Download The Greek Gods and Goddesses

The Greek Gods and
Goddesses
By-Gwendolyn, Bree, and Ryan
Zeus
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king of the gods
most powerful Olympian
controls air and sky.
Animals= eagle and bull
Tree=great oak tree
symbol/ weapon of choice =lightning bolts.
wife is Hera
often falls in love with mortal women.
Poseidon
• held power over all the ocean, sea, earthquakes and
tsunamis
• created horses out of sea foam which is his symbolic
animal
• weapon= three pronged trident
• He and Athena are sworn enemies due to Poseidon
bringing a once beautiful Medusa to Athena’s temple
where she caught them and turned Medusa into a
hideous Gorgon with her two sisters.
• Athena and Poseidon both invented the chariotPoseidon the horses and Athena the wooden cart
Hades
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the supreme ruler of the dead.
Symbol=helm of darkness
Weapon=spear
One of his most famous ill-known moments was when he
captured Persephone, Demeter’s daughter. Persephone
was wandering away from her mother when the ground
opened up and Hades stole her into his palace. Hades
tricked her into eating a seed from a tree in his garden
and was stuck in the Underworld for when you eat any
food from the palace you were trapped there forever.
When Demeter found out there was nearly war between
the gods until they decided that Persephone would
spend half the year with Hades and half with her mother.
Apollo
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god of prophecy, music, healing, plagues, and the sun
Symbol=Bow and Arrows
tree=Laurel tree
Animals=hawk, raven or crow, swan, fawn, snake,
mouse, and grasshopper
• twin is Artemis
• One of his tributes to the Greeks is the wreath of laurel
leaves given to winners.
Ares
• god of war
• Weapon=spear and shield
• in love with Aphrodite but he has never married.
Animal=dog and a vulture
• symbol=spear and helmet
• Ares was Sparta’s patron god
Hephaestus
• god of the forges and metal working
• When he was born Hera threw him off Olympus in
disgust and he has been crippled ever since.
• Symbol/weapon is an anvil
• He crafts weapons, automatons, and jewelry
• Wife=Aphrodite
Hermes
• lord of the thieves, messenger of the gods, and guide of
the dead.
• seldom brought up in myths and legends.
• He was (according to myths) just one day old when he
stole fifty of Apollo’s cows and had them walk out the
pasture backwards and into his cave so it looked like the
cows had magically appeared in his cave and just
walked out to Apollo’s fields but they weren’t there.
When Apollo told people Hermes had done it the other
gods thought he had gone mad ”a baby can’t steal cows”
said they thought he was lying but Zeus made Hermes
confess. Then when Apollo was about to blow little
Hermes into ashes Hermes produced a magical Lyre
and gave it to Apollo. Then Apollo quieted his anger and
forgave Hermes.
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Hera
Queen of the Gods, and Goddess of Marriage
Jealous wife
Married to Zeus
sacred animal =peacock
Weapon=small dagger
Once Zeus went down to Earth in disguise to hang out with a nymph
he was deeply in love named Io unknowing that Hera had followed
him. When Hera saw who he was meeting Hera quickly turned Io
into a white cow and brought her up to Mt. Olympus where she put
Argus to guard the poor cow. Zeus moments later came storming
into the throne room where Hera was sitting and demanded to know
where she was. When Zeus found where Io was he set Hermes on
getting Argus away to fall into an enchanted slumber so Hermes
played his pipes and told such a long boring story that Argus fell into
an enchanted slumber, one that he would never wake up from. Then
Zeus cut Io free and sent her back to Earth where Hera sent a gadfly
to sting her.
Artemis
• Eternal Maiden, Goddess of the Hunt, and Moon
Goddess
• best hunter of all the Olympians
• Swore never to marry\
• Hunts with a group of mortals
• Twin=Apollo
• rarely forgets and she almost never forgives
• An example is when she saw a young male hunter while
she was bathing and he spotted her. Then Artemis
turned him into a stag and his own hunting dogs killed
him and then died of grief realizing what they had done.
Athena
• a genius and perfect battle strategist. She governs over
battle, civilization, wisdom, strength, strategy, crafts, and
justice.
• symbols =owl, spear, and helmet
• Weapons=spear and helmet
• The gods Poseidon have a rivalry over Athens, a Greek
city state. Poseidon and Athena both wanted the citystate to be their own so they decided that they would
each give Athens a gift and Athens would choose which
was better.
• Poseidon struck a rock with his trident and salty
seawater sprang up
• Athena planted an olive tree.
• Since the Athenians couldn’t use the salty spring but
they could use Athena’s olive tree for food, oil, and
wood.
• The Athenians finally chose Athena.
Aphrodite
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goddess of beauty
vain goddess
thought very highly of herself
Symbols=golden apple, scallop shell, mirror, and a white dove
Weapon=magic girdle that made any man who sees her to fall in
love at once.
• It was said she was born from the sea itself.
• She was married to Hephaestus but she was truly in love with Ares.
• When Hephaestus saw Aphrodite and Ares together in the middle of
a field he resolved to build an inescapable golden net to capture
them in. Then he would invite all of the gods to come laugh at them.
When Aphrodite and Ares met on one of Greece’s many beaches
Hephaestus threw the golden net over them. Indeed he did call over
all the Greek gods to come and laugh and Aphrodite felt very
embarrassed.
Hestia
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goddess of the Hearth
very low-key
Virgin goddess
did not appear in myths
Each city-state had a hearth in the center of
town for her and they always kept it lit.