Additional Readings: The Profile of the Olympian Gods and Goddesses

Annotated from: Robin Hard (2013)

1. Zeus
 Also known as Hyettios (Rainer), Ourios (Sender of Favorable Winds, Astrapaios
(Sender of Lightning), Bronton (Thundere), Epikarpios (the produce of Fruits),
Georgos (Farmer).
 Zeus is often represented, in art and literature alike, as associated with the oak, a
tree marked out as appropriate not only by its beauty and majesty and its long
life, but by the two conspicuous fact that it grew widely in ancient Greece and is
struck very frequently by lightning.
 The protector of the household and social order, and all sovereignty and law
proceeds from him.
 Two important attributes of Zeus are the thunderbolt and aigis. Aigiochos, the
Aigis-bearer is always been a regular title of Zeus. The Aigis could serve as a
rough hide, it would serve its wearer as a defense, not only against a bad
weather but against enemy’s blows.
 THE Brides of Zeus and the Origins of the Olympian Gods
 Zeus had a single wife, Hera, but fathered many illegitimate children, who, with
certain exceptions would acquire divine status If their mothers were goddesses,
or be mortal if they were born to mortal mothers.
 His illegitimate affairs included Metis, the mother of Athena.
 The Titan Themis who represents an aspect of his rule as the personification of
law and order. She bore him two sets of children; the HORAI (Seasons) and
MOIRAI or the FATES.
 His union with Eurynome, bore him a single set of daughter, the CHARITES or
Graces.
 The next consort is the corn-goddess, Demeter, which led to the birth of Kore
(The Maiden), otherwise known as Persephone.
 After her sister Demeter, was the titan Mnemosyne, the personification of
Memory who bore him a set of nine daughters, the MUSES.
 The sixth and last of his preliminary wives of Zeus was his cousin LETO, who
bore him Apollo and Artemis.
 Finally, Hera bore him three children to Zeus namely Hebe, Ares, and Eileithuia
and as the counterpart of Athena , she bore Hephaestus.

2. Poseidon
 The ruler of the sea and its domains. He was also known as the god of
earthquakes and horses.
 In art, he is shown as a tall, mature, and stately figure with a distinguished
emblem, the trident. He could use his trident as scepter and mostly as a weapon.
He could as well use it to stir up the sea and calm it down again, or to split rocks
and to reorder the topography of the Earth.
 In his sea-passage and marriage procession, he is always accompanied by
Tritons, dolphins and Hippocamps; monsters with the fore parts of a horse and
hind parts of a fish.
 According to Hesiod, he once slept with the monstrous Medusa, causing her to
conceive the winged horse, Pegasus, who sprang from her body (along with
Chrysaor) after Perseus cut off her head.
 He married Amphitrite and bore him one single child named Triton; ‘who holds
the depths of the sea and lives with his mother and the lord his father, a fearsome
god.’
 Triton is presented as a merman with a human head and upper body and a
fishtail.
3. Hades
 As the ruler of the dead, he was grim and mournful in his character and functions
alike, and severely just, and inexorable in the performance of his duties.
 He acted in the manner of a jailer, ensuring that dead mortals who entered his
dark kingdom never escaped back to the light of the sun; and his realm contained
a place of punishment where some few who had gravely offended the gods, or
indeed the wicked would be subjected to torment or correction in the afterlife. He
is NEVER A MALEVOLENT GOD.
 His mysterious dominion is a gloomy subterranean land which contains four
infernal rivers which is mentioned in Odyssey, namely the Styx, Acheron, Kokytos
and Pyriphlegethon and a fifth river, Lethe.
 Their names are significant in every case, meaning respectively the Abhorrent,
the Woeful (distressful), The River of Lamentation, the Fiery and the River of
Forgetfulness.
 He presides over the underworld with her queen, Persephone, who is known for
making independent decisions with regard to mortals in the Underworld.
However, she can be invoked with curses and act upon them as Hades is his
husband.

