The Olympian Greek Gods and Goddesses - Watchmen Ministry

The Olympian Greek Gods and Goddesses

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The Olympian gods were the main gods of Ancient Greece. After overthrowing their ancestors, the Titans, the Olympian gods became the rulers of the World (Cosmos), representing the civilization of the world. The Olympian gods majestically and democratically dwelled on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece, built by the Cyclopes. The leader of the Olympian gods was Zeus.

The gods were born and grew just like human beings, some of them even married, however they were unaging and death never came to them. They lived inside human-like bodies with an ethereal fluid called ichor running through the veins. They had passions and human weaknesses and were many times at fault, but were then obliged to take the full responsibility of their actions.

Greek myths always refer to the twelve Gods of Mount Olympus, but actually, in total there were more Olympian Gods in Greek Mythology. However, there were never more than twelve at one time. The four alternative gods were Hestia, Hades, Dionysus and Demeter, depending on the location.

[Read how the gods were worshipped in ancient Greece]

Aphrodite

The sensual goddess of Love and Beauty

Apollo

The youthful god of the Sun and the Music

Ares

Artemis

The fierce god of War

Athena

The sophisticated goddess of Wisdom and Arts

Dionysus

The joyful god of Wine

Hephaestus

The ill-favored god of Metallurgy

Hermes

The wild goddess of the Hunt

Demeter

The natural goddess of the Harvest

Hades

The gloomy god of the Underworld

Hera

The mature goddess of the Family

Hestia

The cunning god of the Trade

The calm goddess of the Hearth

Poseidon

The moody god of the Seas

Zeus

The superior King of the Gods and Ruler of Mankind

The First Greek Gods and Goddesses

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The ancient Greek mankind, trying to explain certain metaphysi phenomena and anxieties, invented amazing myths concerning Cosmogony (the creation of the World) and the Theogony (the Gods).

Thus, the ancient Greek people created their own splendid, yet h like world of gods, justifying the various abstract significances Birth or Death.

First Greek Gods ? Chaos, the primeval state of existence

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According to the Hesiod's Theogony (around 700 BC), in the beginning there was Chaos as a primeval state of existence. Chaos was the primal emptiness- a dark, silent, formless and infinite oddity with no trace of life. Out of Chaos, Mother Earth Gaea first came to existence. Full of life and power, Gaea created high mountains, low lands, rivers, lakes and seas. Soon Chaos created Tartarus, the embodiment of the Underworld who built his home deep below the World of Gaea. Gaea and Tartarus united and created Typhoon), an appalling, fire breathing dragon with hundred heads. appeared out of Chaos, in the form of Eros. Eros was the most handsome k gods and invincible by nature. gave birth to Erebus, the symbolization of the dark silence, and Nyx, the nt of the night. ntervention of Eros, Erebus and Nyx united and Nyx created Aether (the re) and Hemera (the Day).

Learn about: The Creation of the Titans | The Creation of modern Mankind

Greek Mythology - Family Tree of the First Greek Gods

First Greek Gods ?Theogony - The Creation of the First Greek Gods

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The ancient Greek mankind, trying to explain certain metaphysical phenomena and anxieties, invented amazing myths concerning the Cosmogony (the creation of the World) and the Theogony (the birth of the Gods). Thus, the ancient Greek people created their own splendid, yet human-like world of gods, justifying the various abstract significances like Love, Birth or Death.

The origins of the gods of ancient Greek religion are described in the Theogony, the famous poem which was composed by the Greek writer Hesiod around 700 BC, and the Library of Apollodorus.

The creation of the gods needs to be divided into four parts:

The Coming into Existence of Chaos

First there was Chaos, a rough unordered mass of things, also considered as a void. Chaos was followed by Gaea (Earth) and Eros(Desire), who came to cancel every logical thought or act. Gaea then brought Uranus (the Heaven), the infinite Pontus (the Sea) with his raging waves and high mountains full of forests to the world.

The Castration of Uranus

Uranus' task was to surround and cover Gaea with his starry coat, however, it very soon came to a union between Uranus and Gaea and they became the first divine couple in the world.

Gaea bore Uranus twelve Titans: the deep Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, the golden-wreathed Phoebe the charming Tethys, and Cronus, who was the youngest of all. Furthermore, she produced three one-eyed creatures called Cyclopes (Brontes, Steropes and heady Arges), as well as three hundred-handed creatures called Hecatonchires.

Uranus was fearful of his children overthrowing him, so he pushed his children back one by one into the womb of Gaea. His wife Gaea was in deep grief and sorrow over the loss of her own children, so in the end she decided to hand a sickle to her son Cronus, the youngest of the Titans, in order to castrate his father.

Cronus castrated his father while he was sleeping; the blood from Uranus was collected by Mother Earth Gaea and she produced Erinyes (Furies), Giants and Nymphs. Cronus then threw his father's genitals into the sea, around which foams developed, that started in the island of Kythera and then slowly made their way to the island of Paphos, in modern Cyprus. In Paphos, the foams transformed into Aphrodite, the Olympian goddess of Love and Beauty.

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