INTRODUCTION TO GREEK MYTHOLOGY (Greek Gods and Goddesses)

Greek Methology
A group of myths that belong to a particular people or culture and tell about their ancestors, heroes, gods and other supernatural beings, and history (Encarta Dictionary) It comes from the Latin word mythologia and Greek word muthologia, which means science of myth. These two words are derived from the Greek word muthos, which means myth or speech.

The Olympian
They are the sons and daughters of Titans Cronus and Rhea, as well as the sons of older Olympians. They are called as such because they live in Mt. Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece, located in Thessaly. These deities possess powers yet have traits and characteristics of mortals.

Cronus()
Was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, divine descendants of Gaia, the earth, and Uranus, the sky. He overthrew his father and ruled during the mythological Golden Age, until he was overthrown by his own son, Zeus and imprisoned in Tartarus. Cronus was usually depicted with a sickle or scythe, which was also the instrument he used to castrate and depose Uranus, his father. In Athens, on the twelfth day of the Attic month of Hekatombaion, a festival called Kronia was held in honour of Cronus to celebrate the harvest, suggesting that, as a result of his association with the virtuous Golden Age, Cronus continued to preside as a patron of harvest. Cronus was also identified in classical antiquity with the Roman deity Saturn.

Rhea()
Was the Titaness daughter of the sky god Uranus and the earth goddess Gaia, in Greek mythology. In early traditions, she was known as "the mother of gods" and was therefore strongly associated with Gaia and Cybele, who had similar functions. The classical Greeks saw her as the mother of the Olympian gods and goddesses, but not as an Olympian goddess in her own right. The Romans identified her with Magna Mater (their form of Cybele), and the Goddess Ops.

Dione()

Was a Greek goddess primarily known as the mother of Aphrodite in Book V of Homer's Iliad. Aphrodite journeys to Dione's side after she has been wounded in battle protecting her favorite son Aeneas. In this episode, Dione seems to be the equivalent of the earth goddess Gaia, whom Homer also placed in Olympus. Book VI of the Iliad suggests Dione was the mother of many others, though that was lost through time

Leto (; )

Is a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe and the sister of Asteria. The island of Kos is claimed as her birthplace. In the Olympian scheme, Zeus is father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, the Letoides, which Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eyes of Zeus. For the classical Greeks, Leto is scarcely to be conceived apart from being pregnant and finding a place to be delivered of Apollo and Artemis, for Hera being jealous, made it so all lands shunned her. Finally, she finds an island that isn't attached to the ocean floor so it isn't considered land and she can give birth. This is her one active mythic role: once Apollo and Artemis are grown, Leto withdraws, to remain a dim and benevolent matronly figure upon Olympus, her part already played. In Roman mythology, Leto's equivalent is Latona, a Latinization of her name, influenced by Etruscan Letun.

Maia()

Is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes. The goddess known as Maia among the Romans may have originated independently, but attracted the myths of Greek Maia because the two figures shared the same name. Goddess of Spring and Prosperity.

Metis()

Was of the Titan generation and, like several primordial figures, an Oceanid, in the sense that Metis was born of Oceanus and Tethys, of an earlier age than Zeus and his siblings. Metis was the first great spouse of Zeus. By the era of Greek philosophy in the fifth century BCE, Metis had become the Titaness of wisdom and deep thought, but her name originally connoted "magical cunning" and was as easily equated with the trickster powers of Prometheus as with the "royal metis" of Zeus.[1] The Stoic commentators allegorized Metis as the embodiment of "prudence", "wisdom" or "wise counsel", in which form she was inherited by the Renaissance.

Gaia()

Was the goddess or personification of Earth in ancient Greek religion,one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia was the great mother of all: the heavenly gods, the Titans and the Giants were born from her union with Uranus (the sky), while the sea-gods were born from her union with Pontus (the sea).

