Greek Pantheon
(See also the section on Roman Pantheon)
ADONIS Beloved of Aphrodite, the central figure of a widespread
fertility cult, god of vegetation and re-birth. Adonis seems clearly
linked with Tammuz, the Assyro-Babylonion god who dies and rises again.
Adonis is the Greek version of the Phoenician term Adon, which means
"Lord."
APHRODITE Goddess of fertility, love and beauty. When Zeus killed his
father, Uranus, he cut off his father's genitals and cast them into the
sea. The sea foamed and boiled and Aphrodite arose from the waters. As
Aphrodite stepped from the ocean, flowers grew wherever her feet
touched. Paphos, the place where Aphrodite supposedly rose from the
waters, was her most important place of worship, and at Corinth she was
worshipped with sacred whores. Aphrodite is clearly related to Ishtar
and Astarte and very much loves the company of the male gods. While
married to Hephaestus, she also dallied with Ares, Poseidon, Adonis, and
Dionysius. Aphrodite is a complex, many faceted deity. Among her many
names are Melaina (the Black One), Androphonos (Killer of Men),
Epitymbidia (She Upon the Graves), Anadyomene (Rising from the Sea),
Urania (Sky Borne), and Pandemos (Goddess of All the People).
APOLLO God of light, god of prophecy and music, god of medicine, god of
flocks and herds, the divine archer, a pastoral god. Wise, beauteous,
all- knowing, ever just, ever young. Apollo urges forgiveness to all
offenses, even the blackest of crimes, so long as the offender was truly
penitent. After Zeus and Athene, the greatest of the Gods. Apollo's most
important place of worship was the famous temple at Delphi, where
oracles prophesied in his name. The Sybil at Cumae in southern Italy
also foretold the future in his honor. Paintings and statuary show him
with his bow and lyre, which were a gift from the infant Hermes. Apollo
loved young men and young women alike, though his affairs usually ended
unhappily. Artemis is his twin sister, and Horus is his counterpart in
the Egyptian pantheon.
ARES; to the Romans, MARS God of war. The Greeks detested Ares.
Quarrelsome, spiteful, unfaithful, Ares loves only hatred, strife and
bloodshed. Ares was the first god to be placed on trial for murder, and
the place in Athens where he was supposed to be have been tried was
called the Aeropagus, the Hill of Ares. By custom trials for murder were
held at the Aeropagus. The Romans believed Ares to be the father of
Romulus and Remus.
ARTEMIS Also PARTHENOS Fertility goddess, patron of maidens, goddess of
childbirth. Identified with the moon, as her brother Apollo is
identified with the sun. The Virgin Huntress, Mistress of Beasts, Lady
of All Wild Things, A Lion unto Women. Usually benevolent, but stern and
demanding, dangerous to cross. Artemis lived in Arcadia with a band of
nymphs subject to her strict discipline; those who dallied with men, as
did Callisto, might be shot down with an arrow or otherwise punished. No
man or god ever gained the love of Artemis. Artemis is virtually
unbeatable in combat. The only one of the immortals who ever bested her
was Hera, who defeated Artemis on the battlefield at Troy, whipped her
with her own bow, and sent her fleeing in tears.
ASCLEPIUS God of medicine and healing, son of Apollo. Originally a
mortal. So great was Asclepius' skill that he could revive the dead.
Zeus killed Asclepius after Hades complained that he was being cheated
of his lawful due, but Asclepius' virtues and good deeds won him a place
among the gods. Those who wished a cure of Asclepius would sleep in his
temple, where he would appear to them in a dream and advise them. Snakes
are his symbol and were allowed to wander freely in his temple at
Epidaurus.
ATHENE; to the Romans, MINERVA Goddess of wisdom, of architects and
sculptors, of weavers, of oxen and horses. A goddess of war. Like
Artemis, an eternal virgin. Often associated with birds, particularly
the owl. Athene taught men to tame horses and invented the potter's
wheel. Her city is Athens, which she won in a contest with Poseidon.
CHARON The ferryman who carries dead souls across the river Styx to
Hades. His fee is one obol, which was placed in the mouth of the dead
man before he was buried.
CRONUS The chief of the Titans, the race of giants who preceded the
Olympian gods. In very ancient times, Cronus was probably a corn god.
Told that he would be overthrown by one of his own sons, Cronus devoured
them all as they were born until his wife Rhea deceived him to save
Zeus. Wrapping a stone in swaddling clothes, Rhea gave the stone to
Cronus and spirited Zeus away to a hiding place. After defeating Cronus,
Zeus imprisoned him and the rest of the Titans, thus beginning the age
of the Olympian gods.
DEMETER; to the Romans, CERES Goddess of grain and the fruitful earth.
