Hera

• Roman name is Juno

• Goddess of marriage and childbirth

• Had power over women

• Symbols: peacock, white lilies, cows, pomegranates, and the lotus scepter

• Parents were Cronus and Rhea

• She was crowned queen when Zeus chose her as her wife by turning into a bird

• Her son Hephaestus was so ugly that she threw him off Olympus

• Zeus told Hephaestus he would marry Aphrodite

• She would trick women into killing them

• She punished Hercules (the song of Zeus having an affair with Alchemy) by making him go mad and killing his family

• Used a golden apple tree to imprison her enemies

• She lost a competition for who was the most beautiful and ended up punishing Paris in the Trojan war

• She punished people who attempted to seduce her

• Jason led a big ship on quests. When Hera disguised herself as an old woman, he respected her, so she helped him when he was in need.

• Women prayed to her during childbirth

• Seven children

Apollo

• Roman name is Phoebus

• His mom is Leto

• She had to find an island where she could take shelter in order to give birth to the twins.

• Twins with Artemis

• Given nectar and ambrosia to grow up in one day

• Apollo had Orion killed but felt guilty so he turned Apollo into a constellation

• Symbols: Silver bow, lyre, laurel branch, python, tripod, raven, dolphin, wolf, deer, mouse, swan and lion.

• Realms: Music and light, archery, prophecy, healing, poetry, purification, truth, reason, bringer of plagues, superiority, beauty, youth

• His music could ease people’s pain

• Patron god of Delphi

• He killed the python that attacked his family

• He was seen as perfect even though he caused a lot of problems

• Apollo killed a kid with a discus and the kid’s blood bloomed a lily with his name on it

Ares

• Roman name was Mars

• God of hatred anger and rage

• Was born when Hera touched an herb

• Always depicted with full set of armor, shield, cape, and weapon

• War Helm

• Had a sister named Enyo

• Hephaestus was Ares brother and Athena was his half sister

• Focused on spirit of battle

• Rejected most of his lovers except aphrodite

• Ares said he would fight for the greeks until aphrodite convinced him otherwise

• He would fight in any battle until there was bloodshed

• Always been rivals with Athena but lost to her wisdom

• Symbols: Boar, dog, spear, wolf

• Ares fought against Hercules

Artemis

• Roman name was Diana

• Mistress of animals, she of the wild

• Goddess of the moon, hunt, animals, childbirth, virginity

• Bow and arrows, quiver, hunting spears, water, deer, bears, partriches, bees, fowl

• Seen as a girl or young maiden in a dress or robe and headpiece

• Famous temple that became one of the seven wonders of the world

• Had two festivals after her

• Artemis and her brother were born on a floating island because Lithia was banned to go to Leto everywhere else

• She asked Zeus for her to never get married

• Artemis turned callisto into a bear

• In some stories she helped assist her mother in the birth of her twin brother

• Fierce temper, prideful

Hades

• His name is often translated to “the unseen”

• His roman name is Pluto or Pluton

• Many humans are scared of him because they know he can bring death with him

• Son of the titan Cronus and Rhea

• Cronus swallowed Hades

• His siblings are Poseidon, Zeus, Hera, Demetis, and Hestia

• The realm of the underworld (where souls go when they die)

• He liked staying in the underworld

• Symbols: Cervius (guards the underworld), chariot of black horses, cap of invisibility (used by Perseus to defeat Medusa)

• He captured Persephone

• Hades gave her back but she had eaten 6 seeds so she had to stay in the underworld for 6 months

• One story states that Hades fell in love with a nymph but Persephone became jealous so she turned her into a mint plant

• He captured an ocean nymph

Demeter

• One of the original children of Rhea and Cronus

• Goddess of agriculture

• Referred to as a bringer of bounty and good fortune

• Patron goddess of the Eleusinian Mysteries

• Thought to be one of the oldest of all the greek gods

• Detemer is the combination of words in greek that mean mother and earth

• Deo is derived from Dais and Danumi meaning barley

• Persephone is kidnapped and taken to the underworld

• Demeter demands for a temple to be built in her honor

• While she’s searching for Persephone some believe that she was depressed and caused the earth to be cold and some believe that she did it on purpose

• She is told that Persephone was taken to the underworld

• Demeter teaches the prince how to sew and harvest and tells him to travel the world and teach people about it

• Most of the art that exists of Demeter is Roman or from the renaissance

• Symbols: torch, poppy, fertility, motherhood

• Homer described her as slender and blonde hair

• Depicted with dark hair

• Widely worshiped in Greece, Italy, and surrounding areas.

Poseidon

• Roman name - Neptune

• Nickname was earth shaker

• Lord of the sea

• Seat on mountain olympus was by Zeus

• Associated wit the city of coryn

• Pulled around in a chariot

• People often worshipped him in bodies of water

• Symbols - horses, tuna, fish, bulls, dolphins

• Had a trident that when he struck the sea would allow large amounts of water to rover the land

• He was swallowed by his father Cronus

• Moody and violent god

• Had blue eyes and hair

• Persecuted Theseus for blinding his son

• Tried to overthrow his brother but he failed and he had to build the great walls of Troy as punishment

• Child of Cronus and Rhea

• Mostly loyal to his wife

• Had four kids

• Stories in homer - Odyssey and Iliad

• Poseidon and Athena fought over Athens by giving gifts to the city of athens. His gift was a well, and Athena gave an olive tree. Athena won ownership.

