Mythological Study of Olympian Gods: Myths and Iconography

Orientalizing

Archaic

Classical - red figure

Classical - red figure

Fourth Century

Hellenistic

Roman

Roman - syncretism

Medival

Medival

Renaissance

Renaissance

Baroque

Neoclassical

Neoclassical

Modern

Poseidon

1

Athena

2

Hermes

3

Apollo

4

Artemis

5

Zeus

6

Hera

7

Geometric

900 - 700 BC

Orientalizing

700-600 BC

Archaic

600 - 480 BC

Classical

480 - 400 BC

Fourth Century

399 - 323 BC

Hellenistic

323 - 146 BC

Roman

146 BC - 330 AD

Medival

330 - 1400 AD

Renaissance

1400 - 1600 AD

Baroque

1600 - 1750 AD

Neoclassical

1750 - 1850 AD

Modern

1850 - present

Io

God: Zeus

Story: Zeus fell in love with her and, to protect her from the wrath of Hera, changed her into a white heifer

Semele

God: Zeus

Story: Hera learned her and Zeus were having an affair, she tricked the her into having Zeus appear in his full glory which killed her because she was mortal

Ganymede

God: Zeus

Story: Zeus loves him and sent an eagle to get him because he wanted him. He was taken to Olympus to serve Zeus

Europa

God: Zeus

Story: She was abducted and then seduced by Zeus who transformed into a white bull

Rape of Persephone

God: Demeter

Story: She is picking flowers when Hades's chariot rises from the earth and grabs her by her ankles and drags her to hell. Demeter looks for her but is too late to get her because she already ate something from the underworld

Slaying of Python

God: Apollo

Story: Killed the serpent Python in order to gain control of the oracle and surrounding country

Daphne

God: Apollo

Story: Cupid shot Apollo with a love arrow causing Apollo to fall in love with the first person he saw, which was her. Then, Cupid then shot her with a lead-tipped arrow causing her to not fall in love.

Phaethon

God: Apollo

Story: He asks Apollo to drive the chariot of the sun through the heavens for a single day, and he ends of crashing and ruining the heavens and dying

Marsyas

God: Apollo

Story: He challenged Apollo to a contest with his lyre. Apollo won and tied him to a tree and flayed him

Hyacinth

God: Apollo

Story: His beauty attracted the love of Apollo, who killed him accidentally teaching him to throw the discus

Coronis

God: Apollo

Story: He fell in love with Ischys. Going against her father's warnings, she slept with him in secret. Apollo discovered through his prophetic powers and sent Artemis to kill him.

Casllisto

God: Artemis

Story: She slept with Zeus and got pregnant. Hera turns her into a bear and Artemis kills her.

Niobe

God: Artemis

Story: She bragged how her and her kids (6B & 6G) were better than Leto and her kids. Leto then send Artemis and Apollo to kill all her children

Acteon

God: Artemis

Story: He accidentally saw Artemis bathing naked so she turned him into a stag and he was chased and killed by his own dogs

Atalanta

God: Artemis

Story: She was a human huntress who swore an oath of virginity to Artemis to prove her devotion.

Arachne

God: Athena

Story: She boosted that she had a greater talent than Athena. This was a deadly sin and Athena transformed her into a spider to weave for all her life long.

Adonis

God: Aphrodite

Story: He was killed by a wild boar during a hunting trip and died in Aphrodite's arms as she wept. His blood plus her tears became the anemone flower.

Pentheus

God: Dionysus

Story: Dionysus lured him out to spy on the Bacchic rites where he expected to see sexual activities. The daughters of Cadmus saw him in a tree and brought him down and tore his limbs off

Pyramus & Thisbe

Two lovers in Babylon who occupy connected houses. Their parents hate each other and forbid them to wed. So they wisper their love for each other through a crack in the wall and run away together and ends like Romeo and Juliet

Hermaphroditus

Son of Hermes and Aphrodite. Salmacis fell in love with him and prayed they be joined together so gods took it literally and fused their bodies together

Pygmalion & Galatea

He makes a sculpture of a woman and falls in love with it and names her. After a while Venus bring her to life b/c of his prayers

Narcissus

He loved no one until he saw his own reflection in water and fell in love with himself. He pined for himself which drove him to his death and turned into a flower

Echo

Offended Hera by continuing to talk to her so Hera cursed her to only repeat the last words other say.

Midas

He requested that anything he touched turned to gold. He discovered it wasn't that great and begged Dionysus to reverse the spell

Pan

Pan and his satyrs were womanizers who pursued nature spirits known as nymphs. His powers included the ability to transfigure people and terrify even the mighty Titans with his voice. The wildness of soldiers in battle, called panic, was attributed to Pan

Syrinx

Pan pursued a nymph.She ran until she reached a river and begged her sisters of the stream to transform her. Just as Pan was about to embrace her, she changed into cattail reeds.

Orpheus

Orpheus saved the Argonauts from the music of the Sirens by playing his own music. On his return, he married Eurydice, who was soon killed by a snakebite. Overcome with grief, Orpheus ventured himself to the land of the dead to attempt to bring Eurydice back to life.

Eurydice

She stepped on a viper, was bitten, and died instantly. He husband Orpheus went to the Underworld to save her.