The Greek Gods: Complete List and Background (2023)

The Greek gods

Greek mythology begins at the beginning of the world! The Greek gods that existed then were thePrimordial Gods🇧🇷 Hesiod's famous work called Theogony (meaning "Birth of the Gods" in Greek) presents a complete cosmogony. Forces of nature are personified and the most basic components of the cosmos are gods.

According to Hesiod, in the beginning there was chaos.Chaos was the embodiment of absolute nothingness.- a submerged and dark void from which all existence sprang. came from chaosEros, the god of love and procreation.🇧🇷 We can see that the ancient Greeks considered love to be one of the most fundamental forces in the world. After thisTartaruswas born, a place dark as the abyss andthe original god of the underworld.Diosa Gaiathen followed, youthe personification of the earth.Erebus, the god of darkness, miNyx, goddess of the night, they too were born from chaos. Came from GaiaOurea, the god of the mountains,Pontus, god of the sea, miUranus, the god of the air.

The complete list of Greek primordial gods:

• • an occasion: the goddess of eternal night. The first creature that some say existed even before Chaos itself. According to Hesiod, she is the demon of death.
  • ether: The god of light. The life spark for every creature. Etymologically, ether means the highest and purest layer of air.
  • Αion: the god of eternity. He was a ghostly primordial deity who embodied the meaning of time (sometimes confused with the god Cronos). In Greek, Aion means "century". Although disembodied, he was also depicted as a monster with a snake's body and three heads: a human (male), a bull, and a lion. According to one myth, Aion and his companion Ananke (also with the body of a serpent) wrapped and broke the cosmic egg to form the "classified" universe (earth - sky - sea).
  • Ananke: the goddess of inevitability, compulsion and necessity. She was an inescapable divine force.
  • Chaos: the god of emptiness. He was the beginning of all life. According to most versions of Greek mythology, chaos existed before everyone.
  • Chronos: The god of time. Not to be confused with Aion (god of eternity) or Cronos (the Titan we will meet later).
  • erebos: the god of darkness and shadow. Together with her sister, the goddess Nyx, she symbolizes the stillness and depth of the night. He is usually depicted as a giant dark-winged being, a double with Nyx.
  • Eros: the god of love and procreation. Not to be confused with Eros, the winged god of desire, whom we will meet later.
  • Gaia: the goddess of the earth (mother earth). She is the mother of everything, the primal mother. On a cosmogenic level, it symbolizes the material side of the universe, while chaos symbolizes the space of the universe. Eros symbolizes the driving force that unites everything and creates the rest.
  • hemera: the goddess of the day.
  • Hypnosis: the god of sleep and father of Morpheus.
  • justice: the goddess of retribution.
  • Oh no: the goddesses of the islands.
  • Nyx: the goddess of the night. It was a sovereign, primordial, and cosmogenic entity respected and feared by most gods. She is the sister of Erebus, the god of darkness and shadow.
  • Our: The gods of the mountains.
  • score: the god of the sea and father of sea creatures.
  • Tartarus: the god of the darkest and deepest part of the underworld - the original god of the underworld. The underworld was the place where the wicked are imprisoned and eternally tortured after death.
  • Thalassa: the goddess of the sea and wife of the god Pontus.
  • Thanatos: The god of death. He is the twin brother of Hypnos (god of sleep) and lives in dark Tartarus.
  • Uranus: the god of the air. He soon became the ruler of the world and the father of the Titans.

the titan gods

According to Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion,The Titans were the pre-Olympic gods🇧🇷 His parents were Gaia (Mother Earth) and Uranus (God of Heaven). They had two other species as sisters, also born from the union of Gaia and Uranus: the Hecatonchiras (meaning "the ones with a hundred hands") and the Cyclopes (meaning "round eyes").

How the titans became rulers of the world

The first Titans were twelve years old; six men and six women. The youngest was Chronos. At some point, Uranus decided that he didn't like Cyclops and Hecatonchires at all. He thought her too ugly and too powerful, so he imprisoned her in Tartarus, in the depths of the underworld. Gaia, the mother of the Cyclops and Hecatonchires, did not like the way Uranus treated her children. She was angry with Urano and decided to take revenge. He asked his other sons, the Titans, to cut off Uranus's genitals and strike him down... The Titans were too scared to do so, except for one: the youngest of the twelve, Kronos. As Uranus approached Gaia, Kronos surprised Uranus and cut off his genitals with a scythe. Chronos with his action separated Uranus (the heavens) and Gaia (the earth).

