Greece

Famous Greeks from Mythology: List of Greek Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes

:: List of Greek Gods, Goddesses and Heroes ::

Aphrodite
Aphrodite is called Venus by the Romans. She is part of the 12 Olympians, gods and goddesses that presided over the lives of the ancient Greeks. Aphrodite is the goddess of love, procreation, pleasure and beauty. She was usually depicted accompanied by Eros or Love, a winged godling. She was also often depicted nude in sculpture and frescoes. Some of her attributes include an apple, a dove or a scallop shell as well as a mirror. She was believed to have come from sea foam. Other myths surrounding Aphrodite include having an affair with Ares, her love for the handsome and young Cypriot, Adonis and love for shepherd-prince Ankhises. She was also attributed to have been awarded golden apples by Paris for promising Helene in marriage, her support for Paris and Aeneas during the Trojan war, the winning of the race of Hippomenes for Atalanta, supposedly won with her help and her golden apples. She was said to have destroyed Hippolytos for scorning her worship, the persecution of Psykhe, the maiden who loved her son Eros and answering the prayers of King Pygmalion by bringing his statue of Galatea, the woman he loved to life.

Apollo
Apollo was said to be the Olympian god of oracles and prophecy, healing as well as plague and disease. He was also the god of song and poetry, archery and said to be the protector of the youth. He was often depicted with long hair and a wreath and laurel branch or a bow and quiver, with a raven or with a lyre. Apollo was a very handsome man that was shown as young and beardless. According to legend he was born in the island of Delos, and attributed for the slaying of the serpent Python that guarded the prophetic shrine of Delphi and the giant Tityos who tried to kidnap Apollo’s mother, Leto. It was also said that Apollo destroyed Niobides because his mother offended Leto. He won the music contest with the satyr Marsyas; served as a bondsman for Admetos, a mortal, struggled with Herakles for the tripod from Delphi and for sending the plague to the Greeks to help Paris slay Ahkilleus during the Trojan War. Apollo had many loves – Hyakinthos, killed by a discus throw and turned into a flower. He transformed the nymph Daphne into a laurel tree because she fled from him and also loved Koronis who was the lady love of Artemis and eventually killed by him for infidelity. It was also said that Apollo murdered Kyklopes who forged the lightning bolt that killed Asklepios.

Ares
Ares, Mars to the Romans, was the son of Zeus and Hera and he was the god of war in ancient Greece. His half-sister was Athena who was the goddess of Skill and Wisdom, as well as the goddess of war, although she used war for seeking justice. His mother Hera was said to be a very difficult character and he took after her, rendering him very unpopular and all cities in Greece declined to have him as their patron. He resided in Mount Olympus and sat on a throne decorated with human skin. Eris, the goddess of discord was his constant companion but he had an affair with Aphrodite and had a daughter, Armonia or Harmony who retained the traits of both her parents. Ares was said to have constant fights and conflicts with Athena and Artemis, the goddess of the Hunt. Ares was often depicted with his symbols, dogs and a spear.

Artemis
Artemis, called Diana by the Romans was the twin brother of Apollo, and the daughter of Zeus and Leto who was a mortal. She was considered the goddess of the Moon while her twin Apollo was the god of the Sun. She was born in Mount Cynthus in the island of Delos. She was older than Apollo. She told her father Zeus she wanted to remain an eternal virgin and became one of the three Virgin Goddesses. Artemis reigned over nature and all places that worshipped her gained fertile lands. She was the goddess of the Hunt, and used poisoned arrows during her hunts, a contradictory personality because she was a killer and protector of animals at the same time. She was usually accompanied by Oceanids and Nymphs during her hunting trips and normally depicted as wearing knee-length chiton and armed with bows and arrows. Her sacred symbol was her bow and the deer and the snake were her sacred animals.

Demeter
She was called Ceres by the Romans and she was the second daughter of Titans Cronus and Rhea. Her older sister was Hestia, the goddess of the hearth. Demeter was the goddess of harvest or agriculture. She was depicted as a mature woman with thick, golden hair, wearing a crown and holding a sheaf of wheat as well as a torch. According to legend Demeter also presided over the Mystery Cults whose members were promised a blessed life after death. It was believed that she brought great dearth on earth because Hades abducted her daughter Persephone. It was said that she was raped by Poseidon who was in the form of a horse and cursed Erysikhton with unquenchable hunger for cutting down a poplar that reached up to the sky in her holy grove.

