This document provides an overview of Greek mythology and some of the author's favorite Greek gods and goddesses. It begins with a brief introduction to Greek mythology and the origins of the universe from Chaos. It describes the origins and relationships between the Titans like Cronus and Rhea and their children, the Olympians. The rest of the document focuses on describing 10 major Greek gods and goddesses - Zeus, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Ares, Artemis, Apollo, Athena, Aphrodite, and Hermes - including their roles and symbolic imagery associated with each. Photos and descriptions of classical sculptures representing each deity are also provided.

1. MY FAVORITE
GREEK GODS
AND GODDESSES
By Jairo Sandoval

2. BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO GREEK
MYTHOLOGY
• Greeks humanized their Deities.
• They did not fear their gods, on the
other hand they approached them
with respect and dignity.
• Every God possessed Super-human
Powers and controlled a particular
part of the word.
• The Gods were though to live on the
peaks of Mt. Olympus (not heaven)
or somewhere in the sky.
• In Greek Mythology Gods did not
create the Universe, The universe
created the Gods.
• The Pantheon is where Greek
religion was centered but separate
villages worshipped different Gods.

3. THE BEGINING
*In the beginning
there was only chaos.
*From chaos
emerged Gaea or
mother earth and
Uranus father heaven
(sky).
*They had 3 types of
children Cyclops,
Giants and most
importantly 12 Titans.
Uranus Gaea

4. THE TITANS
Out of all the titans the main important
ones are Kronos and Rhea which gave
birth to 5 of the Olympians.

5. FEAR OF REBELING
• Uranus was not a good father or
husband.
• This led to Gaea and the youngest
titan named Cronus to plot against
him.
• In the middle of his sleep Cronus
castrated his father Uranus which
gave him power.
• Cronus ended up with Rhea which
was his sister and had the 5
Olympians.
• Cronus feared they would rebel
against him, so as soon as they were
born he swallowed the babies.
Except for Zeus which ended up
defeating him once he was old
enough and had developed his
powers.
• When Kronos was dead he threw up
Zeus’ brothers and sisters.

7. TOP 10 GODS AND GODDESSES
• Zeus
• Hera
• Hades
• Poseidon
• Ares
• Artemis
• Apollo
• Athena
• Aphrodite
• Hermes
•There is basically a
God for everything
so I narrowed it
down to my
favorite 10.

8. ZEUS
• God of the Sky, Thunder and
Justice.
• King and most powerful of the
Gods.
• Ruler of Mt. Olympus
• Married to Hera also his sister.
• Had many kids from his different
affairs with mortals and Goddesses.

9. ZEUS
• The Jupiter de Smyrne, discovered
in Smyrna Greece in 1680.

10. HERA
• Queen of the Gods, Goddess of
Women and Marriage.
• Known for being vindictive towards
Zeus’ many mistresses and their
offspring's.
• Sacred animal is a Peacock.
• Mother of Hephaestus God of fire
and Ares God of War.

11. HERA
• Greek Goddess Hera (Juno) Statue -
The Campana Hera, a Roman copy
of a Hellenistic original, from the
Louvre

12. HADES
• God of the Underworld and the
Dead.
• Brother of Zeus and Poseidon.
• Its said that Hades wears the helm
of invisibility.
• His pet is a legendary creature
names Cerberus which is has 3
heads and serpents tail, the
guardian of the underworld.

13. HADES
• Hades with Cerberus (Heraklion
Archaeological Museum)

14. POSEIDON
• God of the Sea, Earthquakes and
horses.
• Brother of Zeus and Hades.
• Poseidon was a violent god of
enormous strength. He drove his
three pronged trident into the earth
to make earthquakes.

15. POSEIDON
• Greek God Poseidon (Neptune)
Statue - A sculpture of Poseidon in
the port of Copenhagen Denmark.

16. ARES
• God of War.
• Son of Zeus and Hera.
• His mystical animal was a Vulture.
• Often represents the physical or
violent and untamed aspect of war.

17. ARES
• Statue of Ares from Hadrian's Villa
Italy.

18. ARTEMIS
• Goddess of the hunt and protector
of women in childbirth.
• Twin sister to Apollo God of Light.
• Mystical animal was the Deer.
• Hunted with Silver arrows and loved
wild animals.

19. ARTEMIS
• Artemis pouring a libation, c. 460-
450 BC.

20. APOLLO
• Apollo has been variously
recognized as a god of light and
the sun, truth and prophecy,
healing, plague, music and poetry.
• Son of Zeus and Leto, Twin to
Artemis.
• Mystical animal is the Dolphin.
• Played the Lyre given to him by
Hermes.
• The Olympic games were made in
honor of him.

21. APOLLO
• Apollo Belvedere, ca. 120–140 CE

22. ATHENA
• Goddess of wisdom and the arts of
war and peace.
• Legend says that she was born
when Zeus complained that he had
a headache and asked his son
Haphaestous to hit him on the
head, once he did out came
Athena.
• Mystical animal is the Owl.
• in contrast to Ares, Athena’s
functions as a goddess of
intelligence include military
strategy and generalship.

23. ATHENA
• Atena farnese, Roman copy of a
Greek original from Phidias’ circle,
c. 430 AD, Museo Archeologico,
Naples

24. APHRODITE
• Goddess of love, beauty, pleasure,
and procreation.
• born when Cronos cut off Uranus's
genitals and threw them into the
sea, and she arose from the sea
foam
• Aphrodite is the lawful wife
of Hephaestus God of Fire, son of
Zeus and Hera. Unfortunately, the
ugly and cripple god did not
manage to keep for long the most
beautiful goddess.
• Aphrodite started cheating on him
with Ares his own brother.

25. APHRODITE
• The Birth of Venus by Sandro
Botticelli, circa 1485.

26. HERMES
• Messenger God, a trickster and
friend to thieves.
• Invented boxing and gymnastics.
• The fastest God, he wore winged
sandals and a winged hat, always
carries his caduceus.
• Legends says that he had a child
with Aphrodite, and named their
offspring Hermaphroditus because it
was male and female.

27. HERMES
• Hermes Ingenui (Vatican Museums).
Roman copy of the 2nd century BC
after a Greek original of the 5th
century BC.

28. JUST FOR FUN
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=RId6Sv2ZAKA

29. WORKS CITED
• “The Gods of the Greeks.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., date last updated 24 November 2014. Web. Date
accessed 25 November 2014.
• “Greek Mythology.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., date last updated 1 June 2014. Web. Date accessed
25 November 2014.
• Koukakis, Lefteris. “Greek Gods and Monsters.” Greek Mythology Pantheon,.
6 June 2013.Web. 25 November 2014.