Greek Mythology

by Neil Matt Hamilton

  Many fans of Greek mythology are aware of the Titans. Although not as famous as the Olympians, the Titans were the gods who preceded them. Sometimes presented as giants, the Titans were not only the predecessors but also the ancestors of the Titans. So Zeus and many other of the Olympian gods were actually the children of Cronus, who reigned as king of the Titans (and the universe) before he was overthrown by Zeus.

  Fact Five: The Olympian gods overthrew the Titans to become rulers of the universe.

  The Titans ruled before the Olympians. The Titans were often depicted as giants, and the war between the Olympians and Titans was sometimes called the Titanomachy or Gigantomachy (war of the giants). Cronus had been told a prophecy that he would be overthrown by his children so he swallowed them all. The last of them all was Zeus, but Cronus’s wife Rhea gave her husband a stone swaddled in blankets instead of the babe. Zeus would grow up to slay his father and imprison the giants.

  Fact Six: Zeus and his brothers drew lots to see who would control which of the three realms of the universe.

  Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades drew lots to determine who would rule the sky, the sea, and the underworld. Although Zeus was the youngest, he drew the lot which allowed him to be king of the sky and overall king of the gods. Poseidon drew the lot for the sea while Hades drew the lot for the underworld.

  Fact Seven: Hera was not the first wife of Zeus.

  Hera was the most famous, and certainly the most jealous, wife of Zeus. But she was not the first. Before Hera, there had been Metis. Metis would be the mother of Athena. Scholars debate whether Metis was actually a wife, but many claim her to be so. Zeus feared that his child with Metis would be more powerful and wiser than he so he swallowed her, but Athena would one day burst out of his skull with the help of Hephaestus (or some say Apollo or Hades).

  Fact Eight: The exhaustive list of the Olympians is up for debate as some count Hestia among the number while others count Dionysus.

  There were usually counted twelve gods among the Olympians, of which Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Apollo, Hermes, Ares, Hephaestus, Athena, Artemis, Poseidon, and Demeter were always counted. But the list compilers disagree on whether Dionysus or Hestia should be counted. Many lists count Dionysus as he is more famous in modern times, while others count Hestia as they argue that she was the oldest of all the Olympian gods and her worship was overall more significant than Dionysus’s was.

  Fact Nine: The Romans drew most of their gods from the pantheon of Greek gods and goddesses.

  Even a cursory glance at the list of Roman deities reveals that the Romans received their gods from the Greeks. The Romans also saw their gods as residing on Mount Olympus and they counted the same gods as the Greeks did, only they gave them different names. The gods of the Romans were named Jupiter, Juno, Venus, Apollo, Mercury, Mars, Vulcan, Minerva, Diana, Neptune, and Ceres.

  Fact Ten: Most Greek cities had their main temple devoted to their patron god, but there would have been other temples devoted to the rest of the divinities, too.

  The Greek world is littered with ancient temples, of which the most famous are at places like Athens and Corinth, as well as in sites in Southern Italy and Sicily. It was common in the Greek world for there to be one large temple in each city or large town devoted to the patron god of the city. The main temple of Athens was thus the Parthenon, which was dedicated to Athena.

  Fact Eleven: Zeus won a bet when Tiresias deemed that he was right about sex and not Hera. (The goddess struck him blind as a punishment).

  Zeus and Hera had an interesting argument. The argument was about whether men or women derived more pleasure from sexual intercourse. Hera claimed that men derived more pleasure, while Zeus claimed that it was women who got the most out of the deed. A man called Tiresias, who had lived as both a man and a woman, determined that it was indeed the woman who derived the most pleasure, and in return, Hera struck him blind.

  Fact Twelve: Hestia was the first of the Olympian gods to be born.

  Hestia, sister of Zeus, was actually the first deity to be born to Cronus and Rhea, of the race of Titans. Cronus swallowed all of his children because he did not want his offspring to surpass him and overthrow him. Hestia was therefore not only the first child born but the first to be swallowed!

  Fact Thirteen: Today, Cupid or Eros is often depicted as an infant, but he was originally described as a handsome youth.

