The
ancient Greeks did not believe that the gods created the universe; rather, it
was the other way around: the universe created the gods. In the beginning, there was only Chaos,
and out of Chaos came the heavens and the earth. They were the first parents. The titans were their children, and the Olympian gods and
goddesses were their grandchildren.
The
Titans, often called the Elder Gods, ruled supreme in the universe for untold
ages. They were of enormous size
and incredible strength. Although there were many Titans, only a few were
written about. The most important of these was Cronus, for he ruled over the
other Titans until his son Zeus dethroned and seized his power. Other notable Titans were Ocean, the
river that was said to encircle the earth; Hyperion, the father of the son,
moon, and dawn; Mnemosyne, the personification of memory; Atlas, leader of the
Titan army in the war against Zeus and the younger gods, later cursed to bear
the weight of the world on his shoulders; and Prometheus, the creator and
savior of humankind.
After the
Titans defeat, Zeus and the twelve great Olympians, or Younger Gods, succeeded
them. They were called the
Olympians because Olympus was there home.
Mount Olympus is the tallest mountain in all of Greece, and it is said
that these gods ruled from their kingdom in a heavenly place high above this
peek.
Although
no one is entirely sure of the exact location, wherever Olympus was, the
entrance was a great gate made from clouds and guarded over by the Four
Seasons. Within these gates, the gods and goddesses lived. They feasted on ambrosia and nectar,
said to be the source of immortality, and they listened to the music of Apollo,
who played the lyre, an instrument similar to the harp, wonderfully. No wind could shake the untroubled
peace of Olympus, and no rain or snow ever fell there. Only a cloudless firmament bound
Olympus, whose walls were always lit with the purity of permanent
sunshine.
Together
the Olympians made up a divine family.
The twelve major Olympian gods and goddesses are as follows:
(1) Zeus
Zeus was the king of all gods and
goddesses. His power was greater than that of all the other divinities
together. He was also the ruler of
the sky, wielding the awful thunderbolt as his weapon. The weather was affected by his temper,
often stormy when he was angry.
Zeus is notorious for falling in love with one woman after another and
resorting to all kinds of tricks to hide his infidelity from his wife, Hera;
but Zeus was not, as you might think, all-powerful or all-knowing. He could be easily tricked and
deceived, and Hera, for example, jelous of his affairs, often outsmarts
him.
(2) Hera
Hera is most famous for being the
wife and sister of Zeus. She was also the goddess of marriage, and took
peculiar care to look after married women. Although among the most beautiful and blessed of all
Olympian goddesses, Hera is almost always at odds with her husband. A very jealous and vengeful woman, she
spends most of her time punishing the many lovers of Zeus. It made no difference to Hera how sorry
or innocent these women were, she never forgave or forgot them or their
children. When one god had judged
another goddess lovelier than she, HeraŐs hatred for him ultimately led to the
fall of Troy. Nevertheless,
despite her envious ways, Hera is at times the gracious protector of heroes, an
inspirer of heroic deeds, and always the most sacred goddess to marriage and
married women. She therefore was
venerated in every home. The cow
and the peacock were sacred to her, and they are used frequently to symbolize
her presence.
(3) Poseidon
Poseidon was god of the sea. He
was the most powerful god except for his brother, Zeus. Although he lived in a beautiful palace
under the sea, he more often spent his days hanging out in Olympus. When he was angry, Poseidon could cause
earthquakes, tsunamis, or hurricanes; but when he drove over the sea in his
golden chariot, carrying in his hands his trident, the thunder of the waves
sank into stillness, and a tranquil peace would follow. Besides being ruler of
the sea, he also gave the first horse to man, a gift for which he was much
honored.
(4) Hades
Hades was assigned to rule over
the dead, and his kingdom was the underworld itself. He had a special helmet that made any who wore it
invisible. It was rare that Hades
left his dark realm, and he was not encouraged to do so. He kidnapped his wife, Persephone, from
the goddess Demeter. Although he
was a terrible and unwelcome god, Hades was not evil.