4. Hera
 The sister and wife of Zeus.
 Her main feature is laid down in Iliad, who is a very jealous goddess but is
nonetheless a goddess of strong character and will who is a worthy match for her
husband even if she knows that she is always bound to fail in the long run when
she tries to oppose him.
 She was picture as a mature and even matronly woman whose noble and severe
beauty was very different from that of Aphrodite. In art, she is shown as a tall and
stately figure, usually fully draped, crowned with a sort of diadem.

5. Apollo
 He is most characteristically Greek of all the gods in his developed form, and on
account of the picturesque beauty with which Hellenic art and literature
surrounded him.
 The unerring prophet who knows the true and the right will of his father Zeus,
revealing them to mortals, though often in enigmatic fashion through oracles.
 He is the god of purification and healing but also the same archer-god ‘who
strikes from afar’ and inflicts plague and death with his arrows.
 The leader of the 9 Muses (Mousagetes) and a patron of poetry and music,
particularly that of the lyre.
 He acts as the protector of flocks and herds, and preserves grain and crops from
bad weather, blight and vermin.
 Note: The Specific Functions of the Nine Muses
o Kalliope-the muse of Epic Poetry
o Polyhmnia-Muse of the Hymns for the Gods
o Terpsichore-Muse of Choral Lyric and Dancing
o Kleio-the Muse of History. Kleio is bestowed with the responsibility of
celebrating the glorious deeds of heroes and heroines of the past.
o Thaleia (Good Cheer) could be fittingly enlisted as the Muse of Comedy.
o Melpomene is the Muse of Tragedy.
o Ourania (the Heavenly) is the Muse of Astronomy
o Erato (The Lovely and Desirable) as the Muse of Lyric Poetry which is
most of the time erotic in content.
o Euterpe (She that gladdenes) Muse of flute playing.
6. Hermes
 The divine herald. He is pictured holding the herald’s staff known as kerykeion or
caduceus.
 He is the god of the road and the protector of all who travel on it.
 He tends to be discreet or even furtive in his approach and actions but is always
benevolent to mortals.
 He had been assigned to perform various tasks such as the special protector of
Perseus and Heracles during his journey to the Underworld.
 Zeus ordered for his part that Hermes should have a dominion over trade, and
beasts and flocks and be appointed as his messenger to Hades.
 Patron of Effective Communication, specially oratory and persuasive speech or
interpretation in dealing with foreigners.
 He is the youngest son of the family running errands for the rest.
 NOTE: After demanding that Hermes should swear never to steal from him again,
Apollo swore to become his dearest friend and presented him with a three-
branched golden staff.

7. Hephaestus
 The ugliest, deformed god of Olympus.
 He is known as the blacksmith of the gods.
 His creations are classified into three main classes.
 He is considered as the master-architect of the splendid homes of the gods and
goddesses.
 In Iliad, his skills is extended to masonry by referring to porticoes of polished
stones that had been erected at the place of Zeus.
 Secondly, He is a craftsman with superhuman capacities who could create
automata that acted of their own accord.
 We are told in the Iliad that he was assisted in his house by maidens of gold who
possessed understanding, speech and strength; and he also made tripods that
were fitted with ears and wheels, and could make their way to and from the
gatherings of the gods at his command
 Thirdly, Hephaestus made splendid arms and armor, and jewelry and other fine
artifacts.
 He was the mastermind behind the creation of Pandora.

8. Ares
 The God of War which represented the more brutal aspects of warfare-battle
frenzy and slaughter and strife as enjoyed for their own sakes.
 Simonides and some later suggests that Aphrodite also bore Eros(Cupid) to Ares;
(which would be appropriate enough, seeing that Ares loved the goddess and
Eros waited upon her.)
 Ares fathered three children by Aphrodite, Deimos and Phobos, two terrible gods
who strike confusion into the close-packed ranks of men in numbing war, and a
goddess of a very different character Harmonia who is very gracious in character.
 He was closely associated with the Amazons, as their main god and as the father
of prominent Amazons.

