This document provides information on Greek and Roman gods and their symbols. It begins with a table listing the 12 major Olympian gods: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Ares, and Hermes. It then provides more details on these gods, including their origins and roles. Poseidon is described as the brother of Zeus who rules the sea. Hades draws the worst lot and is made lord of the underworld. The document also lists and describes several Titans, the elder gods ruled by Cronus who were overthrown by Zeus and the Olympians.

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GREEK ROMAN GOD OF... SYMBOL
1. Zeus Jupiter/Jove King of the Gods Thunderbolt, eagle and oak tree
2. Hera Juno Queen of the Gods Peacock, cow, wedding ring
3. Poseidon Neptune The Sea Sea, trident, horse, dolphin
4. Hades Pluto The Underworld Pomegranate, cap of invisibility
5. Hestia Vesta Hearth/Home Fireplace
6 Athena Minerva Wisdom/War Owl, olive, tree, plow, loom
7. Artemis Diana Moon/Hunt Moon, deer, silver bow and arrows
8. Apollo Apollo Light/Music/Prophecy Lyre, sun, mice, Laurel tree
9. Aphrodite Venus Love/Beauty Dove, swan, roses
10. Hephaestus Vulcan Fire/Forge Hammer, quail
11. Ares Mars War Dog, wild boar, vulture
12. Hermes Mercury Messenger/Divine Herald Caduceus, crane
http://www.dl.ket.org/latin/mythology/1deities/gods/olympians/data/12olymgods.htm
The Olympians are a group of 12 gods who ruled after the overthrow of the Titans. All the Olympians are
related in some way. They are named from their dwelling, Mount Olympus
Zeus overthrew his Father Cronus and then drew lots with his brothers Poseidon and Hades. Zeus won the
draw and became the supreme ruler of the gods. He is lord of the sky, and the rain. His weapon is a
thunderbolt, which he hurls at those who displease him. He is married to Hera but is famous for his many
affairs. He is also known as the god that punishes those that lie or break oaths.
Poseidon is the brother of Zeus. After the overthrow of their Father Cronus he drew lots with Zeus and
Hades, another brother, to share the power of the world. His prize was to become lord of the sea. He was
widely worshipped by seamen. He married Amphitrite, a granddaughter of the Titan Oceanus. He desired
Demeter, who asked him to make the most beautiful animal that the world had ever seen, just to put him
off. So, Poseidon created the first horse. In some accounts, his first attempts were unsuccessful, he created
a variety of animals in his quest and then created the first horse. His weapon is a trident, which can shake
the earth, and shatter any object. He is the most powerful Olympian god, after Zeus.
Poseidon and wife, Amphitrite, are father and mother to the Greek God Triton. Just like his powerful father
Poseidon, Triton also carries a trident. In addition to his Sea God and Goddess parents, Triton rings power
throughout the sea as well.
Hades is the brother of Zeus. After the overthrow of their Father Cronus he drew lots with Zeus and
Poseidon, another brother, to share the power of the world. He had the worst draw and was made lord of

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the underworld, ruling over the dead. He is a greedy god who is greatly concerned with increasing his
subjects. He is exceedingly disinclined to allow any of his subjects leave. He is also the god of wealth, due to
the precious metals that mined from the earth. He has a helmet that makes him invisible and he rarely
leaves the underworld. He is unpitying and terrible, but not capricious. His wife is Persephone whom Hades
abducted. He is the King of the dead but, death itself is another god, Thanatos.
Hestia is Zeus sister. She is a virgin goddess. She does not have a distinct personality. She plays no part in
myths. She is the Goddess of the Hearth, the symbol of the house around which a newborn child is carried
before it is received into the family. Each city had a public hearth sacred to Hestia, where the fire was never
allowed to go out.
