Download Zeus

The
Lightning Thief
Author: Rick Riordan
An Introduction to
Greek Mythology
Ms. Davis’s & Ms. Hillman’s
5th Grade Reading Classes
Characters You’ll Meet
Percy Jackson
The Olympians
Titans & Other Gods
Monsters & Creatures
The 12 Olympian Gods
Zeus
Poseidon
Ares
Apollo
Hephaestus
Hermes
Hera
Demeter
Athena
Artemis
Aphrodite
Dionysus
They are called Olympians because they made their home on Mount
Olympus. The gods are immortal, so they cannot be killed.
ZEUS
• Pronounced: ZOOSE
• Lord of the sky, chief god of the
Olympians
• Led a revolt against his father, the Titan
(giant), Kronos (CROW-NUS)
• Weapon: lightning bolt
• Symbol: eagle
• Wife: Hera (HERE-UH or HARE-UH; had many
other goddess and mortal women
girlfriends)
• Demigod (half-god) Children: Perseus
(PER-SEE-US) and Heracles (HERE-UH-CLEES or
HARE-UH-CLEES)
HERA
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•
•
•
Pronounced: HERE-UH or HARE-UH
Goddess of marriage and motherhood
Very jealous of Zeus’s girlfriends
Symbols: cow (the most motherly
animal) and colorful peacock
• Husband: Zeus (he’s also her
brother…ew!)
POSEIDON
• Pronounced: POE-SY-DUN
• God of the sea
• Zeus’s brother
• Had many goddess and mortal
women girlfriends, like Zeus
• Symbol: trident
• Temperament: Sometimes
violent, sometimes calm (just
like the sea)
DEMETER
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•
•
•
Pronounced: DUH-MEE-TER
Goddess of agriculture
Sister of Hera and Zeus
Daughter, Persephone (PER-SEF-UH-NEE),
was captured by Hades (HAY-DEES) and
taken to the Underworld. Persephone
married Hades and spent half the year
with him and the other half with her
mother. Demeter would only allow
crops to grow while Persephone was
with her, and thus the seasons were
created.
ARES
•
•
•
•
Pronounced: AIR-EES
God of war
Cruel son of Hera and Zeus
Loved battle, but was not smart
about it
• Was a coward at heart like most
bullies
• Weapon: Spear
• Symbol: Wild boar
ATHENA
• Pronounced: UH-THEE-NUH
• Goddess of war and wisdom
• Sprang from Zeus’s head when
another god split open his head to
relieve a headache
• Invented many things (chariot,
loom)
• Symbols: Owl, olive tree, aegis (eejis, which is a special shield mounted
with Medusa’s head)
APOLLO
• Pronounced: UH-PAH-LOW
• God of archery, divination, the arts,
and the sun
• Handsome and talented twin brother
of Artemis
• Created music
• Symbols: Lyre, laurel tree, mouse
(animal that runs everywhere and
overhears many secrets)
ARTEMIS
• Pronounced: AR-TUH-MISS
• Goddess of the hunt and the
moon
• Apollo’s twin sister
• Great archer and hunter
• Symbols: Deer and bow
HEPHAESTUS
• Pronounced: HUH-FES-TUS
• God of fire and blacksmithing
• Son of Zeus
• Zeus threw him from Mount
Olympus, so he grew up ugly
and crippled
• Wife: Aphrodite (A-FRO-DIE-TEE)
(Hera gave him Aphrodite,
hoping it would calm Aphrodite
down)
APHRODITE
• Pronounced: A-FRO-DIE-TEE
• Goddess of love
• Most beautiful goddess, but very
vain
• Magic belt could cause anyone to fall
in love with her
• Husband: Hephaestus
• Given to Hephaestus, but was in love
with Ares
• Symbol: Dove
HERMES
• Pronounced: HER-MEES
• God of merchants, travelers,
thieves, and medicine
• Son of Zeus
• Used speedy winged sandals to
deliver messages to the gods
• Symbol: Caduceus (winged
staff entwined with serpents)
DIONYSUS
• Pronounced: DIE-UH-NY-SUS
• God of wine
• Born a mortal, but Zeus
granted him immortality
when he invented wine
• Gave Midas his golden touch
TITANS & OTHER GODS
Hades
Rhea
Prometheus
Kronos
Hestia
The Titans were a family of Giants who wanted to rule the
heavens, but were overthrown by Zeus and his family.
