It's all about greek mythology

1. Greek Mythology
Ancient Greece

2. Greek Temples
• The ancient Greeks built great temples
and sanctuaries to their gods. They held
festivals in their honor, with processions,
sports, sacrifices and competitions.
• Stories of the gods' exploits were told to
children by their mothers and to large
audiences by professional bards and
storytellers. They hoped that their kids
would learn important life lessons from
the stories, Or, they would use the stories
to explain natural phenomenon that they
did not have the ability to understand.
• People today still enjoy hearing stories
about the Greek gods.

3. Greek Gods & Goddesses
• The ancient Greeks believed there
were a great number of gods and
goddesses. These gods had control
over many different aspects of life
on earth. In many ways they were
very human. They could be kind or
mean, angry or pleasant, cruel or
loving. They fell in love with each
other, argued with each other and
even stole from each other.

4. Zeus
• Zeus was the king of the gods. He
could control the weather. The
ancient Greek poet, Hesiod, called
him the 'cloud-gatherer' and the
'thunderer'. His most powerful
weapon was the thunderbolt. The
ancient Greeks believed that when
lightning struck earth, it was a sign
of Zeus being present.
• Zeus was also concerned with
hospitality. If you treated a guest or
stranger badly you could outrage
Zeus.

5. Hera
• Hera was the wife of Zeus and the
queen of the gods. She is the
goddess of weddings and
marriage. She was extremely
jealous of her husband Zeus
because he had many wives She
was known to take terrible revenge
on them.
• Samos was believed to be the
birthplace of Hera. A large
sanctuary, the Heraion, was built on
the spot of her birth. This was one
of the oldest temples in Greece.

6. Athena
• Athena is the goddess of war and
cunning wisdom. She is also the goddess
of pot-making and wool-working. She is
associated with the city, and almost every
town in Greece had a sanctuary dedicated
to Athena.
• She invented the chariot, the bridle and built
the first ship. The olive tree is sacred to her.
• Zeus was the father of Athena, her
mother was Metis, which means wisdom.
Zeus was told before Athena was born, that
any child born to Metis would be more
powerful than its father. Zeus was very
worried by this and decided to swallow
Metis before she could give birth to the
child.Some time later Zeus began to have
terrible headaches. The pain grew so
unbearable that Zeus asked Hephaistos to
cut his head open to see what was
wrong.When Hephaistos opened his head,
Athena emerged from Zeus' skull, fully
grown and dressed for battle.

7. Apollo
• Apollo was the god of youthful beauty and masculinity, and a god of many roles, including
prophecy, music, light, medicine and hunting.
• This is a restored lyre. The strings would be plucked by the musician and the tortoiseshell would
act as a soundbox. Music, and stringed instruments in particular, were associated with Apollo.

8. Demeter
• Demeter was goddess of agriculture and of all civilization based upon it. She taught people the use and the
production of plant foods, and the domestication of animals, giving them the gift of abundant life. She gave also her
daughter, and together they brought to humanity the mystery and promise of rebirth. She desired peace and the
celebration of natural order. She was an important goddess for farmers and women.
The Thesmophoria was a festival for women only that was dedicated to Demeter. The festival was celebrated all over
Greece. Women would sacrifice piglets to the goddess. On the second day of the festival they would fast, and on the
last day they would have a large feast.

9. Poseidon
• Poseidon was the god of the sea and
horses. He was the brother of Zeus. He
was known for his bad temper and was
greatly feared because of his ability to cause
earthquakes. He was believed to be able to
make fresh water gush forth from the earth.
• Offerings were made to Poseidon by sailors
and fishermen. They hoped by pleasing the
god they would be blessed with calm seas.
The first thing that many sailors would have
seen when sailing to Attica in Greece was
the beautiful temple at Cape Sounion. This
temple was dedicated to Poseidon.

10. Aphrodite
• Aphrodite is the goddess of love and
beauty.
• Aphrodite was born from the sea. She
came ashore near Paphos on Cyprus.
The island of Cyprus became a centre
for worship of the goddess.
• After her birth, Zeus was afraid that the
gods would fight over Aphrodite's hand in
marriage so he married her off to the
smith god Hephaestus, the steadiest of
the gods. He could hardly believe his
good luck and used all his skills to make
the most lavish jewels for her. She loved
socializing and glamour and was not at
all pleased at being the wife of sooty,
hard-working Hephaestus.

11. Hermes
• Hermes was the god of travel, business,
weights and measures and sports.
• He was the messenger of the gods and
guided the souls of the dead to the
underworld. He was also the patron of
herdsmen, thieves, graves and messengers.
His staff caused men to fall asleep instantly.

12. Artemis
• Artemis was the goddess of
hunting, archery and
childbirth. She was also the
goddess of wild animals
and was normally portrayed
as living in the countryside.
She had the ability to send
plagues or sudden death to
mortals, but she could also
heal them. She was the twin
sister of the god Apollo.

13. Ares
• Ares was the god of war. However, unlike
Athena, he was not very cunning in battle.
He was not a popular god. In 'The Iliad' Zeus
complained that Ares was the most hated of
all his children.
• There are hardly any known sanctuaries or
temples dedicated to Ares. His home was
said to be in the land of Thrace. The ancient
Greeks considered this to be a wild and
barbarous place.

14. Hephaistos
• Hephaistos was the god of fire, volcanoes, blacksmiths and craftworkers. He was lame and
this led to him being thrown out of Mount Olympus. He was married to the goddess Aphrodite. He
was the father of Erechtheus the legendary king of Athens.
• The Hephaisteia was another festival dedicated to Hephaistos. One of the major features of the
festival was a torch race. Torch races occurred at many festivals but are particularly relevant to
Hephaistos because of his connection with fire.

15. Dionysus
• Dionysos was the fun loving god of high
spirits, strong emotions and wine. He is
also closely associated with drama and
the theatre.
• This is a drinking cup called a kantharos.
Dionysos was usually shown holding this
type of cup.