Hera is Zeus wife and sister. The Titans Ocean and Tethys raised her. She is the protector of marriage and
takes special care of married women. Hera's marriage was founded in strife with Zeus and continued in
strife. Zeus courted her unsuccessfully. Then he changed himself into dishevelled cuckoo. Hera feeling sorry
for the bird held it to her breast to warm it. Zeus then transformed in his normal form and took advantage of
the opportunity he gained, and raped her. Then she married him to cover her shame. Zeus was being
particularly overbearing to the other gods and Hera convinced them to join in a revolt. Her part in the revolt
was to drug Zeus, and when she managed that, the gods bound the sleeping Zeus to a couch, noticing to tie
many knots. After that, they began to quarrel over the next step. Briareus overheard the arguments, full of
gratitude to Zeus, Briareus slipped in and try to untie the knots. Zeus sprang from the couch and grabbed up
his thunderbolt. The gods fell to their knees begging and pleading for mercy. Then Zeus seized Hera and
hung her from the sky with gold chains. She wept in pain all night but none of the others dared to interfere.
Her weeping kept Zeus up and the next morning he agreed to release her if she would swear never to rebel
again. She didn’t have a choice, so she agreed. Since she couldn’t rebel again, she often intrigued against
Zeus's plans and she was often able to outwit him. Most stories concerning Hera have to do with her
revenge for Zeus's infidelities. Her sacred animals are the cow and the peacock. Her favourite city is Argos.
Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. Both parents disliked him. He is the god of war and he is considered
murderous and bloodstained but, also a coward. When he was caught in an act of adultery with Aphrodite,
her husband Hephaestus publicly ridiculed him. His bird is the vulture. His animal is the dog.
Athena is the daughter of Zeus. She is fierce and brave in battle but only fights to protect the state and
home from outside enemies. She is the goddess of the city, handicrafts, and agriculture. She has invented
the bridle, which permits man to tame horses, the trumpet, the flute, the pot, the rake, the yoke, the ship,
and the chariot. She is the embodiment of wisdom, reason, and purity. She is Zeus's favourite child and she
is allowed to use his weapons including his thunderbolt. Her favourite city is Athens. Her tree is the olive and
the owl is her bird. She is a virgin goddess.
Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto. His twin sister is Artemis. He is the god of music, playing a golden lyre, of
light and truth, who can not tell a lie. One of Apollo's more important daily tasks is to harness his chariot
with four horses and drive the sun across the sky. He is famous for his oracle at Delphi and people use to
travel to it from all over the Greek world to divine the future. His tree is the laurel, his bird is the crow and
his animal is the dolphin.
Aphrodite is the goddess of love, desire and beauty. In addition to her natural gifts she has a magical girdle
that compels anyone she wishes to desire her. There are two accounts of her birth. One says she is the
daughter of Zeus and Dione. The other goes back to when Cronus castrated Uranus and tossed his severed
genitals into the sea. Aphrodite then arose from the sea foam on a giant scallop and walked to shore in
Cyprus. She is the wife of Hephaestus. The myrtle is her tree, the dove, the swan, and the sparrow are her
birds.
Hermes is the son of Zeus and Maia. He is Zeus’s messenger. He is the fastest of the gods. He wears winged
sandals, a winged hat, and carries a magic wand. He is the god of thieves and commerce. He is the guide for
the dead to go to the underworld. He invented the lyre, the pipes, the musical scale, astronomy, weights
and measures, boxing, gymnastics, and the care of olive trees.

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Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto. Her twin brother is Apollo. She is the lady of the wild things. She is
the huntsman of the gods. She is the protector of the young. Like Apollo she hunts with silver arrows. She is
a virgin goddess, and the goddess of chastity. She also presides over childbirth, which may seem odd for a
virgin, but goes back to cause Leto no pain when she was born. She became associated with Hecate. The
cypress is her tree. All wild animals are scared to her and especially the deer.
Hephaestus is the son of Zeus and Hera. Sometimes it is said that Hera alone produced him and that he has
no father. He is the only god who is physically ugly and lame. Accounts as how he became lame vary. Some
say that Hera, upset by having an ugly child, flung him from Mount Olympus into the sea, breaking his legs.
