Zeus was the supreme ruler of the gods and god of the sky. He used the thunderbolt and could be opposed by other gods. Hera was Zeus' sister and wife, known for punishing those Zeus took as lovers. Poseidon ruled the sea and caused earthquakes. Hades ruled the underworld and the dead. Athena was the goddess of wisdom born from Zeus' head. Apollo was the god of light, truth, prophecy, healing, and music. Artemis was Apollo's twin and goddess of the hunt. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty. Hermes was the messenger of the gods and god of trade. Ares was the god of war. Hepha

2. ZEUS (JUPITER)
 Zeus became the supreme ruler.
 He was the Lord of the sky, the Rain-god and the Cloud- gatherer.
 He use the awful thunderbolt.
 He was not omnipotent (almighty) or omniscient (all-knowing), either. He could be
opposed (different) and deceived (mistaken).
 He is represented as falling in love with one woman after another and descending to
all manner of tricks to hide his infidelity from his wife.
 In earliest record Zeus had grandeur.
 His breastplate was the AEGIS – awful to behold;
 His bird was the EAGLE,
 His tree the OAK,
 His oracle was DODONA in the land of oak trees.

3. Statue of Zeus
The Greek sculptor Phidias created the 12-m
(40-ft) tall Statue of Zeus in about 435 bc. The
statue, depicted in this engraving by 16th-
century Dutch artist Maarten van
Heemskerck, stood in Olympia and was
perhaps the most famous sculpture in
ancient Greece. Phidias made the god’s robe
and ornaments from gold and carved the
body out of ivory.
ZEUS (JUPITER)

4. HERA (JUNO)
 She was Zeus’s wife and sister.
 She was the protector of marriage, and married women were her peculiar care.
 She is chiefly punishing the many women Zeus fell in love with, even when they
yielded only because he coerced or tricked them.
 Her implacable anger- she never forgot an injury
* Her hatred of a Trojan who had judged another goddess lovelier than she. The
wrong of her slighted beauty remained with her until Troy fell in ruins.
 The Quest of the Golden Fleece
 She was venerated in every home.
 She was the goddess married women turned to for help.
 goddess of childbirth and daughter of Hera,
 The COW and PEACOCK were sacred to her.
 ARGOS was her favorite city.

5. POSEIDON (NEPTUNE)
 He was the ruler of the sea.
 Zeus’s brother and second only to him in eminence.
 His wife was AMPHITRITE (sea goddess and granddaughter of the Titan OCEAN)
 He had a splendid palace beneath the sea, but he was oftener to be found in Olympus.
 He gave the first horse to man and he was honored as much for the one as for the
other
 Storm and calm were under his control
 Commonly called “Earth- shaker” and he was always shown carrying his trident (a
three-pronged spear), with which he would shake and shatter whatever he pleased.
 He had some connection with the BULLS as well as with HORSES.

6. HADES (PLUTO)
 He was the third brother among the Olympians
 His share is the underworld and the ruler of the dead
 PLUTO- the God of Wealth and the precious metals hidden in the Earth.
 Romans and Greeks called him by this name, but often they translated it into Dis,
latin word for rich.
 He had a far- famed cap or helmet which made whoever wore it invisible.
 He was unpitying, inexorable, but just; a terrible, NOT AN EVIL GOD.
 His wife was PERSEPHONE (Proserpine)- daughter of Zeus and Demeter, whom he
carried away from the earth and made Queen of the Lower World.
 He was the King of the Dead – not Death himself,
Greeks called THANATOS and the Romans called ORCUS.

7. PALLAS ATHENA (MINERVA)
 She was the daughter of Zeus alone. No mother bore her.
 Full-grown and in full armor, she sprang from his head.
 Earliest account of her, the Iliad, she is fierce and ruthless battle-goddess, she is warlike only to depend
the State and the home from outside enemies.
 She was pre-eminently the Goddess of the City,
 the protector of civilized life, of handicrafts and agriculture; the inventor of the bridle, who first tamed
horses for men to use.
 She was Zeus’s favorite child .
He trusted her to carry the awful AEGIS, his BUCKLER and his devastating weapon, the
THUNDERBOLT.
 “gray-eyed”, or “flashing-eyed”
 was called the MAIDEN, PARTHENOS. And her temple the PARTHENON.
 embodiment of wisdom, reason, purity
 ATHENS was her special city,
 she created the OLIVE tree,
 the OWL was her bird.

8. PALLAS ATHENA (MINERVA)
Parthenon
The Parthenon in Athens, Greece, was
dedicated to the goddess Athena
Parthenos (the Virgin Athena). The
sculptural decoration on the east
pediment (gable) depicted the birth of
Athena from the head of Zeus, and that
on the west pediment depicted her
contest with Poseidon for possession
of Attica, the territory of Athens.