From the drops of blood from Uranus that fell on Gaia, the Erinyes (Furies), the Meliai, and the giants were born. The Erinyes were deities of vengeance. If you broke an oath or hurt someone, they would haunt you forever. The Meliai were tree nymphs, beautiful and gentle deities. Giants were creatures of immersive power and very aggressive.

After Ouranos was defeated, Kronos freed his brothers from dark Tartarus and the Titans became the new Greek gods. They immediately recognized Cronos as their leader and ruler of the cosmos, and helped him consolidate his power. Having become the undisputed ruler of the world, Cronos, fearing the power of the Hekatonchirs and Cyclopes as his father had done before him, once again imprisoned them in Tartarus.

The full list of Titans:

The first Titans, sons of Uranus and Gaia, were twelve years old; six males and six females.

• • Chronos: the titanic god of the harvest. Kronos, although the youngest of the first twelve Titans, became the ruler of the world after overthrowing his father Ouranos. He then married his older sister Rhea.
  • to be continued: the titan goddess of fertility and procreation. She determines the course of events and her name literally means "the flowing one" in Greek.
  • The ocean: the titanic god of the oceans. He was the eldest son of Uranus and Gaia. His domain extended to every corner of the earth and to every corner of the horizon. Oceanus was the personification of water and was paired with his sister, the titan Tethys.
  • Thetis: the titan goddess of rivers and freshwater. She was the wife of Oceanus and the mother of more than 3000 river gods (rivers personified by the ancient Greeks), the Oceanids (nymphs of springs, streams and wells) and the Nephelai (cloud nymphs).
  • Hyperion: the titanic god of light. Its blinding light shone in all directions. His name means "he who walks the earth" in Greek. It symbolized eternal splendor. He fell in love with his sister, the Titan goddess Theia.
  • Theia: the Titan Goddess of Aether. Theia bore the Titan Hyperion three radiant children: Helios (the sun), Eos (the dawn), and Selene (the moon).
  • Japeto: the titanic god of mortal life. He symbolized mortality and the length of mortal life. He was the father of Atlas of the Titans (responsible for bearing the weight of heaven on his shoulders), Prometheus (who gave man fire) and Epimetheus (who married Pandora, the first mortal woman). Iapetus was also considered to embody one of the four pillars separating heaven and earth. He represented the Pillar of the West, the other three were represented by his brothers Crius, Coeus and Hyperion. All four brothers played an active role in the dethronement of their father, Urano; Being all at the four corners of the earth, they held Uranus while his brother Kronos emasculated him with a scythe.
  • Cold: the titanic god of constellations. Its name means "ram" in Greek, reflecting its connection to the Aries constellation.
  • CEO: the titanic god of intellect. He was also considered the personification of the celestial axis around which the heavens revolve. He married his sister Phoebe.
  • Feb: The titan goddess of prophecy and oracular intellect. Phoebe gave birth to the Titan Coeus' two children, Leto and Asteria. The titan Leto later copulated with the Olympian god Zeus and fathered the Olympians Artemis and Apollo. Since Phoebe symbolized prophetic wisdom just as Coeus represented rational intelligence, the pair together may have functioned as the ultimate source of all knowledge in the cosmos.
  • It was: The Titan goddess of divine law and order. He also had the ability to predict the future, later becoming one of the Delphic Oracles.
  • mnemonic: the titan goddess of memory. Mnemosyne was generally regarded as the personification of memory and remembrance. Later, Zeus slept with Mnemosyne for nine consecutive days, resulting in the birth of the nine muses. In Hesiod's Theogony, kings and poets drew inspiration from Mnemosyne and the Muses, acquiring their extraordinary skill in language and the use of powerful words. All ancient writers turn to the Muses at the beginning of their works. Homer asks the muses in both the Iliad and the Odyssey to help him tell the story in the most appropriate way, and even today the muses are symbols of inspiration and artistic creation.

The Titans represented the forces of nature and natural phenomena to the ancients. These forces have ruled the world since the earliest times of creation. Only Themis and Mnemosyne represented more moods, justice and memory. During the ensuing Battle of the Gods (the so-called "Titanomachy"), Themis and Mnemosyne were the only two of the early Titans who did not side with their brothers in their war against the Olympians and continued their course on the side of Olympus. gods.