  Today, Cupid or Eros is usually depicted as a winged baby shooting his arrows haphazardly at this or that, but in Ancient Greek times, he was actually a handsome youth. This was the youth that had fallen in love with Psyche and was loved by her in return.

  Fact Fourteen: Both Apollo and Helios were technically gods of the sun.

  The Ancient Greeks actually had two gods of the sun. Apollo was a god of the sun (as well as a god of other things). and Helios was also a god of the sun. Some think of Helios as being the embodiment of the sun itself while Apollo was the god who controlled the sun and was responsible for the benefits of it. This state of affairs was later resolved by Helios becoming associated with Apollo as a version or identity of him, like an avatar.

  Fact Fifteen: Both Artemis and Selene were goddesses of the moon.

  This same situation also applied to the moon. Artemis was the goddess of the moon, but so was Selene. In much the same way that Apollo might be responsible for the sun while Helios was the sun itself, so too might Selene might be said to be the embodiment of the moon. In later times, Selene came to be adopted as an incarnation of Artemis (just like Apollo and Helios).

  Fact Sixteen: Zeus was known to take on disguises when courting his love interests.

  Zeus was famous not only for getting up to all sorts of mischief with the ladies but also for being a master of disguise when it came to this pursuit. The king of the gods courted Leda in the form of a swan, and he made love to Danae by coming to her in the form of golden rain.

  Fact Seventeen: The Oracle at Delphi would give her prophecies in the form of cryptic answers to questions.

  The Oracle of Delphi was said to speak the words that came to her from the god Apollo. But she did not speak these words in ordinary speech. Her answers were nearly always cryptic and had to be interpreted by her listeners in order to derive the true meaning. This oracle was consulted by Greeks from time immemorial, and it was said that this sibyl was originally devoted not to Apollo, but to Gaia, the earth goddess.

  Fact Eighteen: One might say that it was Eris who was responsible for the Trojan War, not Paris.

  Eris was the goddess of discord. She was a lesser-known goddess, but she made up for this state of affairs by triggering the Trojan War. When she was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Eris got her revenge by dropping a golden apple into the throng. Upon the apple was written the words: “to the fairest.” This act eventually led to Aphrodite promising Paris Helen as a reward for choosing her to be the prettiest. Therefore it would seem that Eris was to blame for this conflict and not Paris or Aphrodite (or even Helen herself).

  Fact Nineteen: Greek mythology was practiced in regions outside the borders of modern-day Greece.

  One of the most fascinating facts about Greek mythology was that it was practiced outside of Greece. This was the religion of the Greeks wherever they lived, be it in Southern Italy, Sicily, Northern Africa, or the coasts of modern-day Turkey. Indeed, many of the great cities of “Greece” lay outside the traditional Greek homeland that we think of today.

  Fact Twenty: Much of our information on Greek mythology comes not from the Greeks, but the Romans.

  The Romans left us some very important works that helped to pass on the knowledge that originated with the Greeks. One of the most important of these was also among the more interesting. This was the Metamorphosis of Ovid. Among the tales told here were those of Cupid and Psyche and Athena and Arachne.

  List of Greek Gods and Other Characters

  Achelous: a river god who fought against Heracles for the hand of Deianira.

  Ac
hilles: Greek hero of the Trojan War. He belonged to the race of the Myrmidons. His beloved was Patroclus.

  Adonis: the embodiment of male beauty and the beloved of Aphrodite.

  Aegeus: King of Athens and father of Theseus.

  Aeneas: prince of Troy and father to Romulus and Remus.

  Agamemnon: King of Mycenae and husband of Clytemnestra.

  Amazons: warrior women who often fought against the Greeks, as in the Trojan War.

  Andromache: wife of Hector, son, and heir of King Priam of Troy.

  Andromeda: daughter of the King of Ethiopia and wife to Perseus.

  Antigone: faithful daughter of the unfortunate Oedipus.

  Aphrodite: goddess of love; most likely originated outside of Greece.

  Apollo: god of the sun, moderation, and all things masculine.

  Arachne: a woman who challenged Athena to a competition and was transformed into a spider.

  Ares: the Greek god of war.