9. PHOEBUS APOLLO
 son of the god Zeus and Leto (daughter of a Titan)
 “the most Greeks of all Gods”
 Golden lyre,
 Archer-god, far shooting,
 the HEALER
 He was the first to taught men the healing art.
 He is the God of Light, in whom is no darkness at all
 He is the God of truth
 No false word ever falls from his lips.
 Delphi under towering Parnassus, where Apollo’s oracle was. CASTALIA was its sacred spring; CEPHISSUS
its river. Delphi, Greece, was held the center of the world.
 DELIAN and PYTHIAN, LYCIAN, Iliad- SMINTHIAN, PHOEBUS
 Sun-god (Helios)
 LAUREL was his tree.
 Many creatures was sacred to him, chief among them the DOLPHIN and the CROW.

10. PHOEBUS APOLLO
Ruins at Delphi
Delphi, Greece, was considered by the
ancients to be the center of the world. Private
citizens and public officials would come to
consult the oracle there, who was said to
speak the words of the god Apollo. The
temple brought great wealth to the town and
was repeatedly attacked from as early as 595
BC. Excavations began in 1892 and many fine
buildings were uncovered. Shown here is the
sanctuary of Athena Pronaos, with its
remaining three columns topped with a
section of the frieze and cornice.

11. ARTEMIS (DIANA)
 Apollo’s twin sister, daughter of god Zeus and Leto (daughter of a Titan)
 Artemis, goddess of the bow and of hunting.
 Also called Cynthia (Mount Cynthus in Delos)
 One of the three maiden goddesses of Olympus.
 She was lady of Wild Things,
 Huntsman-in-chief to the gods.
 Like a good huntsman, she was careful to preserve the young; “protectress of dewy
youth” everywhere.
 She kept the Greek fleet from sailing to Troy until they sacrificed a maiden.
 She is fierce and revengeful.
 CYPRESS was sacred to her;
 All wild animals are also sacred to her but especially the DEER.

12. APHRODITE (VENUS)
 Goddess of love and beauty
 She beguiled all, gods and men alike;
 The laughter loving goddess (she laughed sweetly or mockingly at those her wiles had
conquered).
 Irresistible goddess
 Daughter of Zeus and Dione
 “Aphros” is foam in Greek. (poem risen)
 CYTHERA and CYPRUS were sacred to her.
 Homeric Hymns- Beautiful, golden goddess.
 She is a soft, weak creature there, whom a mortal need not fear to attack.
 As treacherous and malicious, exerting a deadly and destructive power over men.
 Wife of HEPHAESTUS (VULCAN) – the lame and ugly god of the forge.
 MYRTLE was her tree,
 DOVE her bird- sometimes the SPARROW and the SWAN too.

13. APHRODITE (VENUS)
 Romans wrote of her in the same way-
Winds flee before her, and the storm clouds;
sweet flowers embroider the earth;
the waves of the sea laugh;
she moves in radiant light.
Without her there is no joy nor loveliness anywhere.

14. HERMES (MERCURY)
 Son of Zeus and Maia (daughter of Atlas)
 He is more familiar to us than that of any other god.
 He was graceful and swift of motion.
 On his feet were winged sandals; wings were on his low-crowned hat too and on
his Magic Wand, CADUCEUS.
 He was Zeus’s Messenger
 Flies as fleet as thought to do his bidding .
 He was the shrewdest and most cunning of all the gods.
 He was the Master Thief.
 He won also Apollo’s forgiveness by presenting him with lyre (made of tortoise’s
shell)
 He was the God of Commerce and the market, protector of traders.

15. ARES (MARS)
 God of War
 Son of Zeus and Hera
 He is hateful throughout the Iliad poem.
 The heroes rejoice in the delight of Ares battle, but far oftener in having escaped “the fury of the ruthless
god”
 Homer calls him- murderous, bloodstained, the incarnate curse of mortals and strangely a coward too, who
bellows with pain and runs away when he is wounded.
 Her sister is there, ERIS (goddess of Discord) and STRIFE (her son).
 ENYO/BELLONA (goddess of war)- she walks beside Ares and with her are terror, trembling and panic.
 The Romans liked Mars.- He never was to them the mean whining deity but magnificent in shining armor,
redoubtable, invisible.
 He is the lover of Aphrodite.
 He is not a distinct personality, like Hermes or Hera or Apollo.
 He had no cities where he was worshipped.
 THRACE (home of rude)
 His bird was the VULTURE

16. HEPHAESTUS
(VULCAN AND MULCIBER)
 God of Fire
 Hephaestus was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans,
sculptors, metals and metallurgy and fire.
 Sometimes said to be the son of Zeus and Hera, sometimes Hera alone.
 He was ugly and lame
 In Homer he is no danger of being driven from Olympus; he is highly honored there,
workman of the immortals, their armorer and smith, who makes their dwellings and
furnishing as well as their weapons.
 His forge said to be under this or that volcano.
 His wife is one of the three Graces in the iliad called Aglaia, In Hesiod in the
Odyssey she is Aphrodite.
 He was kind, peace-loving god, popular on Earth as in heaven.

17. HESTIA (VESTA)
 She was Zeus sister.
 A virgin goddess
 She was the goddess of the Hearth (the symbol of the home).
 Every meal began and ended with an offering to her.
 In Rome her fire was cared for six virgin priestesses, called VESTALS.