9. Athena
 A wise virgin goddess who is also a war-goddess, a protector of cities, and a
divine patroness of arts and crafts.
 She is represented in art and literature as a stately virgin with a beautiful but
severe face, grey eyes, and a powerful yet graceful build.
 She is normally shown fully armed with an elaborately crested helmet, wearing
the Aigis which serves her as a cuirass and cloak and holding a spear.
  Pallas was one of the commonest titles of Athena. Its meaning and origin are
uncertain. According to the most favored explanation, it means “Girl or Maiden”.
 She is the patroness of peaceful handicrafts, especially with spinning and
weaving, which were usually exercised in the home by the housewife with the aid
of her daughters and servant-women.
 She was extensively worshipped in this connection, and is occasionally shown
with a spindle in artistic images, even if such representations are less common
than those that show her in martial guise.

10. Artemis
 Commonly represented as a young, tall, and vigorous maiden who wears a short
tunic reaching to her knees, carries a bow and quiver, and is often accompanied
by a stag or doe.
 The moon-god and the goddess of hunting, untamed lands and their wildlife.
 A gentle side of nature is shown in her concern for the young of all living things,
whether of wild beasts, as an aspect of her nature as the protectress of wild
animals.
 According to a chorus from Aeschylus, she is kind to the helpless cubs of
ravening lions and delights in the tender sucklings of all beasts that wander the
wild.
 She is given other titles such as Locheia (she of the childbed) and Kourotrophos
(nurse of the young) ultimately making her as the goddess of childbirth.
 Although on some occasion, she is a formidable goddess who acts as an agent
of death, especially with regard to women, and is ruthless in avenging any slight
which frequently show her inflicting death and disaster on mortals.

11. Aphrodite
 She presided over the matters and pleasures of the heart and sexual desire,
 She is the goddess of love, beauty and fertility, and also of married love to some
extent, although Hera tended to dominate in the last area.
 She was widely honored as the protector of the sailors who could bring calm to
the sea or victory in sea-battles.
 Plato and Xenophon draw a sharp between Aphrodite Outania on the one hand,
as the “heavenly” goddess who presides over the highest form of love that is
directed primarily towards the soul of the beloved.
 Under her title Outania, which was derived as we have seen from her Semitic
counterpart, who was noted for her high-mindedness and far from any immoral
connotations.
 Example: When Harmonia, the Divine wife of the first king of Thebes, was
married to him which is a love which is free of from the lust of the body.
 Aphrodite Pandemos (of all the people) on the other hand as the goddess who
concerns herself with vulgar or mercenary love that is purely carnal in nature.
 Aphrodite’s title of Pandemos represents her as a civic goddess whose worship
unites the people.
 -At Athens, Aphrodite Pandemos was a quiet and staid marriage-goddess, in
whose worship nothing untoward seems to have taken place; according to a local
legend, Theseus founded the cult after he had united the people of Attica into a
single state.
 -Her martial aspect, which may seem more surprising, can be explained by a
similar trait in her Semitic equivalent; she was worshipped as an armed war-
goddess at Cythera and Sparta and as Nikephoros, the Bringer of Victory at
Argos.
 She is the cult-partner of Ares and her lover or husband in mythology.

12. Dionysus
 He is the god of wine and ecstasy.
 In early artistic representations, until the second half of the fifth century B.C,
Dionysus is portrayed as a mature bearded man dressed in robes. Vase-
paintings often show him wreathed in ivy or vine, and holding a cup (kantharos)or
drinking-horn in his hand.
 He wears a panther-skin or deer-skin. His special emblem, which may be carried
by himself or by his attendants or worshippers, is the thyrsos, a staff that is tipped
with an ornament resembling a pine-cone entwined with ivy or vine.