HADES
•
•
•
•
Pronounced: HAY-DEES
God of the Underworld
Zeus’s brother
Became lord of the Underworld when
Zeus took over the world
• Oversaw the souls of the dead and
guarded the pit of Tartarus, where
the Titans and monsters were
imprisoned after the great war.
• Servants: Three Furies, Charon, and
Cerberus.
KRONOS
• Pronounced: CROW-NUS
• Lord of the Titans, ruled before the
Olympians
• Called “The Twisted One” after he sliced
his own father, Uranus (YER-UH-NUS), to
pieces
• Feared his own children (the Olympian
gods) would do the same to him, so he ate
them, but his wife hid their 6th child, Zeus,
from him
• When Zeus was older, he tricked Kronos
into throwing up the children, who waged
war against him, and Kronos was cast into
Tartarus
RHEA
• Pronounced: RAY-UH
• Wife of Kronos
• Mother of the first 6 gods: Zeus,
Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter,
and Hestia (HES-TEE-UH)
HESTIA
• Pronounced: HES-TEE-UH
• Goddess of the home and
domestic harmony
• Gentle, humble goddess
• Gave up her seat on the
Olympian council to
Dionysus in order to keep
peace among the gods
PROMETHEUS
• Pronounced: PRO-MEE-THEE-US
• Titan who did not fight against
the gods
• Brought man the secret of fire
• Zeus punished him by chaining
him to a rock where birds of
prey would eat his liver each
day
• Some say he was finally freed
by Heracles (a.k.a. Hercules)
MONSTERS & CREATURES
Furies
Harpies
Naiads
Charon
Echidna
Cerberus
Centaurs
Chiron
Fates
Dryads
Nereids
Minotaur
Medusa
Chimera
Satyrs
FURIES & FATES
FURIES
• The three furies were avenging female
spirits controlled by Hades
• They had bat wings, fiery whips, bleeding
eyes, and snake hair
FATES
• The three fates were mysterious old hags
who controlled the destiny of all living
things from birth until death
• They spun out each life as a thread, and
then cut it at the moment of death
HARPIES & DRYADS
HARPIES
• Wild, unruly, bird-winged maidens,
sometimes pictured as ugly hags
• They sometimes carried people off to
the Underworld
DRYADS
• Pronounced: DRY-ADS
• Female spirits of nature that lived in
trees or forests
NAIADS & NEREIDS
NAIADS
• Pronounced: NAY-ADS
• Female spirits that lived in bodies of
fresh water such as rivers and lakes
NEREIDS
• Pronounced: NEER-EE-IDS
• Female spirits that lived in bodies of
salt water such as seas and oceans
ECHIDNA & MEDUSA
ECHIDNA
• Pronounced: UH-KID-NUH
• Half woman, half serpent
• Children: Cerberus (SER-BER-US) and Chimera (KYMARE-UH)
MEDUSA
• Pronounced: MUH-DOO-SUH
• One of the 3 Gorgon sisters
• Once was a lovely maiden, but had an affair with
Poseidon, which angered Athena, who turned her
into a monster with hair of snakes and a gaze that
turns anyone who sees it to stone
• Perseus cut off her head and mounted it on
Athena’s shield
CERBERUS & CHIMERA
CERBERUS
• Pronounced: SER-BER-US
• 3-headed dog who guarded the gates of
the Underworld; permitted new spirits to
enter, but allowed no one to leave
• Son of the monster, Echidna, brother of
Chimera
CHIMERA
• Pronounced: KY-MARE-UH
• Body of a goat, head of a lion, tail of a
serpent
• Son of Echidna, brother of Cerberus
CHARON & MINOTAUR
CHARON
• Pronounced: CARE-ON
• Ferryman of the dead; carried them over the River Styx
to the Underworld; Greeks would leave a coin under the
tongues of the dead to pay the toll to cross the river
• Those who couldn’t pay the toll were doomed to wander
the earth until they found another way into the
Underworld
MINOTAUR
• Pronounced: MIN-OH-TAR
• Half man, half bull
• Caused so much destruction that King Minos had
Daedalus build a maze called the Labyrinth to imprison
him
Centaurs & SATYRS
CENTAURS
• Pronounced: SEN-TARS
• Human from the waist up, horse
from the waist down
SATYR
• Pronounced: SAY-TER
• Human from the waist up, goat
from the waist down
• Companions of Dionysus
CHIRON
• Pronounced: KY-RON
• Kind and wise centaur who
trained many Olympian heroes,
including Heracles (Hercules)
• He was not only a trainer, but a
healer