The Olympian Greek Gods and Goddesses

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

Apollo

The sensual goddess of Love

and Beauty

The youthful god of the Sun

and the Music

Ares

Artemis

The fierce god of War

The wild goddess of the Hunt

Athena

Demeter

The sophisticated goddess of

Wisdom and Arts

The natural goddess of the

Harvest

Dionysus

Hades

The joyful god of Wine

The gloomy god of the

Underworld

Hephaestus

Hera

The ill-favored god of

Metallurgy

The mature goddess of the

Family

Hermes

Hestia

The cunning god of the Trade

The calm goddess of the

Hearth

Zeus

Poseidon

The superior King of the Gods

and Ruler of Mankind

The moody god of the Seas

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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