Download ENGLISH 1A - DIRECTIONS: As you read the information

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The Olympian Gods
[Greek names are used; Roman names are in brackets.]
Zeus [Jupiter] rules as King of the Gods from Mount Olympus. He is often pictured holding a
lightning bolt, which he can us to express his wrath toward offending humans. Despite being married,
Zeus is best known by readers of mythology for his frequent affairs with women. For example, in one
story he turns himself into a bull to fool Europa, whom he likes. Charmed by the beautiful white bull,
she unknowingly climbs on his back, and he transports her to Crete, where she fathers three children
with him (two of whom become judges in the Underworld). In another story Zeus, to romantically
pursue Leda, turns himself into a swan, and she fathers four children with him. Zeus’s animal is the
eagle and his plant is the oak tree (which priests are said to be able to use to prophecy by listening to its
leaves rustle).
Although Zeus’s wife (and sister) Hera [Juno] does have godly responsibility (she oversees
marriage, protecting married women), she is best known for her constant anger at her husband’s
infidelities. In many stories involving Hera, she is either trying to prevent affairs of Zeus, or she is
taking revenge on his mistresses (or on him). She is often associated with the peacock or the cow.
Cronus, a Titan, is father of Zeus. When Cronus’s children defeat him, his three sons divide up
the world. In addition to ruling the gods, Zeus oversees the earth. His brother, Poseidon [Neptune],
rules the seas. Poseidon is often pictured holding a three pointed spear (like a pitchfork) called a
“trident.” He brings earthquakes and storms to the world. His animals are the dolphin and the horse.
Although married to Amphitrite, he also has affairs. He is important in The Odyssey, but does not appear
in many other famous stories. The third brother, Hades [Pluto], rules the Underworld, and the
underworld is named for him. (So “Hades” can mean the god or the place.) Hades rarely leaves the
Underworld, but is said to have the ability to become invisible using his magical cap.
Other Olympian gods have other origins. One day Zeus has a headache and summons the
blacksmith god to split his head open. Out springs Athena [Minerva] fully grown and armed with sword
and shield. (One story says she is the daughter of Zeus and Metis, but Zeus swallows the baby after
hearing a prophecy that their child might overthrow him.) Athena is in charge of wisdom and domestic
arts and crafts (like weaving), and she is the female war goddess. Zeus likes Athena, and often allows
her to wear as part of her armor his aegis. (The aegis is the famous breastplate or shield on which is the
head of the Gorgon Medusa. Perseus on a quest cut the head from Medusa and presented it to Athena,
who placed it on Zeus's aegis.) Athena is one of three virgin goddesses. As one might expect of the
goddess of wisdom, her animal is the owl.
Athena’s plant is the olive tree, which she famously uses in the contest in which she receives her
name. There is a city that both Athena and Poseidon want to have as patron city. Athena offers the city
the olive tree. There are two versions of what Poseidon offers: One says the horse, the other says he
touches a rock and causes water to spring from it (interpreted as meaning success at sea). The people of
the city choose Athena’s offering, so the city gets named Athens, and olives are the great crop of the
Greeks. Athena’s name is sometimes spelled Athene, and she is also sometimes referred to by the
epithet, “Pallas Athena.”
A well-known story involves Athena and Arachne. Arachne is a human who boasts that she is
the best weaver, even challenging Athena to a weaving contest. Athena is upset at her boldness; who
would presume to be more skilled than the goddess of weaving? But she accepts the challenge. Athena
weaves a scene showing how she beat Poseidon in the contest for Athens. Arachne weaves scenes of
infidelities (affairs outside of marriage) of the gods, such as the story of Zeus and Leda. Of course
Athena wins, and to punish Arachne for daring to weave such an inappropriate tapestry, she turns
Arachne into a spider. (And today scientists refer to spiders by the term “arachnid.”)
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Better known for war than his sister is the male war god, Ares [Mars], a child of Zeus and Hera.
Some stories portray him as a lover of Aphrodite. In fact, there is a famous story of his being caught in
bed with Aphrodite by her husband (Hephaestus), who traps the two of them there in a net then calls the
other gods to come laugh at them. The animal associated with Ares is the vulture, a predator.
An affair between Zeus and Leto (daughter of two Titans) produces twin gods. The male twin is
Apollo [Sol], who is in charge of truth, music, medicine, light, and the sun (although Helios is the actual
sun god). He is very handsome. He plays a sort of small harp called the lyre. His plant is the laurel.