  Ariadne: princess of Crete who fell in love with Theseus and helped him find his way out of the Labyrinth. He later abandoned her on the island of Naxos.

  Artemis: goddess of the hunt and the moon. Daughter to Leto and sister of Apollo.

  Asclepius (Asclepius): son of Apollo and Greek god of medicine and health.

  Astreus: a Titan who sired Boreas on Eos, the goddess of the dawn.

  Athena: Greek goddess of wisdom and patroness of the city of Athens: daughter of Zeus and Metis.

  Atlas: a Titan who was cursed to carry the sky on his shoulders for leading the Titans against the gods.

  Atreus: ancestor of the House of Atreus, or Atreides, a family which included Agamemnon and Menelaus

  Boreas: the North Wind. Boreas was the son of Eos, the dawn, and Astreus, a Titan.

  Cassandra: daughter of Priam and famous because no one believed her prophecies. Apollo punished her with this ability after she was unfaithful.

  Cassiopeia: wife of the King of Ethiopia and mother to Andromeda, the wife of Perseus. She became a constellation in the Northern Hemisphere along with her husband, Cepheus.

  Castor and Pollux: sons of Leda. Castor was fathered by Tyndareus while Pollux (or Polydeuces) was fathered by Zeus.

  Centaurs: infamous animals that were half man and half horse. Chiron was a gentle centaur who was the most famous of the lot.

  Cepheus: the king of Ethiopia and father to Andromeda

  Cerberus: the hound of the underworld.

  Chiron: the most well-known of all of the centaurs.

  Cronus: a Titan and the father of Zeus by his wife Rhea. He swallowed all of his children to prevent them from rising up against him.

  Cybele: an important earth goddess associated with very ancient rites.

  Daedalus: blacksmith of the gods.

  Dardanus: according to Homer, this was the founder of the city of Troy, which featured at the center of the conflict of the Trojan War.

  Dike: in Greek myth, Dike was the living personification of justice.

  Dionysus: son of Zeus and god of wine. He was famous for the rituals surrounding his worship, which was known to the Romans as the Bacchanalia.

  Echidna: a monstrous son of Gaia who was half man and half serpent.

  Echo: a mountain nymph cursed by Hera to repeat her words again and again.

  Eirene: the Greek personification of peace.

  Endymion: a son of Zeus who fell in love with Selene, goddess of the moon.

  Eos: goddess of the dawn.

  Erebus: the personification of the darkness; father to Ether or Aether

  Erechtheus: a king of Athens who was said to have the shape of a serpent

  Erinyes: goddesses responsible for avenging a wrong.

  Eris: the goddess of discord.

  Eros (or Cupid): son of Aphrodite and a god of Love. He was known for his love of Psyche.

  Gaia: the earth mother, she was the grandmother of Zeus. She was the mother of Uranus, Cronus, and several others.

  Ganymede: a beautiful prince of Troy who was loved by Zeus. He was brought to Mount Olympus to serve the gods.

  Hades: god of the underworld.

  Hebe: daughter of Zeus and Hera, she served as cupbearer to the gods of Mount Olympus. It was said that she became the wife of Heracles after he was deified and brought to Olympus to live.

  Hecate: an old goddess of the underworld.

  Helen: daughter of Leda and Zeus and the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Her kidnapping by Paris triggered the Trojan War.

  Helios: god of the sun, later identified with Apollo. His sacred place was Rhodes.

  Hephaestus: the blacksmith of the gods.

  Hera: wife of Zeus and queen of Olympus. She was also associated with childrearing and matronly affairs.

  Heracles: a Greek hero famous for his twelve labors.

  Hermes: messenger of the gods and son of Zeus.

  Hestia: Goddess of the hearth.

  Hyacinthus: a beautiful youth who was loved by Apollo. He was turned into a flower, the hyacinth.

  Hygeia: the goddess of health.

  Hypnos: the god of sleep.

  Jason: a hero of Thessaly famous for leading the ship Argo and obtaining the Golden Fleece. He deserted his wife Medea for Glauca, princess of Corinth.

  Icarus: a boy who flew too close to the sun with his wings.

