The Gods and Goddesses

of Ancient Greece

Greek mythology arose to explain events in nature. Modern science and

technology was not yet available.

Titans:How it all began…

Before there were Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Greece, there was the Earth (called Gaia) and the Sky (called Uranus), the first Titans. They had many children.

Background ContinuedBackground Continued:

Kronos was the Titan of Earth, the “ ruler of Earth”, and Rhea was his wife. They gave parented several children including: Demeter, Hades, Hera and Poseidon. Kronos was told in a prophesy that he would be overthrown by his children so, to prevent this from happening, he devoured them all.

Kronos

Rhea

Background ContinuedBackground Continued:When their sixth son was born, Zeus, Rhea hid him from Kronos and swore to punish Kronos one day for what he had done. When he was an adult, Gaia gave him a magical talisman that would cause Kronos to regurgitate all the children he had devoured.

With the help of his newly freed brothers, Poseidon and Hades, they imprisoned Kronos and some of the other Titans in the prison Tartarus (using Zeus’ Thunderbolts, Poseidon’s Trident, and Hades’ Helmet of Darkness).

**As a side note: Zeus feared that Hades’ sea monster (called the Kraken) could destroy him, so he tricked Hades’ into becoming the king of the Underworld – a prison from which he cannot escape.

MOUNT OLYMPUSHome of the Gods

Originally Thought to be a

Real MountainFinally Came to be Thought of

as a Floating Mountainin the Sky

ZEUS(Brother of Hades and

Poseidon) Supreme Ruler of the Gods

His weapon was the mighty THUNDERBOLT©

King of the GodsKing of the Gods

HADES (Brother of Zeus and Poseiden)

Lord of the UnderworldRuler of the Dead

Pet: Cerberus

POSEIDON(Brother of Hades and Zeus)

Ruler of the Seas and Oceans

HERA

Zeus’ WifeGoddess of Marriage

andWomen

APHRODITE(Roman Name: Venus)

Goddess of Love and BeautyWife of Hephaestus

Aeolus

God of the Wind

ZEUS’ CHILDREN

ARES

God of War

None of the Other Gods Like him much

ATHENA

Battle Maiden and Goddess of Wisdom

APOLLO

Twin Brother of ArtemisGod of Music and

Poetry, Light and Truth

No False Words(Never Told a Lie)

ARTEMIS

Twin Sister of ApolloGoddess of the Moon

and the HuntLady of the Wild Things

PERSEPHONE

Goddess of SpringShe was Kidnapped

by HadesLater Made theQueen of the UnderworldSpends Half the Year

in Hades, Half on Earth

HERMES

Messenger of the GodsHas Wings on Sandals

and CapAppears the Most Often

of All the Gods

Demi Godsand other mythical creatures

CYCLOPESName: Polyphemus

Son of the Sea God POSEIDON

Lives in a cave

The Sirens

- Sometimes portrayed as“Mermaids” in modern

cultures.

Lead sailors to their deaths

The harpies

Winged spirits best known

for constantly stealing food.

The Lotus-Eaters

A race of people.

The lotus fruits and flowers were the

primary food of the island and were

narcotic, causing the people to sleep in peaceful apathy.

Laestrygonians

Tribe of giant cannibals from ancient Greek

mythology.

“Flesh Eaters”

The Witch Circe

Minor Goddess of Magic and Sorcery

Calypso

A nymph in Greek mythology, who lived on

the island of Ogygia.

Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis.

ScyllaScylla was a six-headed sea monster that lived on one side of a narrow

channel of water, opposite its counterpart

CharybdisCharybdis. The two sides of the channel

were within an arrow's range of each other—so

close that sailors attempting to avoid

CharybdisCharybdis would pass too close to Scylla and

vice versa.