Dionysus
He was a son of Zeus and Princess Semele, another mortal and was born in Thebes. He was said to be always lighthearted and ready to help those in need, which made him very popular with the other gods as well as mortals. There were yearly festivals in his honor but he did not live in Mount Olympus. He traveled the world accompanied by Satyrs and Maenads as he wanted to discover winemaking secrets. Dionysus was depicted as a very handsome young man with long hair reaching his shoulders, wore ivy on his head and held a light staff called a thyrsos wrapped with ivy leaves and a pine cone adorning its top. His sacred symbol was the panther and the Romans called him Bacchus.

Hades
Hades ruled the Underworld with Persephone. He was also the son of Cronus and Rhea and he is a brother of Demeter, which meant that his wife was his niece as Persephone was the daughter of Demeter. He was the god of the dead and stayed in the underworld where silence and darkness were ever present. He had a helper, Charos, the angel of the dead whose duty was to transfer the souls of the dead via a boat over the River Acheron. He was depicted in Greek mythology as a man with a beard, a gloomy face and dark long hair covering his brow. His helmet, which made him invisible, was the sacred symbol of Hades, who was called Pluto by the Romans.

Hephaestus
Hephaestus or Vulcan, according to the Romans was the god of metallurgy in Greek mythology. He was also a son of Zeus and Hera, like Ares and was married to Aphrodite who had an affair with Ares. According to the legend, Hephaestus was the only Greek god who was ugly and he was also lame. His physical disability was caused by his mother Hera who threw him from Mount Olympus to the sea due to his ugliness. Two Nereids, Eurynome and Thetis rescued and raised him inside a cave for nine years away from the sight of his mother. It was said that he had a workshop under the crater of Mount Aetna, a volcano in Italy, and worked with the Cyclopes to create strong thunderbolts for Zeus. Hephaestus was also credited for creating Pandora, the first woman of the ancient world. His sacred symbols were the hammer, the axe and the pincers.

Hera
Hera was the daughter of Titans Cronus and Rhea who were also the parents of Zeus. She was one of the three sisters of Zeus and later became one of his wives and bore him four children although it was said that Hephaestus was born without any intervention from Zeus. While she was the Olympian queen and the goddess of marriage and women, she had a tumultuous relationship with Zeus who gave her plenty of reason to be jealous and suspicious. According to the legend she used to stay in high places to keep an eye on Zeus and his dalliances, causing harm and havoc on the various mistresses because she cannot inflict harm on the invincible Zeus. Legend also mentioned that the creation of the Milky Way as attributed to Hera. According to the legend, Zeus brought his son Heracles whose mother was a mortal to suckle on Hera’s milk while she was sleeping. However she woke up and shove the baby away and the drops of milk that spurted from her became the stars in the Milky Way.

Hera or Juno was beautiful but not desirable as she was already mature, had pierced lobes and big eyes. According to the myth she loved to wear jewelry, used divine cosmetics on her body, had an ornate crown and wore clothes woven by Athena. She wore a belt to tighten her clothing and had golden sandals. Her sacred symbol was the symbol of fertility, the pomegranate and the peacock was her sacred animal.

Hermes
Hermes was considered the god of trade, eloquence and messenger of the gods who always brought luck with him. He was also called as Mercury. He was born in a cave in Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, now Peloponnesus, the son of Zeus and Maea, a mountain nymph, daughter of Atlas, a Titan. He was very popular with the other Greek gods and spirits. He wore wings on his sandals, so he was given the role of messenger and the conductor of souls. He was the only Olympian god who was allowed to visit heaven, earth and the underworld. He was also given human weaknesses like the other gods in Ancient Greece and Hermes cannot resist cheating and stealing since his infancy.

Hermes had a special relationship with his father who appreciated his wit. Hermes actually assisted Zeus in making decisions and also helped his father on his philandering. Hermes was always depicted wearing traveling clothes, with a petasus or flat hat and wings on his sandals. Sometimes he was shown with wings on his shoulders as well as his hat. He also had a winged staff wrapped with snakes so he can gain entry anywhere.

Hestia
According to the myth, Hestia was the goddess of the hearth, family and the home. She was the eldest daughter of Cronus and Rhea, a senior goddess among mortals and the first one to be swallowed by her father; however she was the last one to be regurgitated. She was also one of the three virgin goddesses, which included Hera and Athena. She was sought after by Apollo and Poseidon but she already gave her oath to Zeus to remain a virgin. Hestia never left Mount Olympus but was likewise revered by Olympian deities because she was kind, forgiving and very discrete. She personified the fire that burned in every hearth of all the homes and families poured wine in her honor and the fire in a hearth was only extinguished after a ritual.