Others that he took Hera's side in an argument with Zeus and Zeus flung him off Mount Olympus. He is the
god of fire and the forge. He is the smith and armourer of the gods. He uses a volcano as his forge. He is the
patron god of both smiths and weavers. He is kind and peace loving. His wife is Aphrodite. Sometimes his
wife is identified as Aglaia.
A COMPLETE LIST OF TITANS & TITANESSES
Pindar, Pythian Ode 4. 290 ff (trans. Conway) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) :
"Does not even now great Atlas struggle to bear up the weight of heaven, far from his fathers’ land
and his possessions? But almighty Zeus set free the Titanes for as time passes and the breeze
abates, the sails are set anew."
The Titans were an elder generation of gods who ruled the cosmos before the Olympians gods
came to power. They were responsible for the original ordering of time and the establishment of
fixed heavenly cycles.
The eldest of the Titans--Cronos and his four brothers, Crius, Coeus, Hyperion and Iapetus--were
imprisoned in the stormy pit of Tartarus by Zeus after he was victorious in the War. Many of the
younger Titan gods, however, allied themselves with Zeus and retained their divine rights under
the new regime. Some of these allies later proved to be rebellious and were sentenced to harsh
punishments, such as Atlas who was condemned to bear the heavens, and Prometheus, who was
chained to a rock and an eagle set to feed on his liver.
The female Titans or Titanides remained neutral in the War, and retained their positions as
prophetic goddesses. Several of these goddesses became consorts of Zeus and received a place on
Mount Olympos as mothers of the gods.
ADANUS (Adanos) An alternate name for one of the elder Titan sons of Uranus.
ANDES An alternate name for one of the elder Titan sons of Uranus. He was perhaps the same as
Hyperion.
ANCHIALE (Ankhiale) A younger Titan goddess who perhaps represented the warmth of fire. She
was the wife of Hecaterus and hte mother of the metal-working Dactyli.
ANYTUS (Anytos) One of the younger Titans or Curetes. Anytus was an attendant of the goddess
Demeter who fostered her Arcadian daughter Despoine.
ASTERIA A younger Titan goddess whose name and genealogy suggest presided over the night,
stars and nocturnal prophecy. She was the mother of the goddess Hecate. After the fall of the
Titans Asteria was pursued by Zeus and but leapt into the sea to escape him where she was
transformed into the island of Delos.
ASTRAEUS (Astraios) The younger Titan god of the stars, the winds, and the art of astrology. He
was the father of the four directional winds and the five wandering stars (the Planeta) by his wife
Eos, the goddess of the dawn.

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ATLAS The younger Titan god of astronomy and the revolution of the heavnely constellations. He
was arrested by Zeus and condemned to bear the heavens upon his shoulders. Homer suggests he
was later released from this torment and appointed guardian of the pillars of heaven.
AURA The younger Titanis-goddess of the breezes. She was a virgin huntress raped by the god
Dionysos.
CLYMENE (Klymene) The younger Titanis-goddess of fame and renown. She was the wife of
Iapetos and mother of Prometheus.
COEUS (Koios) The Titan god of the intellect as his name would suggest. He was also known as
Polus (the pole) and probably presided over the axis of heaven in the north around which the
constellations revolve. Coeus was one of the four Titan-brothers who conspired with Cronus in the
ambush and castration of Uranus. At the end of the Titan-War, he was confined by Zeus in the
Tartarean pit. Coeus was sometimes described as leader of the Gigantes, who rebelled against
Zeus.
CRIUS (Kreios) The Titan god of the heavenly constellations and the measure of the year. He was
probably associated with the constellation Aries, the heavenly ram (which the Greeks called Crius).
Its spring rising marked the start of the new year, andthe other constellations were said to follow
in its wake. Crius was one of the four Titan brothers who conspired with Cronus in the castration of
Uranus. He was later cast into the Tartarean pit by Zeus. Crius was sometimes named as a leader
of the Gigantes who rebelled against the rule of Zeus.
CRONUS (Kronos) The King of the Titanes, and the god of destructive time--time which devours
all. He led his brothers in the ambush and castration of their father Uranus, but was himself
deposed and cast into the pit of Tartaros by his own son Zeus. Some say the old Titan was later
released by Zeus and appointed King of Islands of the Blessed, home of the favoured dead.
