By Jonah, Elisa, Marty, Justin

Hellenic Polytheism

Hellenic Polytheism is the fancy term for Greek Mythology.

What is it?

Hellenic Polytheism is based around reasons created to explain everyday phenomenon like weather, day and night, and even death.

Most of these explanations had to do with a certain powerful being having power over that certain aspect of life.

Here are just some of them.

Gods

Zeus is the king of the gods, the most powerful, and king of the sky.He is the son of the titans Cronus and Rhea.He controls the sky due to him tricking Hades into ruling the underworld and leaving Poseidon with the sea.Fun Fact: Although being married to Hera, the goddess of marriage he had affairs with many other women.

Zeus

The king of the sea and brother to Zeus and Hades.He could create springs of water and earthquakes

with one strike of his trident.Sailors prayed to him for safe voyages.Fun Fact: One of his sons was the Cyclops Polyphemus who imprisoned Odysseus and his men on his island.

Poseidon

Hera is the goddess of marriage and women.She is married to Zeus and is very jealous of his other lovers.The peacock and cow are her sacred animals.Fun Fact: She tried to kill Herakles on

multiple occasions and managed to succeed at one point, but Zeus saved him and made him immortal.

Hera

Hephaestus is the god of the forge and fire.He was born to Hera when she was mad at Zeus for creating Athena by himself. As revenge she gave birth to Hephaestus herself. But when she saw how disfigured he was,

she threw him off of Mount Olympus.He serves as the blacksmith to the gods.Fun Fact: He got revenge on Hera by making her

a golden throne she could not get out of when she sat on it. He refused to let her get up until she apologized and let him back into Olympus.

Hephaestus

Athena is the goddess of wisdom and strategy.While her brother is in charge of actual fighting, she rules over the strategic portions of battle.Her sacred animal in the Owl.Fun Fact: She competed with Poseidon in a

competition to become the patron of Athens. Poseidon gave the people a salt water spring and Athena gave them the first domestic olive tree. The people went with Athena.

She was also born for Zeus’s head.

Athena

Hades is the god of the underworld and death.He keeps track of everyone who has died and chooses where they go after death.Hades has been rarely known to give

opportunities to leave the underworld.Fun Fact: He is married to the goddess

Persephone who has to stay with him for half the year after she ate a pomegranate from his garden.

Hades

Demeter is the goddess of the harvest.She causes winter because when her daughter Persephone has to go to Hades for half the year she goes into grief and neglects her duties. People pray to her for a bountiful harvest.Fun Fact: Despite being the goddess of the

harvest she also oversaw the cycle of life and death.

Demeter

Apollo is the god of light, the sun, truth, and prophecy.He has a sacred city of Delphi, where it is said he has prophets that can predict the future.He is also the leader of the muses, the

original musicians.Fun Fact: He is the twin brother of the

goddess Artemis, though it is disputed who was born first.

Apollo

Hermes is the god of travelers, wit, and athletics. He is the messenger of the gods and is one of the only people to go to the underworld and back.Most versions of Greek myths portray him as

a trickster.Fun Fact: In protest of the invasion of Sicily

during the Peloponnesian War, a rebel group cut the privates of all his statues.

Hermes

Ares is the god of war and bloodshed.Ares is mostly in charge of the violent and bloody part of war.People pray to Ares to gain his favor and help them win battles.Fun Fact: Despite being the god of war, he is

constantly beaten by his sister Athena in fights.

Ares

Aphrodite the goddess of love and beauty.She was born when Cronus cut Uranus and caused him to bleed three drops of blood. On of which formed Aphrodite.She was forced into marriage with Hephaestus

so the other gods wouldn’t fight over her.Fun Fact: She was voted the fairest of her,

Hera, and Artemis by Paris. She almost single handedly caused the Trojan War.

Aphrodite

The goddess of the hunt, the wild, and childbirth.At a young age she surprised Zeus by asking him to allow her to remain an unmarried virgin forever, and to give her a bow and arrow instead.She is also the protector of young girls.Fun Fact: After seeing the pain her mother went

through in the birth of her and her brother, she vowed to help women with the pains of childbirth.

Artemis

Greek legends were usually passed down orally from person to person, but were all eventually written down.

Two of the main Greek Epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey.

The Iliad depicts the Trojan War, while the Odyssey depicts the long trek back home Odysseus had to take.

Scriptures

Hellenic Polytheism is a polytheistic religion focusing on gods and other deities as the reasons for things like seasons and day and night.

Day and night happen because of the gods Helios(Sun) and Selene(Moon) riding around the sky in chariots that represent the sun and moon.

Beliefs

Greeks would pray to the gods in a number of ways.

Animal SacrificesLibations (Ritual pouring of wine)Praying in templesVotive offerings

Practices

Although it dates to far back to be stated accurately where it started, it is known that it began in Greece.

It was spread to other places in the Mediterranean by Greek immigrants.

Origin

Hellenic Polytheism is for the most part a dead religion.

While some people in the world still practice it, it is an uncommon practice.

Followers

Despite being a city in myth Troy was actually found.Current Humans are the Bronze age of civilization as the

silver and gold ages both failed.One of Aphrodite's faithful followers made a statue of his

perfect woman and fell in love with it, so Aphrodite brought it to life.

In some versions of Greek myths women were created as a punishment for man.

The life of Herakles was tough and full of hardship. The Disney movie is so inaccurate it isn’t even funny.

Athena invented the fluteShe also created spiders. Many different variations of Greek myths exist.

15 Other Facts

Hermes created the popular Greek instrument called the Lyre.

Most Greek heroes met with extremely tragic ends. But of course we never hear about that part.

Aphrodite gave birth to Eros, the god our modern day Cupid is based off of.

The tale of King Midas was originally a Greek myth.The Titan Prometheus came up with the idea to give

humans the shape of the gods.Prometheus also gave humans fire, and as a result got

tied to a rock and had his liver eaten by a eagle regularly.Pandora’s box was actually a Greek urn called a Pithos.

15 Facts Continued

WikipediaUsborne illustrated guide to Greek Myths

(Book)The Peloponnesian War (Book)Ancient Greece (Book)

References