Poseidon
Poseidon ruled the seas, the earthquakes and horses. He was the eldest brother of Zeus and the firstborn of Cronus and Rhea. The Romans gave him the name Neptune. According to the myth Poseidon had a bad temper, greedy and moody and never one to take insults kindly and always ready to exact revenge. Poseidon was responsible for natural and supernatural events associated with the sea. He had a very powerful trident that can cause earthquakes and bring floods, tempests and pulverize rocks, although he can also bring back peace. He had a palace in Mount Olympus and a bejeweled one under the sea where he preferred to stay with his wife Amphitrite.

Poseidon was a big, strong man and often depicted with flowing blue hair. His sacred symbol was the trident and the dolphin and the horse were his sacred animals. It was also said that Poseidon breathed life to the very first horse.

Zeus
Zeus or Jupiter was the ultimate ruler of the gods and mankind, according to the myth. He was the youngest son of Cronus and Rhea and had five older brothers and sisters who were all swallowed by their father. Zeus was able to escape and later exacted revenge on his father and freed his siblings and married his sister, Hera while conducting several liaisons with different women and fathered many children. He lived in his palace on the apex of Mount Olympus and sat on a golden throne. He was respected and revered by all the mortals and gods of Ancient Greece according to the myth and called the Lord of Justice for his fair treatments – punishing those who did wrong and kept the balance in everything in the world, giving blessings of fine weather when he was in a good mood while sending rain thunderbolts, wind and lightning when his mood turned sour. His only limit was that he was not able to intervene in the decisions made by the Fates. Zeus was jovial and enjoyed a good laugh but very unpredictable. He was depicted as a tall, strong person like his brother Poseidon and wore his hair long and curly. His sacred animal was the eagle and his sacred symbol was the thunderbolt, given by the Cyclopes that he freed.

Achilles
Achilles was a mighty Greek who fought in the Trojan War and the central figure in Homer’s Iliad. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and the mortal Peleus. There were two legends connected to his boyhood. In one version, Thetis wanted her son to be immortal and anointed him with ambrosia and placed him over fire to burn away the mortal portions but was interrupted by Peleus. In another version, Thetis dipped her son in the River Styx and everywhere the water of the river touched was invulnerable. But as she held him by the heels, that part was not touched by the sacred water and so his heels were left unprotected. The prophesy said that the war with Troy will not be won without the help of Achilles and his mother disguised him as a young girl and sent him to the court of Lycomedes. When he grew up he was fascinated by the arms and armor and was eventually discovered by Odysseus and was brought along to fight the war. Achilles was invincible and in his many conquests he took a woman named Briseis as a war prize but was later taken by Agamemnon. Due to this Achilles refused to fight and allowed his friend Patroclus to wear his armor and fight in his stead. He was killed by Hector, a Trojan hero. Thetis obtained a new armor for him from Hephaestus and Achilles once again fought, and killed Hector, tied the body to his chariot and dragged it around Troy, refusing to give it the proper funeral rites. He finally relented when Hector’s father braved the Greek camp to plead for his son’s body. Paris, the son of Priam, aided by Apollo shot Achilles with an arrow to the heels, which led to Achilles’ death.

Heracles
He was the most famous of all the heroes in Greek mythology. He was legendary and many things were attributed to him and his strength. He was the last mortal son of Zeus. His mother was Alcmene, a granddaughter of Perseus the founder of Mycenae. His mortal father was Amphitryon, a grandson of Perseus. Hera was so jealous of Alcmene and because of a careless pledge done by Zeus Heracles was not able to rule Mycenae, which was ruled by his father’s cousin, Eurystheus.

According to the legend, Zeus brought Heracles to suckle Hera’s milk so he can have immortality. Even as a baby he already showed signs of strength and bravery. Hera placed two monstrous snakes where Heracles and his twin brother Iphicles slept. Heracles captured the snakes in his hands and suffocated them to death. He eventually grew to gigantic proportions, with more brawn than brains. He was asked to perform 12 tasks by Eurystheus, either to gain immortality so he has to submit to his uncle for 12 years or to inherit the kingdom of Mycenae.

Some of Heracles’ 12 labors were killing the lion of Nemea. He killed the nine-headed Hydra living in the swamps of Lerna. The Hydra sprung two new heads for each one that Heracles cut so with the help of his nephew Iolaus, he applied a branding technique, effectively cauterizing each head and also crushed a giant crab with his foot. He captured the doe of Cerynia that belonged to Artemis. The doe had long golden horns, one of which Heracles broke off during their struggle after cornering the doe after chasing it for one year.