(5) Aphrodite
Aphrodite, the goddess of love and
beauty, was born from the foamy water where Zeus had thrown his fatherŐs
severed genitals into the sea. She
loved to laugh and was irresistible even to the wisest of gods and men. When Aphrodite arrived, the winds and
storm clouds would disappear; sweet flowers embroidered her hair, and she moved
in a radiant life; and without her, there was no joy or loveliness in the world. Only later in her life did Aphrodite
become though of as treacherous and malicious, exerting a deadly and
destructive power over men.
(6) Athena
Athena, a gray-eyed virgin
goddess, was the motherless daughter of Zeus alone. Full-grown and in full armor, she sprang from the side of
his head a fierce, ruthless, and warlike woman. She was his favorite child. Although at first she was the protector of civilized of
life, Athena grew into the embodiment of wisdom, reason, and purity. The olive and the owl were sacred to
her.
(7) Apollo
Apollo was a very handsome god and
a master musician who delighted the Olympians as he played his golden
lyre. No false word ever fell from
his lips. Apollo was also an
archer, and hunted with a silver bow.
His symbols include the laurel tree, the crow, and the dolphin. For many years Apollo was worshipped at
an oracle, where it is said the future may be revealed to those who travel
there.
(8) Ares
Ares was the god of war, the son
of Zeus and Hera, and both hated him.
Ares was murderous, bloodstained an incarnate curse of mortals, and yet
strangely a coward, too, who bellowed with pain whenever he was wounded. Fittingly, Ares is symbolized by the
vulture.
(9) Artemis
Artemis was the twin sister of
Apollo, and also hunted with a silver bow. She was a virgin, a lover of the outdoors, the goddess
of the hunt, and the protector of women in childbirth. The cypress tree was sacred to her, as
were all wild animals, especially the deer.
(10) Hestia
Hestia, the sister of Zeus, was a
virgin goddess like Athena and Artemis.
She was the goddess of the hearth, which was a fireplace at the center
of every home around which a newborn chid must be carried before it was
accepted as part of the family.
Every meal began and ended with a blessing to Hestia. Most cities would
also have a public hearth dedicated to her, in which the fire was never allowed
to out.
(11) Hephaestus
Hephaestus, the god of fire, was
born by Hera in retaliation for ZeusŐs creation of Athena. He was the only ugly god on all
Olympus. He was lame as well. When his mother had saw that he was
born deformed, she cast him out of heaven. Although his job was to create armor and weapons for the
gods, Hephaestus preferred peace.
His workshop was beneath a volcano, which erupted during his busiest
hours of operation. Later,
Hephaestus married Aphrodite.
(12) Hermes
Hermes was the messenger god. He wore winged sandals on his feet and
carried a magic wand. Hermes was
swift, graceful, popular and the shrewdest and most cunning of all the
gods. He was an excellent
thief. Interestingly, Hermes was
also in charge of guiding the dead to the river Styx, the entrance to the
underworld.
Besides
the twelve Olympian gods and goddesses, other divinities resided in heaven as
well. The lesser gods of Olympus
are as follows:
Eros, the god of love and sexual
desire, was a beautiful and serious youth who bestowed good gifts to men. His greatest claim to fame is that he
could do no wrong, although some say he was a rather mischievous little
boy. He was both the son and
occasional lover of Aphrodite.
The
earthly goddess of agriculture, Demeter, taught mankind the art of soughing and ploughing.
She was also a fertility goddess.
Demeter was very popular with the rural population. Her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped by Hades and made
queen of the underworld.
Another
earthly deity, Dionysus, was the god and inventor of wine. He was honored at springtime festivals centered around
theater and drunken revelry. He is
symbolized by ivy, grapes and the snake.
Pan, who also dwelt on earth, was a
noisy and joke-playing god. He was
half-goat, half-man and lived among shepherds and woodland nymphs. Although he frolicked with his friends,
the beautiful nymphs, none fell in love with him, for Pan was quite ugly. He is often spotted in thickets,
forests, and mountains, playing upon his pipes of reed as sweet as the
nightingaleŐs song.
Although
there are others, the abovementioned deities are among the most important, most
popular, and most celebrated gods and goddesses in all of Greek mythology.