Download Greek Mythology, Gods and Goddesses

Understanding The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
What is Greek Mythology?
The people of Ancient Greece
shared stories called myths
about gods, goddesses, and
heroes which they believed
 Each god was worshipped
and ruled over a certain area
of nature or life
 The stories explained natural
phenomena that could not be
explained by science or
psychology

In the beginning…
There were the Titans
and the ruler of the
Titans, Kronos.
 Kronos and his wife,
Rhea, began to have
children

Fear.
As a Titan, and ruler of the
Titans, Kronos was very
powerful.
 However, Kronos knew that his
children’s power and magic
would surpass his own, and
this scared him.
 Kronos devised a plan to never
let his children rise to power,
he swallowed them whole! This
made his wife Rhea very sad.

Rhea stands up to Kronos
Tired of seeing her children get eaten,
Rhea finally decided to hide one of the
children in a bundle of rocks and hoped
Kronos would not notice.
 He didn’t.
 Rhea raised this child in secret behind
her husband’s back.
 This child’s name was Zeus.

Zeus’ rise to power!
Zeus eventually defeated his father and set
the rest of his brothers and sisters free from
Kronos’ belly.
 From this point, six immortal gods came to
power and ruled the earth, the heavens, and
the underworld: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades,
Hera, Hestia, and Demeter
 The six punished their father and the Titans
and banished their father to the depths of the
Underworld.

The gods and goddesses of
Ancient Greece
Zeus- leader of the gods
Zeus and the gods lived
on Mount Olympus
 Zeus was the ruler of the
sky and the heavens: his
symbol/weapon of power
was the thunderbolt
 He married Hera, his
sister– This was common
in Ancient Greece!
 He has many children
from many different
women!– Also common
among the gods and
goddesses of Ancient
Greece!

Hera




Wife and sister of
Zeus
Goddess of
marriage
Hera and Zeus were
always arguing, as
Hera was very
jealous
Her symbol was the
peacock- a bird of
great beauty
Poseidon





God of the sea
God of horses
Brother of Zeus and
Hera
Symbol of power:
the trident
Like his brother
Zeus, Poseidon had
many children…
Hades






God of the Underworld and
souls
God of gold and precious
jewels
Very jealous of his
brothers, Poseidon and
Zeus
Stole Demeter’s daughter
and married his niecePersephone. Demeter was
his sister.
He was rarely invited to
Mt. Olympus– home of the
gods and goddesses
His symbol of power was
his helmet: The Helm of
Darkness
Hestia




Goddess of the
hearth
Goddess of
happiness
Kindest of all the
gods
Never had any
children
Demeter



Goddess of the
harvest and all
growing things
Her and her brother
Zeus had
Persephone, whom
Hades stole as the
goddess of the
Underworld.
Demeter is the
change of the
seasons.
Athena





Goddess of War,
Peace, Justice,
Civilization, and
Wisdom
Daughter of Zeus–
she grew full grown
and popped out of his
head.
Most loved goddess
Created the Spider
Goddess of Athens,
Greece
Apollo





God of the Sun, of
music, poetry,
wisdom, light and truth
God of medicine and
healing
Son of Zeus
He drives his chariot
across the sky to pull
the sun each day
His twin sister is
Artemis
Artemis




Goddess of the
woods, the moon,
and the hunt
Twin sister of Apollo
Their mother was
Leto, daughter of a
Titan.
Always carried a
silver bow and arrow
Ares
Very cruel god of war,
although a coward
 He enjoyed murder,
grief, strife, panic, and
terror.
 Although welcomed on
Mt. Olympus, he
roamed the Earth a lot.
 He was the son of
Zeus.
 He had many affairs
with his sister, Aphrodite

Aphrodite






Goddess of beauty and
desire
Daughter of Zeus
Most beautiful of all the
goddesses, so naturally
all the goddesses hated
her.
She married the god,
Hephaestus.
She had many affairs.
Mainly with her brother,
Ares.
Her son was Eros, also
known as Cupid.
Hephaestus



God of fire,
volcanoes, and
blacksmiths
Born from Hera, and
her jealousy
Tried to be cast out
by Zeus and Hera
Hermes



God of mischief and
the messenger of
the gods
Son of Zeus and
Titan, Maia
Flew around the
heavens and earth
with winged sandals
delivering messages
Dionysus



God of wine and
parties
Son of Zeus
Had many cult
followings- one of
satyrs*
Greek mythological monsters and
creatures
The Furies



Three “angels” of the
Underworld controlled
by Hades.
These “angels” had
batwings and dog
heads.
They oversaw
punishment in the
Underworld, but
sometimes came to
Earth to torture the
wicked.
The Fates


The fates controlled
the destiny of the
living.
Life was literally a
thread and they that
cut that thread right
when people were
approaching their
death.
Charon



The ferryman of the
dead
Once you passed, you
had to pay Charon to
get into the
Underworld.
If you did not bring
money with you, you
were forced to wander
until you found your
own way into the
Underworld.
Echidna


Half-woman, halfserpent
Had monster
children
Cerebrus


The guard dog of
the Underworld.
Son of Echidna.
Chimera


Body of a goat,
head of a lion, tail of
a serpent
Son of Echidna
Centaurs

Human from the
waist up, horse from
the waist down
Chiron



A centaur
Immortal and wise
Trained many
heroes
Satyrs


Human from the
waist up, goat from
the waist down
The live in the wild
and are Dionysus’
companions
Naiades

Female spirits that
live in fresh waters:
rivers and lakes
Neredis

Female spirits of the
salt water: oceans
and seas
Procrustes


“The Stretcher”
He would make his
guests lie on a bed.
If they were too
short a fit he would
stretch them to fit. If
they were too long,
he would cut off their
limbs.
Lotus Eaters


Lived in perfect
contentment eating
lotus flowers all day
in the Land of the
Lotus Eaters
Their lazy lifestyle
was dangerous
because it tempted
others to forget
about their journeys,
lives, and quests
The Minotaur




The minotaur was
half-bull, half-man
Born from his
mother’s curse given
by Poseidon
He terrorized Athens,
and was forced into a
Labyrinth, a maze, to
imprison him.
Young people were
sacrificed to him
Medusa
One of three sisters,
called the Gorgons
 She was a beautiful
Athenian woman
 Had an affair with
Poseidon in the temple
of Athena
 Athena became
enraged and turned her
hair into live snakes.
Her gaze became
petrifying, turning
anyone that looked at
her into stone.

The Oracle of Delphi assigns us a god.
Zeus:
Miss Mayorga
Miss Clements
Apollo: Jake,
Elizabeth
Hephaestus:
Austin, John,
Collin
Athena:
Brittany, Tial,
Liz
Demeter:
Alexis,
Madison
Hera: Diana,
Niyla, Natalie
Hestia:
Aphrodite:
Maria, Serena
Dionysus: Chris,
Gabe, Alex
Poseidon: Kyle, Johnnie,
Karlee
Ares: Tyler, Tiffany ,
Cwinton
Artemis: Brandon,
Roberta
Hermes:
Daysean,
Michael, Darien
Hades: Dylan, Destiny