Other tasks include the following:
• Capture of the gigantic Erymanthus boar alive
• Cleaning the stables of King Augeas by diverting the water of the Alpheios river to wash the manure. The king refused to pay him so Heracles vowed to exact revenge. On his second invasion he killed the King and created the Olympic Games to celebrate his victory.
• Eradication of the man-eating birds from Lake Stymphalus
• Capture of the Cretan bull. According to legend the bull was sent by Poseidon. Queen Pasiphae of Crete lusted after it and was able to copulate with it, giving birth to the Minotaur.
• Capture of the mares of Diomedes that fed on human flesh. His squire was eaten by the horses so Heracles fed Diomedes to them, thus putting a halt to their unnatural appetite.
• Quest for the belt of Hippolite, the Queen of the Amazons
• Stole the cattle herd from Geryon, a giant with three bodies and four wings, killing the cattle herder, the 2-headed guard dog and Geryon and brought the cattle to Peloponnese.
• Picking of golden apples of the 3 nymphs of Hesperides, goddesses of the evening and golden sunset. Heracles killed the hundred-headed serpent that guarded the tree.
• Capture of Cerberus a giant dog with 3 heads, a serpent’s tail, mane of snakes and claws of a lion. It guarded the gates of Hades to prevent the souls from leaving the underworld. He captured it with the help of Persephone.

Jason and the Argonauts

Jason was the mythical hero, who together with 50 men called the Argonauts went through many adventures to get the Golden Fleece from Asia Minor aboard his boat, Argus. Some of the Argonauts included Heracles, Nestor, Castor, Tiphus, Orpheus and Ancaeus. The Boreads Calais and Zethes and Polydeuces the Dioscuri were also among the crew. Jason was the son of King Aeson of Iolchos whose throne was seized by his other son, Pelias. It was predicted that a one-shoed man will exact revenge on Pelias. Jason was sent off to live with the centaur Cheiron on Mount Pelion and he only came back to Iolchos when he turned 20. He had lost one shoe along the way before he met Pelias. He promised to return the throne to Jason if he can bring the Golden Fleece to him. Jason gathered his crew and Athena helped build the Argus, adding a piece of holy oak from Zeus.

Jason and the Argonauts had many adventures on their voyage, impregnating all the women in Limnos who had killed all their cheating husbands. They killed the six-armed giants that tormented the people of Propontis. They unknowingly left Heracles in Chios who was cutting wood to replace his broken oar but had to look for his friend Hylas who was taken by a Nymph. Polydeuces killed King Amycos of Bebrycs who challenged them to a fistfight before he can let the strangers go. The winged Boreads chased off the Harpyes, the flying monsters tormenting the blind King Phineus of Bithynia. The King could see the future but revealed what he saw to his people and the gods punished him by taking away his sight. In gratitude the King told them how to pass the two slamming rocks called the Symphlegades, losing only the decoration at the stern of Argus.

They were also able to drive away the beautiful birds with arrows for feathers on the island of Aretias before they reached the kingdom of King Aeetes. Here they were asked to kill the two fire-breathing bronze bulls that guarded the Golden Fleece and the warriors that will grow from a dragon’s teeth they will sow. Medea the sorceress daughter of the king fell in love with Jason. She gave Jason a potion that doubled his strength during their fight with the bulls. He went back to Greece with Medea, and encountered many more adventures.

They killed the giant Thales of Crete then found out after his return that Aeson was forced to commit suicide by Pelias which led to Jason’s mother dying of a broken heart. Medea punished Pelias by putting a spell on his daughters and causing them to boil their father to make him young once again. After many trials resulting from his marriage to Medea, Jason died when a piece of wood from Argus fell on him while he was sleeping beside it.

Odysseus

Odysseus was the hero king of Itacha. Protected by Athena, the goddess of wisdom, Odysseus had the ability to find solutions to pressing problems. Although he loved Helen, he told all the suitors to respect Helen’s decision. He later married Helen’s cousin Penelope who bore his a son named Telemachus. It was preordained that Odysseus will not return for a long time if he is to join the Greek army in the Trojan War so he acted like crazy to avoid enlistment but was discovered by Palamedes. Later he got revenge by doing things to have Palamedes accused of treason and put to death.

Odysseus was the one who convinced 29 elite members of the Greek Army to hide in the Trojan Horse with him after stealing the horses of King Rhesus with Diomedes. The horse was the emblem of Troy. This ploy thought out by Odysseus caused them to end the decade-long conflict with Troy.