  Iphigenia: princess of Mycenae sacrificed by her father Agamemnon.

  Laocoon: a Trojan priest who was punished for breaking his vow to the god Apollo.

  Leda: a woman that Zeus courted in the form of a swan. She would give birth to Helen and Polydeuces by Zeus, and Castor and Clytemnestra by her husband Tyndareus.

  Leto: the mother of Apollo and Artemis.

  Medea: daughter of the king of Colchis and wife of Jason. Later the wife of King Aegeus of Athens.

  Menelaus: the king of Lacedaemon (Sparta) and husband of Helen in the Iliad.

  Metis: first wife of Zeus and mother to Athena.

  Minos: the king of Crete and father to Ariadne.

  Minotaur: the half man and half bull of the Labyrinth. He was a possession of King Minos.

  Narcissus: a beautiful youth who was enamored of his own reflection. He was transformed into a flower.

  Oceanus: Titan who was the god of the oceans.

  Oedipus: a Greek who was the unfortunate target of a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, which he eventually did.

  Pegasus: a winged horse that was created from the blood of Medusa’s head. He became the possession of Perseus.

  Perseus: one of the most famous of Greek heroes, Perseus was the son of Princess Danae of Argos who was imprisoned by her father in an attempt to circumvent a prophecy. He would slay the Medusa, rescue Princess Andromeda, and eventually fulfill the oracle’s prophecy of slaying his grandfather.

  Persephone: wife of Hades and resident of the underworld.

  Phaeton: a son of Helios who asked his father to drive his chariot. He was unable to control the chariot and wound up scorching the earth.

  Poseidon: god of the sea.

  Prometheus: a Tritan who was punished for giving fire to Man by being chained to a rock and picked at by birds.

  Rhea: wife of Cronos and mother of Zeus, Hera, and most of the other Olympian gods and goddesses.

  Selene: goddess and embodiment of the moon. Later identified with Artemis.

  Sphinx: a creature with wings that was part human and part animal.

  Theseus: one of the most famous Greek heroes. He slew the Minotaur and became king of Athens.

  Thetis: the mother of Achilles who dipped him into the waters of the Styx for protection.

  Uranus: a Titan and grandfather to Zeus.

  Zeus: the king of the gods and god of the sky. The leader of the Olympian pantheon.

  Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Was Greek mythology and legend confined to modern-day Greece?

  Greek myth and legend applied to the Greek world, which extended beyond the bounds of mo
dern-day Greece. Indeed, until the 20th century, Greek-speaking people also lived on the Western coast of what is now Turkey, where they had been living since at least 1000 BC, so about 3000 years. As a result of the war between Greece and Turkey, most of these people had to move to the modern-day nation of Greece.

  But even leaving aside the Greek coast of Turkey, Greeks had settled throughout the Mediterranean region. They had even settled as far as the Black Sea where they had planted many colonies, most of which were founded by the Ionian city of Miletus. But the most prosperous cities of the Greek diaspora were in Southern Italy and on the island of Sicily. Here, the Greeks found a fertile and thinly-populated land. They were able to plant colonies and grow grain that was exported to the rest of the Greek world well into the Roman period. The people who settled here were Greeks and they carried Greek traditions with them in their new homes.

  2. What was the period of time associated with the practice of Greek religion?

  Greek history was divided into several periods. The earliest period is usually called the Mycenean period, and it was an early golden age associated with art and architectural sites, including Ancient Mycenae, near Argos. This was followed by a Dark Age, during which Greece was overrun by various tribes of invaders. Although it seems unusual, all the groups that lived in Greece were regarded as Greeks, or Hellenes, even though they may have come from different places and had settled in Greece in different times.

  The Dark Ages was followed by the Archaic Period, during which time the Greeks began to experience cultural growth and artistic prominence again. This period was also associated with colonization of other regions and the beginning of democratic and oligarchic institutions as most Greek kings were overthrown or otherwise disappeared. Then there was the Classical Age, which was the golden age of Greek mythology, art, and culture. Finally, there was the Hellenistic Age, which resulted when Alexander carried Greek culture (and Greek people) to new lands to the East. This last period was also associated with the rise of Rome.