When Rhea became pregnant with Kronos' first child, Ouranos prophesied that Kronos' children would overthrow him as he overthrew Uranus. When Rhea gave birth to their first child, Hestia, Cronus couldn't get the Uranus prophecy out of his mind. Overcome with fear and madness and trying to avoid his father's fate, he swallowed the newborn! So did his next four children; Cronus devoured all five of his newborns! The only one who survived was the sixth and youngest son Zeus. Rhea tricked Cronus into eating a stone instead of the baby and raised Zeus on the island of Crete by his mad father. Zeus grew older and stronger and eventually attempted to free his brothers, leading to the epic battle between the Titans and the Olympians, which the latter ultimately won and overthrew the previous generation of Greek gods.

It is worth noting that there were many more Titans than those mentioned, descendants of the first twelve.

the Olympian gods

The Olympian gods werethe main greek gods who lived on mons olympus🇧🇷 The gods of Olympus rose to power by defeating the Titans in the War of the Titans (aka Titanomachy). They were sons of Kronos and Rhea. Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia and Demeter, Hades and later Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Athena, Hephaestus, Aphrodite and Ares. Over the years, the demigod Dionysus became part of their group on Mount Olympus.

It is very common to refer to the Greek pantheon as "the 12 gods of Olympus". However, the ancient Greeks did not worship twelve specific gods. Instead, there were many more gods and others, large and small but still important, that were worshiped locally.

The rule of Zeus was not absolute. To obtain it, Zeus and his ilk had to fight the titans and then the giants. The Battle of the Giants was more violent and lasted longer. The greatest Olympic athletes took part in the battle. Giants weren't as immortal as Titans. But they had enormous strength and a monstrous shape. After a long and fierce war, the Greek gods, with the help of the demigod, the son of Zeus, the hero Hercules, managed to defeat all the giants.

The Olympian gods had the same inclinations and desires, flaws and qualities as mortals, though sometimes living in similar conditions. They looked human, but they were almost always more beautiful and stronger than humans. The gods could transform as they wished or teleport wherever they wished. This was also a motivation for the famous Greek hospitality, which was a very important institution in ancient Greece. The Greeks always welcomed any foreigner who might end up being a god in disguise!

As can be seen in many myths, the gods of the Greeks were not indifferent to the people. On the contrary, they often came into contact with them, traveled in secret, turned into ordinary people, rewarded the good and punished the unjust. The gods found no better way to be happy than to live as humans. But they were freed from two of humanity's great afflictions: the fear of deprivation and the fear of death. In fact, the privilege of the gods is carefree. They never think about illness, old age, death. Nectar, the wine of the gods, and ambrosia, the divine food of Olympus, guarantee beauty, health and happiness to the immortals.

Immortal Greek gods settled on the top of Olympus. There they built their divine palaces and viewed the whole world from there. Ancient Greek religion is based on wisdom. People greatly admired the gods without envying them. Famous temples were built for them and famous works of art were inspired by them. The gods reflected the ideals of the ancient Greek people.

The full list of the Greek gods of Olympus:

Zeus

Zeus was recognized as the father of gods and men. He regulated celestial phenomena and defined the laws that govern the people. In one hand he held the thunderbolt and in the other the scepter with an eagle emblazoned on its tip. He was known as the "Lord of Justice". People respected and feared him at the same time. He watched over families, guarding the home of every mortal and protecting strangers and passers-by from harm. Zeus' wife was the goddess Hera, to whom he was not always faithful. Greek mythology is full of love stories about Zeus, who liked to transform himself into anything he could imagine and mingled with other goddesses or mortals.

demeter

Demeter was the Greek goddess of agriculture and protected trees, plants and crops. She was the first to make the land fertile and taught people to grow wheat, barley and other crops. Demeter is somewhat isolated from the twelve gods in the ancient myths, and that is because she is an even older goddess. The Greeks received their cult from the Pelasgians who originally lived in Greece. According to Greek mythology, the daughter of Demeter is mentioned as Persephone, who was once abducted by the god Hades and became his wife. The most sacred and secret religious rites of ancient Greece, the Eleusinian Mysteries, were performed in honor of Demeter.