CURETES (Kouretes) A group of shield clashing Daemones or Titan gods who came to the aid of
Rhea to act as guardians of her son Zeus. They were sometimes called Gigantes, and were
probably the same as those which Hesiod described as being born from the castration of Uranus.
Their sisters, the Meliae, were Zeus' nurses.
DIONE A prophetic Titan-goddess who presided over the Oracle at Dodona alongside Zeus.
According to some she was the mother of the goddess Aphrodite.
EOS The younger Titan-goddess of the dawn. She was the mother of the wandering stars (that is,
the planets) and the four directional winds by the Titan Astraeus.
EPIMETHEUS The Titan god of afterthought. He was appointed with the task of creating the beasts
of the earth, while his brother Prometheus was busy with the crafting of man. Epimetheus was
tricked by Zeus into receiving Pandora, the first woman, and her jar of evils into the house of man.
EURYBIA A Titan goddess of the power of the sea. She was the wife of the Uranid Crius.
EURYNOME (1) The younger Titan-goddess of earth's flowery meadows. She was the mother of the
three lovely Graces by Zeus.
EURYNOME (2) The younger Titan-goddess of the earth's meadows. She was the wife of the first
Titan-King Ophion. The couple were cast from heaven by Cronus and Rhea who wrestled them for
the throne. This Eurynome may have been the same as Tethys.
GIGANTES The War of the Giants and its combatants the Gigantes were frequently confounded by
the ancients with the Titans and the Titan War. Sometimes the Gigantes were represented as
soldiers in the army of the Titan-gods, or as rebellious supporters of the deposed Titan Cronus.
HECATE (Hekate) The younger Titan-goddess of the ghosts, witchcraft and necromancy. She
supported Zeus in the Titan war and so retained all of her privileges.

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HELIUS (Helios) The Titan god of the sun who rode across the sky in a chariot drawn by four fiery,
winged steeds. He was an ally of Zeus in the Titan-War.
HOPLODAMUS (Hoplodamos) A Titan, Giant or Curete who with his brothers came to the aid of the
Titaness Rhea after Cronus learnt of her deceptions surrounding the birth of Zeus.
HYPERION The Titan god of light, and of the cycles of time measured by the lights of heaven -- the
sun, the moon and the dawn. Hyperion was one of the four brother Titans who held Uranus fast
while Cronus castrated him with the sickle. At the end of the Titan War he was cast into the pit of
Tartarus by Zeus.
IAPETUS (Iapetos) The Titan god of mortality and the allotment of the mortal life-span. His sons
Prometheus and Epimetheus were the creators of animals and men. Iapetus was one of the four
brother-Titans who held Uranus fast while Cronus castrated him with the sickle. As punishment he
was cast into the Tartarean pit by Zeus at the end of the Titan War.
LELANTOS The Titan god of the breezes of the air. His name means "the unnoticed" or "unseen
one".
LETO The younger Titan-goddess of motherhood, light, and womanly demure. She was the mother
of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis by Zeus.
MEGAMEDES Another name for the Titan Crios, meaning "the great lord."
MELISSEUS The Titan or Curete god of honey. He was one of the protectors of the infant Zeus. His
daughters were the god's nurses.
MENOETIUS (Menoitios) The Titan god of violent anger and rash action as his name would suggest.
Zeus blasted him into Erebus with a thunderbolt, where he became a bondsman of King Hades.
METIS The younger Titan-goddess of good counsel. She was an ally of Zeus in the Titan War who
fed Cronus an elixir which forced him to disgorge his five devoured children. Later she was
swallowed whole by Zeus who had learned that a son born of their union was destined to depose
him. Their only child was instead a daughter, Athena, who sprang fully grown from her father's
head.
MNEMOSYNE The elder Titanis-goddess of memory, words and language. She was the mother of
the nine Muses by Zeus. Mnemosyne was also a prophetic goddess associated with the oracle of
Trophonius in Lebadeia.
