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Poseidon (God of Sea)

Poseidon is a god of many names. He is most famous as the god of the sea. The son of

Cronus and Rhea, and his brothers and sisters include: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, andZeus. Poseidon is one of six siblings who eventually "divided the power of the world."

The division of the universe involved him and his brothers, Zeus and Hades. Poseidonbecame ruler of the sea, Zeus ruled the sky, and Hades got the underworld. Poseidon was

similar to his brother Zeus; he had many love affairs and fathered numerous children.

Poseidon was a very moody divinity. When he was in a good mood, Poseidon created

new lands in the water and a calm sea. In contrast, when he was in a bad mood, Poseidonwould strike earthquakes, cause unruly springs, ship wrecks, and drownings. Though he

could be difficult and assert his powers over the gods and mortals, Poseidon could be

cooperative and it was he who helped the Greeks during the Trojan War.

Nemesis (God of righteous vengeance)

Nemesis is the goddess of divine justice and vengeance. Her anger is directed towardhuman transgression of the natural, right order of things and of the arrogance causing it.

Nemesis pursues the insolent and the wicked with inflexible vengeance. She is portrayed

as serious looking woman with in her left hand a whip, a rein, a sword, or a pair of scales.

Narcissus(handsome mortal)

Narcissus is a beautiful young man who spurned sex and died as a result. He is the son of

the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope. Tiresias, the seer, told his parents that the

child "would live to an old age if it did not look at itself." Many nymphs and girls fell inlove with him but he rejected them. One of these nymphs, Echo, was so distraught over

this rejection that she withdrew into a lonely spot and faded until all that was left was a

plaintive whisper. The goddess Nemesis heard the rejected girls prayers for vengeanceand arranged for Narcissus to fall in love with his own reflection. So, Narcissus fell in

love with his own reflection in a spring and, in desperation, killed himself. This story

give an origin to the narcissus flower, which grew where Narcissus died.

Echo (Beautiful nymph who loved Narcissus, cursed by Zeus)

The chief god Zeus had many affairs with both mortals and gods, much to his wife's

dislike. While he pursued his amours, it was Echo's duty to beguile Hera's attention by

incessantly talking to her. Hera discovered the trick and as punishment, she made Echo

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always repeat the voice of another. One day, Echo fell in love with a vain youth named

Narcissus, who ignored her. Narcissus found a pool of water and stared at his lovely

reflection until he died. Echo watched him until she pined away, now her voice remains,repeating the last few things people say.

Nike (Goddess of victory)

Nike is the Greek personification of victory. She can run and fly at great speed. She is aconstant companion ofAthena. She was represented as a woman with wings, dressed in a

billowing robe with a wreath or staff.

Apollo (God of Light & Music)

Apollo was the god of music (principally the lyre, and he directed the choir of the Muses)and also of prophecy, colonization, medicine, archery (but not for war or hunting),

poetry, dance, intellectual inquiry and the carer of herds and flocks. He was also a god oflight, known as "Phoebus" (radiant or beaming, and he was sometimes identified with

Helios the sun god). He was also the god of plague and was worshiped as Smintheus

(from sminthos, rat) and as Parnopius (from parnops, grasshopper) and was known as thedestroyer of rats and locust, and according to Homer's Iliad, Apollo shot arrows of plague

into the Greek camp.

Hermes(Messenger of Gods: led dead souls to the underworld)

Hermes, the herald of the Olympian gods, is the son ofZeus and the nymph Maia,daughter ofAtlas and one of the Pleiades. Hermes is the god of shepherds, land travel,

merchants, weights and measures, oratory, literature, athletics and thieves, and known for

his cunning and shrewdness. Most importantly, he is the messenger of the gods.

Aphrodite(Goddess of love, Roman name: Venus, son was cupid).

The Greek goddess of love. Unlike her Roman counterpart Venus, with whom she wasidentified, Aphrodite was not only a deity of sexual love but also of affection and all theimpulses that underpin social life. Her amorousness may be partly explained by one of

the legends concerning her birth. Inside the divine flesh a goddess was nurtured, whom

the Greeks called Aphrodite, she who came from the foam.

Of historical interest are the two stories that connect Aphrodite with Troy. WhileAphrodite was instrumental in saving a remnant of the Trojans through providing them

Source: Encyclopedia Mythica, http://www.pantheon.org/main/search.html

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with the leadership of Aeneas after the fall of the city to the Greeks, she contributed to

the fatal conflict herself. In order to be judged the most beautiful of the goddesses by

Paris, the son of Priam and Hecuba, when he was serving as a shepherd, Aphroditepromised him the hand of Helen, already the wife of the Spartan King Menelaus. The

abduction of Helen by Paris brought about the Trojan War.

Eros (God of love; Cupid in Roman version)

Eros, the Greek god of love and sexual desire (the word eros, which is found in the Iliad

by Homer, is a common noun meaning sexual desire). He was also worshiped as a

fertility god, believed to be a contemporary of the primeval Chaos, which makes Eros one

of the oldest gods. It was also written that Eros hatched our race and made it appear firstinto the light. It is said that he was responsible for the embraces ofUranus (Heaven or

Sky) and Gaia (Earth), and from their union were born many offspring.

Eros is usually depicted as a young winged boy, with his bow and arrows at the ready, toeither shoot into the hearts of gods or mortals which would rouse them to desire. Eros as

being bitter sweet, and cruel to his victims, yet he was also charming and very beautiful.

Psyche (goddess of love & the souls psychology)

In Greek and Roman mythology, a princess who was so lovely that Eros (Cupid), the god

of love, fell in love with her. Her beauty was such that worshipers began to turn away

from Venus, and the envious goddess commanded her son Cupid to make Psyche fall inlove with the most despicable of men. But Cupid himself fell in love with Psyche and hid

her in a remote place, where he visited her secretly under cover of darkness. One nightshe lit a lamp and discovered her lover's identity. He left angrily, and Psyche wandered

the earth searching for him performing difficult and dangerous tasks, until at last she was

captured by Venus. After Cupid rescued Psyche, Jupitermade her immortal and gave her

in marriage to Cupid.

Source: Encyclopedia Mythica, http://www.pantheon.org/main/search.html

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