Cadmus()
In Greek mythology was a Phoenician prince, the son of king Agenor and queen Telephassa of Tyre and the brother of Phoenix, Cilix and Europa. He was originally sent by his royal parents to seek out and escort his sister Europa back to Tyre after she was abducted from the shores of Phoenicia by Zeus.[2] Cadmus founded the Greek city of Thebes, the acropolis of which was originally named Cadmeia in his honor.

Semele()

Daughter of the Boeotian hero Cadmus and Harmonia, was the mortal mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. In another version of his mythic origin, he is the son of Persephone. The name "Semele", like other elements of Dionysiac cult (e.g., thyrsus and dithyramb), is not Greek but ThracoPhrygian; derived from a PIE root meaning "earth". Her son was a god who died in order to be reborn.

Harmonia()
Is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Roman counterpart is Concordia,

Eris()
Is the Greek goddess of strife and discord, her name being translated into Latin as Discordia. Her Greek opposite is Harmonia, whose Latin counterpart is Concordia. Homer equated her with the war-goddess Enyo, whose Roman counterpart is Bellona. The dwarf planet Eris is named after the goddess, as is the religion Discordianism.

Pontus()
Was an ancient, pre-Olympian sea-god, one of the Greek primordial deities. Pontus was Gaia's son and, according to the Greek poet Hesiod, he was born without coupling. For Hesiod, Pontus seems little more than a personification of the sea, ho pontos, "the Road", by which Hellenes signified the Mediterranean Sea. With Gaia, he fathered Nereus (the Old Man of the Sea), Thaumas (the awe-striking "wonder" of the Sea, embodiment of the sea's dangerous aspects), Phorcys and his sister-consort Ceto, and the "Strong Goddess" Eurybia. With the sea goddess Thalassa (whose own name simply means "sea" but is derived from a pre-Greek root), he fathered the Telchines and all sea life.

Cybele()
Was an originally Anatolian mother goddess. Little is known of her oldest Anatolian cults, other than her association with mountains, hawks and lions. She may have been Phrygia's State deity; her Phrygian cult was adopted and adapted by Greek colonists of Asia Minor, and spread from there to mainland Greece and its more distant western colonies from around the 6th century BCE.

Uranus()
Was the primal Greek god personifying the sky. His equivalent in Roman mythology was Caelus. In Ancient Greek literature, Uranus or Father Sky was the son and husband of Gaia, Mother Earth.

Coeus()
Was one of the Titans, the giant sons and daughters of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth). His equivalent in Latin poetrythough he scarcely makes an appearance in Roman mythology was Polus, the embodiment of the celestial axis around which the heavens revolve.

Phoenix()
A mythical sacred fire bird that can be found
in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indians and (according to Sanchuniathon) [ Phoenicians/Canaanites.

Phoebe()
o Was one of the original Titans, who were one set of sons and daughters of Uranus and Gaia. She was traditionally associated with the moon, as in Michael Drayton's Endimion and Phbe, (1595), the first extended treatment of the Endymion myth in English. Her consort was her brother Coeus, with whom she had two daughters, Leto, who bore Apollo and Artemis, and Asteria, a star-goddess who bore an only daughter Hecate.

Asteria()
Was the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe and sister of Leto.[1] According to Hesiod, by Perses she had a daughter Hecate. The Titan goddess of nocturnal oracles and falling stars, Asteria flung herself into the Aegean Sea in the form of a quail in order to escape the advances of Zeus. She became the "quail island" of Ortygia. which became identified with Delos, which was the only piece of earth to give refuge to the fugitive Leto when, pregnant with Zeus's children, she was pursued by vengeful Hera.

Hecate()
Is an ancient goddess, sometimes depicted in triple form, variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, fire, light, the Moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, necromancy and sorcery. She has rulership over earth, sea and sky, as well as a more universal role as Saviour (Soteira), Mother of Angels and the Cosmic World Soul

Hyperion()
Titan of light. With Theia, he is the father of Helios (the sun), Selene (the moon) and Eos (the dawn).

Lapetus()
Titan of mortality and father of Prometheus, Epimetheus, Menoetius and Atlas.