Poseidon

Poseidon was one of the six children of Kronos and Rhea and brother of Zeus. He was given the kingdom of the seas, but he was also considered the god of horses and earthquakes. That is why he was called "he who makes the earth tremble". He rarely lived on Mount Olympus, preferring the depths of the ocean. He sat in a famous chariot drawn by immortal horses and held in his hand the famous trident forged by the Cyclopes. When Poseidon was angry, he would dip the trident into the sea and shake it from end to end. The sailors begged Poseidon to spare them his wrath.

hell

Hades was the brother of Zeus and Poseidon and the god of the underworld. He received this kingdom when the three brothers cast lots to decide who would get each of the three (heaven, sea and underworld). He liked to live in the dark and dreary world of the dead and was rarely seen on Mount Olympus. For this reason, although he is one of the most important gods, some lists do not include him among the 12 Olympian gods. He was also known as Pluto. "Pluto" means wealth in Greek. The earth gives us many treasures and since the kingdom of Hades lies beneath it, the ancient Greeks believed that he was the one who gave them the riches. In fact, they preferred to call him Pluto because the name Hades was another name for the underworld and they didn't like the idea of ​​death. The entrance to the Underworld is guarded by a monstrous dog, Hades' favorite pet, the three-headed Cerberus. In order for your soul to cross the still river, you must pay the ferryman Charon to take you on his boat.

Hera

The goddess Hera was the sister of Zeus, the daughter of the Titans Kronos and Reia, and at the same time the wife of Zeus. The ivy symbolized and protected the sacred institution of marriage. He blessed and helped women in childbirth. Greek mythology presents Hera as a modest, measured and faithful woman, but at the same time very jealous. There are almost no myths that refer exclusively to Hera. His name is almost always associated with myths about Zeus. However, Hera does not present herself to her sovereign husband as a submissive goddess. She had a strong female personality and she was the only one who dared to defy him.

Apollo

Apollo and Artemis were brothers, actually twins, sons of Zeus and Leto, a Titan goddess. According to tradition, the two children were born on the island of Delos. Apollo is one of the most important and complex Greek gods. He is the god of light, music and poetry, healing and prophecy. It was he who founded the Great Oracle of Delphi, considered the center of the ancient world. He was the teacher of the nine muses and when they sang he accompanied them with his famous lyre.

mugwort

Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo, was the goddess of the hunt, wild animals and the wilderness. She spent her time in the forest, accompanied by the nymphs, hunting with bows and arrows. She was a virgin goddess and protector of girls. She was also worshiped as one of the main goddesses of childbirth and midwifery, relieving the discomfort of women in labor. Sometimes she was associated with the goddess of the moon.

Aphrodite

Most beautiful among mortals and immortals, Aphrodite was born from the foam of the sea when the blood of Uranus fell on him after his defeat by Kronos. This fact makes her the oldest among the gods of Olympus. His name literally means "risen from the foam". Aphrodite was worshiped as the goddess of beauty and passion. He could awaken love in the hearts of both men and women. Most myths usually depict Aphrodite as a vengeful woman. Aphrodite was worshiped throughout Greece and many priestesses served her. According to Greek mythology, she married the fire and blacksmith god Hephaestus, but was in love with the war god Ares, with whom she had many children, including the winged love god Eros.

Ares

Ares, the god of war, was the son of the Greek gods Zeus and Hera. He was always followed by two of his faithful sons and followers, the gods Deimos and Phobos. Ares was handsome and strong, young and well armed. He loved war and battles, so people hated him and their worship was limited. Only in Sparta was he particularly revered and a statue dedicated to him. According to tradition, Ares was tried for his numerous war crimes on one of Athens' hills, Areopagus Hill, which later became the seat of the Criminal Court of Ancient Athens.

Hephaistos

Hephaestus was the god of fire and the forge. He was born ugly and for this reason his mother, the goddess Hera, who could not feed him, expelled him from Olympus. Since then he has been limping. Hephaestus fell into the sea, where he was picked up by the Nereids and revived by them. Growing up, he became a famous craftsman and set up his workshop on Mount Etna in Sicily. With his various metals he created works of art of incomparable beauty. Once he made a throne of gold and sent it to his mother Hera. As soon as Hera sat down, invisible chains bound her without anyone being able to loosen them. They tried to persuade Hephaestus, but only succeeded after getting him drunk first. Hephaestus, the god of fire, named volcanoes in Greek. The titan Prometheus took fire from it and gave it to the humans. Hephaestus was also the one who built the bronze and gold palaces on Mount Olympus.