An earth mother who was certainly one of, if not the oldest of the gods.
Demeter's immensely popular festivals, held twice a year at Eleusis,
were so highly revered that no initiate was ever known to break the vow
of secrecy. Demeter gave the gift of grain to men and instituted the
Eleusinian Mysteries. The nature of these Mysteries has been lost to us,
though we know that the mystery cults celebrated the Lesser Mysteries in
February of every year and the Greater Mysteries in September of every
fifth year. Most likely the rites included processions, ritual cleansing
and religious dramas.
DIONYSIUS God of religious ecstasy and wine, accompanied always by
satyrs and nymphs. The force of life in all growing things. Dionysius is
the Greek form of Thracian and Phrygian deities of vegetation and
fetility, who followers worked themselves into a frenzy and ritually
tore apart their god in the form of a goat, a bull or a man. The cult
survived the introduction of the Olympian gods and proved so popular
that it finally had to be accepted by the Dorian Greeks. In the dark age
which followed the decline of the Myceneans, the cult of Dionysius
spread rapidly, especially among women. His followers were known as
maenads (mad women) and it was best not to be near when their frenzy
came upon them. Animals, and sometimes people, were torn apart and
sometimes eaten in the belief that they were devouring the god himself.
Drunk, lawless and noisy, not terribly impressed by authority or
convention, the followers of Dionysius were often unwelcome. His
worshippers danced wildly, and his rites were designed to cleanse men of
lowly irrational emotions and desires.
ERIS The dark sister of Eros. Goddess of chaos and discord, Eris loves
confusion and conflict. It was Eris who gave the goddesses the golden
apple inscribed "To the Fairest," which set in motion the chain of
events that led to the Trojan War.
EROS God of love both heterosexual and homosexual, though his domain is
not limited solely to sexual love and includes love in all its broadest
senses. One of the oldest of the gods, the center of his worship was at
Thespiae. The ancient Greeks feared Eros. Eros can cause havoc, and
there is an air of maliciousness about him. Eros can drive men and women
to noble self-sacrfice, but he can also torture them to madness and
drive them to self-destruction. Lacking wisdom, moderns have made Eros
contemptibly cute and sweet, and somewhat prankish.
GAIA "Mother of all things." The Earth itself, mother of the Titans, the
old gods. Usually represented as a giant woman. Before anything else
existed, there was only Chaos (the Void, the Nothingness, the Emptiness)
and the Earth. Gaia nurses the ill and watches over marriages. Gaia is
an oracle as well, and the temple at Delphi was hers before it was
Apollo's. The Greeks had no tales about Gaia, because she belonged to
the distant past.
HADES Also PLUTO "The Unseen," "the Rich." God of wealth and the
underworld. Hades is stern but perfectly just, and rejects all pleas for
mercy, but he is in no sense evil or destructive. His realm is not a
place of flames and torment, as is the Christian hell. Most dead souls
dwell on the plain of Asphodel, where they wander aimlessly as mere
shadows of their earthly selves. The blessed go to the Elysian Fields, a
place of great joy and beauty, while the abominably wicked go to the
dismal plain of Tartarus. You're born, you live, you die, you go to
Hades. End of story.
HEBE Goddess of youth and beauty. An eternally young girl, Hebe helps
the gods wash and dress themselves, though her main duty is to serve
nectar and ambrosia at their feasts. A minor but charming deity.
HECATE Goddess of black magic and evil ghosts. Often portrayed with
three faces: maiden, mother and crone. The poor and down trodden often
turned to Hecate for protection or vengance. Hecate defends children and
appears with her dogs at crossroads and tombs.
HELIOS God of the sun, the charioteer who drives the sun across the sky.
From his great height, Helios sees everything and was often called upon
to witness contracts and oaths. From the fifth century onward, Helios
was considered identical with Apollo.
HEPHAESTUS; to the Romans, VULCAN The lame blacksmith god, patron of
craftsman and metalworkers, god of fire. The centers of his cult could
be found wherever metalworkers congregated and near volcanos. Hephaestus
was so ugly that his mother Hera kept him out of sight, and the other
gods laughed at his lame gait. In revenge, Hephaestus tricked the gods
into giving him Aphrodite for his wife, though he never succeeded in
keeping her faithful. Some scholars say Hephaestus' lameness was a
reflection of an actual practice. A skillful smith was a rare and
valuable man, and tribes or villages would often cripple a good smith to
keep him from leaving or running away.
HERA; to the Romans, JUNO. Wife of Zeus, queen of the gods. Zeus is
quite a randy god, and Hera's domestic life with him is always stormy.