Crius()
The least individualized of the Twelve Titans, he is the father of Astraios, Pallas and Perses.

Oceanus()
Titan of the all-encircling river Oceanus around the earth, the font of all the Earth's fresh-water.

Thethys( )
o Wife of Oceanus, and the mother of the rivers, springs, streams, fountains and clouds.

Theia()
Titan of sight and the shining light of the clear blue sky. She is the consort of Hyperion, and mother of Helios, Selene and Eos.

Themis()
Titan of divine law and order.

Astraeus()
Titan of stars and planets, and the art of astrology.

Atlas()
Titan forced to carry the sky upon his shoulders. Also Son of Iapetus.

Aura()
Titan of the breeze and the fresh, cool air of early morning.

Eos()
Titan of the dawn.

Epimetheus
Titan of afterthought and the father of excuses.

Eurybia()
Titan of the mastery of the seas and consort of Krios.

Eurynome()
Titan of water-meadows and pasturelands, and mother of the three Charites by Zeus.

Helios()
Titan of the sun and guardian of oaths.

Clymene()
Titan of renown, fame and infamy, and wife of Iapetos

Lelantos()
Titan of air and the hunter's skill of stalking prey. He is the male counterpart of Leto.

Menoetius()
Titan of violent anger, rash action, and human mortality. Killed by Zeus.

Pallas()
Titan of warcraft. He was killed by Athena during the Titanomachy.

Prometheus()
Titan of forethought and crafty counsel, and creator of mankind.

Ophion()
An elder Titan, in some versions of the myth he ruled the Earth with his consort Eurynome before Cronus overthrew him.

Perses()
Titan of destruction and peace.

Selene()

Titan of the moon.

Styx()
Titan of the Underworld river Styx and personification of hatred.

Zeus ()
The supreme god of Greek mythology. He is the youngest son of Cronus and Rhea. He is the one who defeats his father. His dominion is the earth and the sky. His power lies in an awful thunderbolt. His breastplate is called Aegis.

Poseidon ()
Brother of Zeus and the god of the seas and other bodies of water. Commonly known as the Earth Shaker because of the earthquake that he makes. He always carries his three pronged spear called the trident.

Hades ()
Brother of Zeus and the god of the underworld. He is considered the King of the Dead. His palace is located under the earth. His wife is Persephone, the goddess of spring.

Persephone()

Wife of Hades The Goddess of Spring. Queen of The Underworld

Hera ()
Sister and wife of Zeus, hence, the Queen of the Gods. She is the goddess of home and marriage.

Hestia ()

Sister of Zeus and the virgin goddess of the hearth.

Demeter ()

Sister and wife of Zeus. She is the goddess of agriculture. Her daughter is Persephone, the goddess of spring and abundance.

Athena ()

Daughter of Zeus and Metis but it is Zeus alone bears her. The goddess of war, wisdom and handicraft. The city of Athens is dedicated for her. She is a gray eyed virgin goddess, thus she is also called as Parthenos (Maiden).

Artemis ()

Daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin sister of Apollo. She is the virgin goddess of wildlife, forests, hunting, childbirth and moon.

Ares ()

Son of Zeus and Hera. The god of war.

Hermes ()

Son of Zeus and Maia and the messenger of the gods. He is also the Master Thief and the god of commerce. He is seen with his winged cap, sandals and scepter called Caduceus.

Aphrodite ()

Daughter of Zeus and Dione. Some authorities say she comes from the semen of Uranus. Her name comes from the Greek words aphros which means foam and dite which means risen. The goddess of passionate love and beauty. Her husband is Hephaestus and mother of Eros.

Hephaestus ()

Son of Zeus and Hera, sometimes of Hera alone. The ugliest among the beautiful Olympians, the lame god of fire, and patron of the blacksmith. His wife is Aphrodite.

Dionysus ()
Son of Zeus and Semele. The god of wine and merry making.

Eros ()

Son of Ares and Aphrodite. The god of love.