Hermes

Hermes was the god of wealth, commerce, thieves and travelers. He was also known as the messenger god as he was the herald of the Olympians and carried messages between them. He was the son of Zeus and Maia, daughter of the Titan Atlas. He was a clever, inventive, and arrogant god. Immediately after his birth, Hermes saw a turtle. He took his shell, put seven strings on it and invented the lyre. Once he stole the oxen guarded by the god Apollo and locked them in a cave. He didn't want to admit the theft, but in the end he confessed. To avoid punishment, he gave the lyre to Apollo. Hermes wore winged sandals and held the caduceus, his wand entwined with two snakes. He was the one who escorted the souls of the dead to Hades and was therefore known as the "soul carrier".

Athens

According to Greek mythology, Athena was the goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare. Athena was the beloved daughter of Zeus. His mother was the titan Metis, the first wife of Zeus. Zeus received a prophecy informing him that Metis would give birth to the child who would overthrow his father. To avoid the prophecy, Zeus swallowed Metis while she was pregnant in Athens. Later, Zeus got a headache and called Hephaestus for help. Hephaestus hit Zeus on the head with his hammer and Athena sprang out in full armor. She is always depicted armed, never as a girl, always as a virgin. He won the battle for Athena's patronage over Poseidon. The Parthenon in Athens is the most famous temple dedicated to her. Protector of heroes and wisest of gods, Athena was considered one of the most powerful and important goddesses of Olympus.

Dionisio

Despite being a demigod, Dionysus managed to win the hearts of the gods and his place on Olympus! As the god of wine, the ritual madness of viticulture and religious ecstasy, he was very popular with the people and was considered a very important god. He was the son of the god Zeus and the mortal Semele. He was the patron god of theater and taught people how to make wine. The Athenians celebrated a famous festival in honor of Dionysus, characteristic of their rejoicing. Any use of force was forbidden during these holidays.

Gottin's Hestia

Hestia was the goddess of domesticity, hearth and hearth, the flame that kept a family's hearth warm. She was the eldest daughter of Cronus and Rhea and the eldest sister of Zeus. In the center of the house of the ancient Greeks stood an altar in his honor. The women of the house were responsible for keeping Hestia's flame burning. The cult of Hestia was associated with the cult of Zeus, which protected foreign travelers. The goddess Hestia was the first to invent house building, she taught people how to do it and became the protector of peace and family happiness. She was always on Mount Olympus and kept the sacred flame burning.

other greek gods

In addition to the above, there were other minor gods that people also honored and respected. The Greeks often made sacrifices to ask for their help or to gain their favor and built beautiful temples to honor them. Some honorable mentions are:

• • Hectares: the goddess of magic and necromancy. It was she who helped the goddess Demeter to find her daughter. Dogs were closely associated with her. The ancient Greeks believed that when dogs suddenly barked at night, Hekate was passing by.
  • Polo: the god of winds. He oversaw the eight wind gods (each direction of the wind was personified by the ancient Greeks).
  • Asclepius: the god of medicine. He was the son of the god Apollo, who taught him the science of medicine.
  • Eris: the goddess of jealousy and discord. She was the one who threw the golden apple at Thetis and Peleus' wedding because they didn't invite her. His action was the starting point that would later lead to the epic Trojan War.
  • frying pan: the god of the jungle, shepherds and rural music. He is considered one of the oldest Greek gods and was particularly loved by the people.

But there are so many other Greek gods! There are, of course, deities who, though great, remained secondary or never outgrew their local character.Eilithia, goddess of childbirth; God of WarEnyaliosand your coupleEnyos;Lefkotheamiby Jewryn, mothers and teachers of the sea creatures, namely lords of the sea creaturesBlue green,Proteus,Mia,forks🇧🇷 is so much more.

Other deities are organized into groups by gender and age. The youth forms are considered more important because they are always on the move, dancing, singing. The Graces, the Muses, the Nereids, the Oceanids are some of the most popular groups of deities.

Many of these minor Greek gods and goddesses are forces of nature. Cities honor their rivers and springs with a special altar or temple that personifies them. The cult of the winds and the sun was also very popular. The moon and Eos, the goddess of dawn, also appear in some myths, while the cult of the earth has never ceased to exist in traditional religion.

The existence of such deities has led to the notion that the gods are personifications of natural phenomena and nature itself. The Greeks, for example, regarded rivers as gods, children of the great gods. Nymphs can be found in springs and wells that are considered sacred places; the water of certain springs was considered fertile, which is why they were associated with the groom's ritual bath before the wedding; Newborn babies were thrown into the water of a certain sacred spring to be blessed and lead a good life.

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