the gods.

The ancient Greeks personified the rainbow as the goddess Iris, the favorite handmaiden and messenger of Hera, the queen of the heavenly court of Olympus. Carried by her shimmering wings, Iris travels so swiftly that mortals can see only the trail of her rainbow-coloured passage across the sky.

THE GRACES

• Compose of Aglaia (Splendor), Euphrosyne (Mirth) and Thalia (Good Cheer).

• They are the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome.

• A triple incarnation of beauty who give life its bloom.

THE MUSES

• The muses are nine in number.• They are the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne.• Compose of : Clio(history), Urania(astronomy), Melpomne(tragedy), Thalia(comedy), Terpsichore(dance), Calliope(epic poetry), Erato(love poetry), Polyhymnia(songs to the gods) and Euterpe(lyric poetry).

THEMIS

The Right or Divine Justice.

One of the two august forms seated beside Zeus in Olympus along with DIKE which means Human Justice.

The Gods of the Waters

OCEAN

A Titan and lord of the river Ocean, a great river encircling the earth.

TETHYS

The wife of Ocean and the mother of the Oceanids who are nymphs of the great river.

AMPHITRITE

•Goddess Queen of the Sea.•Her name means 'all encircling' which is the sea that surrounds the earth.  •She has called 'The Embracer That is the Sea'. When she is calm and walks about, the waters are calm; but, when She is angry, the seas become angry. She was one of the fifty daughters of Proteus and Doris, known as the Nereids (sea nymphs) who were known to have bright happy natures and the ability to foretell the future. 

NEREUS

•He is identified as the Old Man of the Sea.

•A trusty and gentle god who thinks just and kindly thoughts and never lies.

•His wife was DORIS, a daughter of Ocean.

•They had fifty lovely daughters, the nymphs of the sea called NEREIDS.

TRITON

•The Trumpeter of the sea.

•His trumpet was a great shell.

•He was the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite.

NAIAD/S

The naiads are water nymphs.

They dwell in brooks and springs and fountains.

The Gods of the Underworld

HADES & PERSEPHONE

Hades and Persephone rule the Kingdom of the Dead which lies beneath the secret places of the Earth.

PERSEPHONE

She is the only daughter of Demeter.

The maiden of the spring and goddess of innocence.

She was abducted by Hades and made the Queen of the Underworld.

CHARON

An aged boatman that ferries the souls of the dead to Hades.

He receives into his boat only the souls of those upon whose lips the passage money was paced.

CERBERUS

The three-headed, dragon tailed hound of hell who permits all spirits to enter, but none to return.

THE FURIES

Also identified with the name Erinyes.

Compose of Tisiphone, Megaera and Alecto.

They are the pursuers and punishers of evildoers.

The Lesser Gods of Earth

GAEA

Is herself called the All-Mother but she is not really a divinity.

She is never separated from the actual and personified earth.

DEMETER

•The Goddess of the Corn.

•A daughter of Cronus and Rhea.

•The mother of Persephone.

•She brings bounty to the Earth.

DIONYSUS

The god of fertility and wine, later considered a patron of the arts.He invented wine and spread the art of tending grapes.

He has a dual nature. On the one hand bringing joy and divine ecstasy. On the other brutal, unthinking, raging. Thus, reflecting both sides of wines nature. If he chooses, Dionysus can drive a man mad. No normal fetters can hold him or his followers.

PAN

The god of the wild, hunting (partially), rustic music and folk music. Usually known as the son of Dryope and Hermes, although in some cases Pan predates Hermes and was perhaps raised alongside Zeus himself. Pan appears as an old satyr with incredibly large horns. His Roman counterpart is Faunus. In Roman myths, he is also a god of prophecy.

In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri. Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus who visited Leda in the guise of a swan. Though accounts of their birth are varied, they are sometimes said to have been born from an egg, along with their twin sisters Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra.

CASTOR & POLLUX

CASTOR & POLLUX

Greek woodland gods or spirits, closely connected to the satyrs. They were occasionally referred to as being half-man half-horse, in stead of half-man half-goat. 

THE SILENI

One of the troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus. They have goat-like features. 

THE SATYRS

The king of the winds . He gave Odysseus a tightly closed bag full of the captured winds so he could sail easily home to Ithaca on the gentle West Wind. But instead his men thought it was filled with riches, so they opened it which is why the journey was extended. 

AEOLUS

CENTAUR

The Centaurs are half man, and half horse. They have the body of a horse but in place of the horse's head they have the torso, head and arms of a man. Most are wild and savage, known for lustfulness and drunkenness. The exception is the wise Centaur Chiron.

Terrifying female creatures whose name derive from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful."

Three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a horrifying visage that turned those who beheld her to stone. Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was not, and she was slain by the mythical demigod and hero Perseus.

THE GORGONS

A monster or Gorgon, generally described as having the face of a hideous human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone. Most sources describe her as the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto.

MEDUSA

The Three Graiai  or the "Three Gray Sisters"  were the daughters of Phorcys (one aspect of the 'old man of the sea) and Ceto.  They look like old ladies; they were born old, with long gray hair. They lived near the entrance to the Underworld and were the guardians of the Gorgons. Their names were:Deino or Dread. The Terrible.  She was the dreadful anticipation of horror.  Enyo or Horror.The Warlike.  She was always clothed in yellow. She was also known as 'the waster of cities'. Pemphredo or Alarm.The Wasp. She was always beautifully attired.

THE GRAIAE

THE GRAIAE

THE SIRENS

In Greek mythology, the Sirens  were dangerous and devious creatures, portrayed as femmes fatales who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. 

Pegasus was a winged horse and good flyer. The Pegasus was the result of the ill fated mating of Medusa and Poseidon. It was born from Medusa when her head was cut off by Perseus. Tamed by Bellerophon it served as his mount during his adventures including his slaying of the Chimaera. When Bellerophon attempted to fly Pegasus to Mount Olympus he was dismounted by Zeus. Pegasus continued on and made it to Mount Olympus. Here Pegasus spent his days carrying lighting bolts for Zeus.

PEGASUS

Typhon was a monstrous creature and the offspring of Gaea, the Mother Earth, and Tartarus, a lower god of the Underworld. Typhon mated with Echidna, who was half woman and half snake and they created creatures that would bring terror and mischief to mankind: Orthos, a two-headed dog, Cerberus, a three-headed dog, Lernaea Hydra, a chronic, serpent-like creature with numerous heads and Chimaira, an awful creature with the body of a goat, the tail of a snake or dragon and the head of a lion.

TYPHOON

A fire-breathing creature that has the body of a goat, the head of a lion and the tail of a serpent.  Some sources have represented the Chimera with three heads (the lion's head as the main, then the goat's head sprouted from its back, and the serpent's or Dragon’s head on its tail), but the popular myth tells of the single, fire-vomiting head.

THE CHIMAERA

The Fates have the subtle but awesome power of deciding a man's destiny. They assign a man to good or evil. Their most obvious choice is choosing how long a man lives. There are three Fates. Clotho, the spinner, who spins the thread of life. Lachesis, the measurer, who choses the lot in life one will have and measures off how long it is to be. Atropos, she who cannot be turned, who at death with her shears cuts the thread of life.

THE FATES