(There is a story that when Apollo chases a love of his, Daphne, her father "saves her" by turning her
into a laurel tree; thereafter is when Apollo adopts the laurel as his plant.) Apollo sometimes has the
nickname Phoebus in front of his name, and sometimes has the nickname Pythian in front of his name.
Apollo's twin sister is Artemis [Diana]. She is goddess of the hunt and of the moon. One of the
three virgin goddesses, she is also goddess of unmarried women (chastity). Her animal is the deer and
she carries a bow and arrows.
The goddess of love and beauty is Aphrodite [Venus]. "Aphros" means foam, and one myth says
she is born out of the foam of the sea (perhaps caused when Cronus cast his father's genitals into the
sea). Sometimes she is portrayed as floating on a large seashell on the ocean. An alternative story of her
birth is that she is the daughter of Zeus and the Titan, Dione. Her plant is the myrtle and her animal is
the dove. Some myths have her married to the crippled and ugly blacksmith god, Hephaestus, as
punishment from Zeus when she rejected his advances. Aphrodite is mother to Eros (Cupid), who
sometimes has power to cause people to fall in love.
A child of Zeus and Hera, Hephaestus [Vulcan] is often considered an Olympian god, although
he is said to have made his home on an island containing a volcano. (A story says he is thrown out of
Olympus by his discontented mother, and he hurt his leg when he landed on the island.) He is the god of
the forge, the "blacksmith god," and made most of the metal objects used by the gods and heroes.
Hermes [Mercury] is another child of Zeus (with Atlas's daughter, Maia). He is the messenger
god. He wears winged sandals and a cap of invisibility. He holds the cadeuceus (often associated with
doctors today), a staff entwined with two snakes. He is known as a cunning thief and a guide to the dead.
Demeter (Ceres) is goddess of agriculture. Does that hint at where the word "cereal" today comes
from? She is often portrayed as beautiful and holding grain and/or other growing items. She is perhaps
best know for her role in the myth about how the seasons came to be. Hades is attracted to Persephone
(Proserpina), the beautiful daughter of Demeter. So he kidnaps her and brings her to the Underworld to
be his queen. Her mother, distraught at her absence, goes to Zeus and complains that he must get her
daughter back or she would take revenge. Zeus gets Hades to agree to let Persephone go back to her
mother, with one warning: she must remember that anyone who eats food of the Underworld is
condemned to stay in the Underworld. Of course, on her way out she sees and cannot resist the luscious
pomegranate fruit. As punishment, she is condemned to be with Hades in the Underworld for half the
year, and only allowed up with her mother for the other half. So when Demeter is without her daughter,
she causes nature to wither and weather to be harsh: fall and winter. But when Persephone comes to
Demeter, the goddess causes spring and summer.
Perhaps the least famous Olympian is Hestia (Vesta), the goddess of "the hearth" (which literally
means fireplace). Since in ancient times the fireplace was an essential, central element of one's home,
providing the heat, the light, and the flame for cooking, Hestia is considered overseeing homelife
(cooking, cleaning, etc.).
Although more than twelve gods are listed above, there are traditionally considered to be twelve
Olympian gods. So in different ancient "lists," some of the above may be variously missing. Hephaestus
is in some times not called Olympian. Other lists do not call Hermes Olympian. Even Hades is
sometimes the one left out when Olympians are listed. Can you see what each of those three has in
common (which could be a rationale for any one of them not being an "Olympian" god)?
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Notes About THE OLYMPIAN GODS
Greek (and
Roman) name
RESPONSIBILITIES
(what that god oversees or is
"god of")
ANIMALS and ITEMS
with which the god is
associated
Details of STORIES involving the god.
Also anything that doesn't fit a different column.
Zeus
Hera
Poseidon
Hades
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Greek (and
Roman) name
RESPONSIBILITIES
(what that god oversees or is
"god of")
ANIMALS and ITEMS
with which the god is
associated
Details of STORIES involving the god.
Also anything that doesn't fit a different column.
Athena
Ares
Apollo
Artemis
Aphrodite
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Greek (and
Roman) name
RESPONSIBILITIES
(what that god oversees or is
"god of")
ANIMALS and ITEMS
with which the god is
associated
Details of STORIES involving the god.
Also anything that doesn't fit a different column.
Hephaestus
Hermes
Demeter
Hestia
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