MUSES ELDER (Mousai) Three Titan goddesses of music and song. One of them, Mneme
(Memory), was the mother of the nine younger Muses by Zeus.
MYLINUS (Mylinos) A Titan or Giant of the island of Crete who was destroyed by Zeus. His name
means "he of the grinding millstone," and he was perhaps the same as Cronus "time."
OCEANUS (Okeanos) The Titan god of the earth-encircling, fresh-water river Oceanus. As a Titan
god he presided over the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies : the sun, the moon, the stars,
and the dawn. His ever-flowing waters, encircling the edges of the cosmos were associated with
the neverending flow of time. Oceanus was the only one of the brother Uranides not to participate
in the castration of their father Uranus. In the Titan-War he remained neutral, giving his tacit
support to Zeus.
OLYMBRUS (Olymbros) An alternate name for one of the elder Titan. He may be the same as
Olympus the Cretan mentor of Zeus.
OLYMPUS (Olympus) A Cretan Titan or Giant who mentored Zeusin his youth. He later roused his
kin in an uprisal against the god but was destroyed. Olympos (whose name may derive from a
word meaning eternal time) was perhaps the same as Cronus or Olymbrus.

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OPHION The eldest of the Titan gods whose brother Cronus wrestled him for the throne of heaven
and cast him down into the Ocean-stream. He was probably the same as Oceanus, or perhaps
Uranus.
OSTASUS An alternative name for one of the Titan sons of Uranus.
PALLAS The Titan god of warcraft and the military campaign season. Some say Athena defeated
him in battle and crafted her aegis-cape from his goatish skin.
PERSES The Titan god of destruction, and perhaps of summer droughts whose name means "the
destroyer." Like his daughter Hecate, he was probably associated with the dog-sta r: the source of
scorching heat of mid-summer.
PHOEBE (Phoibe) The elder Titan-goddess of intellect and prophetic goddess of the great Oracle of
Delphi. She was the grandmother of the god Apollo.
PHORCYS (Phorkys) The old man of the sea was sometimes named as one of the six Titan sons of
Uranus.
POLUS (Polos) The Titan god of the axis of heaven ("polos"). He was usually called Coeus.
PROMETHEUS The Titan god of forethought and the creator and benefactor of man. He defied Zeus
on several occasions, including tricking the gods out of the best share of the sacrificial meat, and
stealing fire from heaven for the benefit of mankind. Zeus was furious, and had Prometheus
chained to Mount Caucasus, where an eagle was set to devour his ever-regenerating liver. The
Titan was eventually released from his tortures by Heracles.
RHEA (Rheia) The Queen of the Titans and goddess of female fertility and the mountain wilds. She
saved her son Zeus from the maw of Cronus by substituting the child for a stone wrapped in
swaddling cloth. The Titan had devoured her other five children, but these were later freed from
his beely by Zeus.
SELENE The younger Titan-goddess of the moon.
STYX The younger Titan-goddess of oaths of allegiance and of the deadly, netherworld River Styx.
She brought her children Victory, Rivalry, Force and Power to the side of Zeus at the start of the
Titan-War.
SYCEUS (Sykeus) A Titan or giant who fled from Zeus in the course of their war against the gods.
He was hidden by his mother in the earth in the guise of a fig tree or its sprouting seed.
TETHYS The elder Titan-goddess of the sources of fresh-water. She was known as the great nurse
("tethis") of life, and was sometimes equated with Thesis, the goddess "creation." Tethys spawned
the Rivers, Clouds and Springs.
THEIA The elder Titanis goddess of sight and the shining light of heaven ("aither"). She was the
mother of Sun, Moon and Dawn. Her name is also connected with words meaning "foresight" and
"prophecy".
THEMIS The elder Titan-goddess of the natural order, divine law and tradition. She was also a
goddess of the oracles of Dodona and Delphi. By Zeus she was the mother of the goddess Fates
and of the Seasons, and had a seat by his side on Olympus as advisor.
TITAN A Titan god who instructed mankind in the observation of the stars and establishment of the
natural or farming calendar. He was perhaps the same as Atlas.