Zeus and Hera were on opposite sides during the Trojan War, and they
squabble all the way through the Iliad. At first a sky goddess, Hera
later became the embodiment of womanliness. Like Dionysius, Hera is a
pre-Olympian deity whose cult was so strong that it had to be adopted by
the Dorian Greeks. Hera was worshipped in high places, and her temples
were built on mountain peaks. Her festival, held at Argos and called the
Heraia, involved athletic contests.
HERMES; to the Romans, MERCURY The messenger of the gods, the god of
eloquence, the god of luck. God of travelers, merchants and athletes.
Originally a pastoral and fertility god in Arcadia, in his oldest
monuments Hermes is represented simply as a phallus. Easygoing, kind and
obliging, Hermes is quite helpful to both gods and men, though he
appears in some stories as a trickster. Hermes invented the lyre, which
he gave to Apollo to get out of a mess he'd made by stealing Apollo's
cattle. Hermes' image was often found at crossroads and junctions, and
he is shown with winged sandals and a winged helmet. Hermes was quite
popular.
HYPNOS God of sleep. Brother of Thanatos (Death). Hypnos has power even
over the gods.
IRIS Goddess of the rainbow. Like Hermes, a messenger for the gods. The
center of her cult was at Delos, and the proper offerings to her were
dried figs and honeycakes.
MOROS God of destiny. Dark, unknowable, all powerful. Even the gods are
subject to Moros.
MORPHEUS God of dreams. His name is the root word of "morphine."=
NEMESIS Also ADRASTEIA Goddess of destiny and inevitability, the
repayment of sin and crime.
NIKE; to the Romans, VICTORIA Goddess of victory. Generally portrayed as
a winged maiden holding high a wreath of bay leaves, the victor's
laurel. Her most famous temple was in Athens.
OCEANUS Ancient god of the oceans, eventually displaced by Poseidon.
With his sister, Tethys, he had six thousand children, half of them sea
spirits, the other half river spirits.
PAN "The Pasturer," "the Feeder of Flocks." God of herds, fertility and
male sexuality. Pan has the horns and legs of a goat and plays a syrinx,
a pipe withs seven reeds. An ancient god, he has no moral or social
aspect whatsoever, and is simply the embodiment of pure, basic instinct.
Some said that Pan taught Apollo the art of prophecy. Pan especially
loves mountains and wild country. Pan has a dark aspect as well, causing
men and animals to go suddenly mad with terror in distant, lonely
places. His name is therefore the root word of "panic."
PERSEPHONE Also KORE "Maiden." Daughter of Demeter, wife of Hades. Hades
kidnapped Persephone and took her to the underworld to be his queen.
When Demeter heard, she wandered the earth in mourning, abandoning her
responsibilities, and the earth grew gray and barren. The growing famine
forced Zeus to demand that Hades return Persephone to the surface world.
But Persephone had eaten part of a pomegranate, and eating of the food
of the dead bound her to their world. Zeus and Hades struck a bargain --
Persephone would spend seven months a year in the world of the living
and five in the world of the dead. When Persephone is in the world, her
mother Demeter is content, and the world blooms and lives. When she is
in the underworld, Demeter mourns, the world languishes, and we have
winter.
POSEIDON God of the sea and earthquakes. Horses and bulls are sacred to
him. Originally the god of earth tremors, of vegetation and fecundity,
Poseidon fought for the Olympians against the Titans, and his reward
after the victory was dominion over the seas, lakes and rivers.
Poseidon's fits of rage manifest as storms, and seamen dread his anger.
Bulls were thrown into the sea as sacrifices to Poseidon. His amorous
adventures played an important role in Greek mythology, and he loved men
no less than women.
THANATOS God of death. Sometimes portrayed as a winged spirit, at other
times as a man robed in black armed with a sword. Thanatos is not evil
or hateful. He is just doing his job.
URANUS Heaven personified. The son born to Gaia when she first emerged
from Chaos. Uranus' rain made Gaia fruitful, and she brought forth the
Titans. Jealous of his children, Uranus confined them to the earth, and
Gaia conspired wth Cronus, the boldest of her children, to overthrow
him. Cronus castrated Uranus with a sickle, only to be overthrown by
Zeus in his turn.
ZEUS; to the Romans, JUPITER. "Cloud Gatherer." The ruler of the
Olympian gods, god of the sky, thunder, and lightening, the upholder of
custom and tradition. Zeus had many names. As Soter, he is know as the
father and saviour of mankind; as Herkeios, guardian of the home; as
Xenios, keeper of the rules of hospitality; as Ktesios, protector of
property; as Gamelios, god of marriage; as Zeus Chronius, god of the
earth and fertility; as Zeus Eluetherious, protector of freedom; and as
Zeus Polieus, god of the civic virtues. Despite all these duties, Zeus
still had plenty of time to romp with young girls and boys. His wife
Hera persecuted his lovers, both mortal and divine.