• Great creator of the horses

• Fell in love with Demeter and wanted to give her the best gift so he came up with the horse

• Single handedly responsible for the creation of the minotaur

Hestia

• Roman name was Vesta

• Eldest sister of Zeus

• Gentlest of all olympians

• Goddess of home and hospitality and domestic life, happiness, and blessings

• Invented the art of building houses

• Enormous role over marriage and children

• Sacrifices consisted of wine, food, water, and cows

• Every place that had a hearth was considered a sanctuary

• Barely seen in roman mythology

• Sanctuary was traditionally a circular building

• Worshipped by 6 priestesses

• If the fire accidentally went out it was considered a disaster

• “To begin with Hestia”

• Represented as someone who is accompanied by a donkey

• No particular mythology surrounding her

• Not easily distinguishable

• First to be swallowed by Cronus

• Gave up her throne for Dionysus

• Asked Zeus for her to remain a virgin

• Only one not to join the gods in the attack on Zeus

Hermes

• Roman name was Mercury

• His name came from a greek word that meant boundaries

• Delivered news and advice to the gods to make sure their relationships stayed in tact

• God of merchants, travelers, shepherds and thieves

• Inventor of the alphabet and numbers

• Cattle, sheep, deities of vegetation

• Often seen wearing a cap and boot

• Occasionally seen carrying a sheep or staff

• Symbols: rooster, tortoise, winged sandals, winged helmet, palm tree, goat, number 4

• Wasn’t good nor evil

• Willing to toy with mortals

• Popular cities - Thelos, Tangria, and Athens

• Guided the souls of the dead down to the river and left them in charge of the fairy man

• Worshipped as the god of fertility

• Honored just about everywhere in Ancient Greece

• Son of Zeus and Rhea

• All the children of Zeus are his siblings

• Had a younger brother relationship with Apollo

• Had 36 children

• Had 23 lovers

• When he was a baby he stole 50 of Apollo’s white cows and sacrificed to of the gods and with the remaining he made the world's first lyre

• Apollo gave Hermes his magic wand

• He made Hera angry when he killed her servant by disguising himself as a shepherd until Argus fell asleep and the he used his wand to put him in an eternal sleep

Zeus

• Roman name was jupiter

• Supreme leader of all the gods

• God of sky and weather

• Zeus means rainmaker

• Comes down in lightning

• Keeper of oaths

• Punishes those who lie and make dishonest deals

• Forced poseidon to build the walls of troy as punishment

• Lighting bolt, oak tree

• Shapeshifting and impersonating voices

• Won over hera by turning himself into a bird and changed back when she hugged him

• Only child not to be swallowed by cronus

• Was the youngest child

• Island of crete

• Nymphs cared for him

• Zeus has 5 siblings

• Many children due to his ability of shapeshifting

• Athena was his favorite child

• Born out of his head

• After eMtis he married Hera

• Typhon started tearing mountains out of the earth

• Zeus struck the mountain with a lightning bolt to fall back on typhon

• Turned it from a mountain into a volcano

• Created pandora

Athena

• Roman name is Minerva

• Goddess of wisdom, warerfare, and handicrafts

• Created the ship and potters wheel

• Associated with birds but especially owl

• Got the nickname palace from either skinning a giant named palace, or as a symbol of memory of her childhood friend named Palace, whom she accidentally killed.

• Zeus and Metis were her parents

• If she had been born a son she would have been overthrown

• Zeus’s head was struck with an axe and Athena popped out fully grown

• Athena competed with Poseidon for the ownership of Athens and won so it was named after her

• Athena taught the greeks fine arts such as weaving. Arachne thought she was better than Athena, so athena challenged her to a weaving contest. In one story, Athena won the contest, and in another she was mad at Arachne for her weave being a horrid display of the gods, so she turned her into a spider.

• Supported the greeks in the trojan war

• Tricked Hector into facing Achilles without a weapon

• One famous story she was involved in was the story of Typhon trying to climb olympus. Athena was the only one willing to fight him, however she encouraged Zeus to as well.

• Helped perseus on his quest by giving him the shield to kill Medusa.

Dionysus

• Roman name is Bacchus

• God of wine

• Zeus had an affair with his other semali

• Learned how to turn the greeks into wine

• Hestia gave up her throne for Dionysus

• Allowed Dionysus to save his mother from the underworld

• Seen accompanied by Satyrs

• Wreath of ivy leaves, drinking cups, and candles are symbols

• Associated with mount Neisure

• Balanced god

• He is depicted as feminine

• One day while he was sleeping he fell asleep and a pirate found him and kidnapped him bc they thought he was a prince and wanted to sell him

• Grapevines on the boat turned the pirates into dolphins

• When the hero gave the shepherds wine they thought they were being poisoned so they killed him and Dionysus turned him into a constellation

• Turned all girls and women mad

Aphrodite

• Roman name was venus

• Goddess of love and fertility

• Two known birth stories: Had no mother or father rose up out of the sea on a cushion of foam or she was the daughter of Zeus and Dione

• Apple, myrtles, scallop shell, dove and swan were her symbols

• The winds saw her and fell in love with her

• Welcomed by the three graces

• Gave her shiny clothes and jewels

• Doves carried her to olympus and gave her a golden throne and griddle, anyone wearing the girdle fell in love with her
  Stayed young and beautiful

• Statue was the first full sized female statue

• Zeus decided Hephaestus, a hand man should be aphrodite’s husband, she wasn’t happy and preferred his brother Ares

• Wasn’t loyal to husband Hephaestus. Cheated on him with four gods: Ares, Dionysus, Poseidon, Hermes

• Believed every pretty girl should be married

• Paris, the prince of troy granted Aphrodite the title of Fairest Goddess, so she promised that he could marry Helen, but forgot that Helen was already married

• 14 total children

• Turned a statue into a living woman so a man could have a relationship

• Wore shimmering garments with sparkling jewels

• Worshipped by Athenians

• Fruit, birds, figurines were all offerings made to her

• Transformed herself into a princess