Pandora

She was the first woman formed out of clay. Prometheus was originally tasked to create man but he instead stole fire from the heaven which angered Zeus. Zeus then commanded his son Hephaestus and the other gods to create a beautiful and cunning woman and named her Pandora. She was delivered to the younger brother of Prometheus, Epimetheus as his bride. When she was received at his house, Pandora opened the storage jar or pithos given by Zeus as a wedding present. The jar contained evil spirits that plagued mankind from then on. Elpis or Hope was the only one which remained in the jar, to help mankind through their sufferings. Pandora had a daughter named Pyrrha or Fire. She was the first born mortal who started repopulating the earth with her husband Deukalion after the Great Deluge by casting stones over their shoulders. Females came from the stones cast by Pyrrha and males from those cast by Deukalion.

Perseus

Perseus was the legendary founder of Mycenae and the Perseid dynasty. He was known for defeating different monsters. Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae, the only child of King Acrisius of Argos. In a prophecy, the king was told that he will be killed by the son of his daughter and fearing this placed Danae and Perseus into a wooden chest and threw them into the sea but they were rescued by Dictys a fisherman and brother of King Polydectes of Seriphos. Perseus was raised by the fisherman but the king has set his eyes on his mother. He protected his mother but the King found a way to get rid of him by demanding that he kill Medusa, who was punished by Athena because of the desecration Poseidon and Medusa made to her temple by changing her hair into snakes.
Athena helped Perseus to become victorious by instructing him to find the Hesperides who were keeping the weapons the can defeat Medusa. The Graeae were three older women who share one eye and they knew the location of the nymphs. Perseus snatched the eye until they told him where to find the Hesperides. They gave him a knapsack to hold the head of Medusa; Zeus gave him an adamantine sword and the helm of darkness of Hades that will make him invisible. Hermes lent him winged sandals and Athena gave him a highly-polished shield. He used the shield to see the reflection of the then sleeping Medusa and cut her head off easily. He wore the helm of darkness to escape the pursuing Gorgons.

Theseus

According to the legend, Theseus was the son of Aegus and Aethra while others believe that he was the son of Aethra and Poseidon or he was he son of both a mortal and a god, because Aethra slept with both men on the same night, giving Theseus the combined characteristics of a mortal and an immortal. While pregnant Aegus decided to return to Athens and buried his sword, shield and sandals under a very big rock, telling his wife that these will be the evidence for him to recognize his son someday. Theseus was able to move the rock and recover his father’s things. He had many victories along the way on his journey to Athens. He successfully passed the six entrances to the underworld and survived the attempts on his life by Medea, his stepmother. One of his greatest achievements was killing the Minotaur, the son of Pasiphae.

Bellerophon

Bellerophon was a demi-god, the son of Glaucus of Corinth, a mortal and a father who was a god, Poseidon. Bellerophon was sent in exile to the kingdom of King Iobates in Lycia for killing someone. He was supposed to meet his death there but the king thought it was better to send Bellerophon on impossible journeys including the task to kill the fire-breathing Chimera that was terrorizing the whole of the neighboring state of Caria. The Chimera was a hideous monster with the body of a goat, the head of a lion and a tail that ended with a serpent’s head. It was a sibling of Hydra and Cerberus.

Polyeidos, the seer from Lycia told Bellerophon that he will need Pegasus, the winged white horse who sprung from the neck of Medusa when her head was severed by Perseus, to kill the Chimera. He was also told to sleep in the temple of Athena. He dreamt that Athena gave him a golden bridle. Polyeidos also told him to drink from the Pirene well where he will be able to tame the Pegasus. Others believed that Athena gave Pegasus to him or that Poseidon helped his son in secret to tame the winged horse.

Riding Pegasus he made several attempts to attack the ferocious beast until he thought of attaching a block of lead on the tip of his spear and threw the lead down the throat of the Chimera. The metal melted and the Chimera choked allowing Bellerophon to kill it easily. With the help of his father Poseidon, Bellerophon finally married the daughter of King Iobates and gained half the kingdom. But Bellerophon thought that he deserved to belong among the gods on Mount Olympus and dared to fly there with Pegasus which angered Zeus. The mighty god of the gods sent a gad fly to bite the winged horse that caused it to get startled and dislodge Bellerophon. Athena saved him by allowing him to land softly on earth. According to the myth, Pegasus was able to fly to the top of Mount Olympus and Zeus used it to carry his thunderbolts.

:: References ::

http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/olympian-gods.html
http://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/ares/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Mythology of Greece