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The
Lightning
Thief
Author: Rick Riordan
An Introduction to
Greek Mythology
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 (PERSEE-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
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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
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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 (ee-jis,
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
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Pronounced: AR-TUH-MISS
Goddess of the hunt and the moon
Apollo’s twin sister
Great archer and hunter
Symbols: deer and bow
HEPHAESTUS
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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
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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
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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
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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