Download The 12 Great Olympians

The Olympians
Cronus and Rhea
Cronus/Saturn ruled the Titans, the second
generation of gods.
 He had overthrown his father Ouranos/Uranus
 He and his sister/wife, Rhea, were the parents
of the Olympians.

Cronus’s Plot & Fall
Won’t be overthrown
 Om nom nom!
 Zeus’s secret birth
 Omphalos
 Titanomachy
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Mt. Olympus
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Home of the gods after the Titanomachy
Zeus / Jupiter
King of the Gods
 Mightier than all
others put together
 Ruler of the sky,
rain and clouds
 “bright shining light
of heaven”

Zeus cont’d
Symbols:
 Lightning, storms
 Eagle
 Bull
 Oak tree
Sacred site: Olympia
Women:
 Hera
 Metis
 Leto
 Semele
 Dozens of others
Hera / Juno
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Sister and wife of Zeus; Queen of the Gods
Goddess of marriage and married women
Jealous and vengeful
Had 4 Children with Zeus

Hephaestus, Ares, Hebe, Eileithyia
Symbols: peacock, cow
 Sacred city: Argos
 Messenger was Iris

Poseidon / Neptune
God of the sea, horses, and earthquakes
 Drew lots at a Council of the Gods
 Symbols: trident, horse, dolphin
 Wife was Amphitrite, son Triton

Hades / Pluto
God of the underworld & wealth
 Drew the short stick

 Not
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a bad guy
The Underworld
5
Rivers & 3 Judges
 Cerberus & Charon
 Elysian Fields
 Tartarus
 Fields of Mourning

Symbol: bident
Demeter / Ceres
Goddess of corn, fruit, agriculture in
general and a goddess of fertility. Usually
on a chariot drawn by dragons.
 Daughter with Zeus was Persephone,
queen of the underworld

 Kidnapping
& search
 Origin of the seasons
Apollo & Artemis
Twin children of Zeus and Leto
 Artemis: Goddess of the moon, forest, hunt,
childbirth, children, woodland critters
 Apollo: God of the sun, music/poetry,
medicine, knowledge – all things Greeky

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Artemis born on Ortygia, helps deliver Apollo
on Delos
Artemis / Diana
One of 3 virgin goddesses
 Actaeon the hunter – wrong place, wrong time
 Orion the hunter

 Apollo’s

plot to keep her a virgin
Symbols: bow and arrows, moon,
woodland critters dead or alive
Apollo / Apollo

Oracle at Delphi
 Python
 Pythia
Symbol: Lyre, bow
 Niobe’s Pride

Athena / Minerva
Goddess of wisdom, skill,
defensive/strategic warfare
 Daughter of Zeus and Metis

 Popped
out of Zeus’s head fully
clothed and armored

Symbols: war helmet, the
Aegis, owls, olive trees,
snakes, and spears
Athena vs. Poseidon
King Cecrops needed a patron god for his
new city
 Poseidon struck the ground to make a
spring – salt water
 Athena struck the ground and planted the
first olive tree
 The city chose her and named itself
Athens

Hermes / Mercury
Messenger and herald of the gods
 God of thieves, travelers, crossing
boundaries in general
 Hermes Psychopompos
 Son of Zeus and Maia
 First-day mischief

 Stole
Apollo’s cattle
 Invented lyre
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Symbols: winged sandals, cap, caduceus
Aphrodite / Venus
Goddess of love, beauty, and naughtiness
 Born from sea-foam near Cyprus
 Symbols: doves, swans, seashells
 Wife of Hephaestus
 Judgment of Paris
 Mother of Aeneas
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Ares / Mars
God of War – physical aspect of it
 Son of Zeus and Hera
 Very violent and had a horrible temper
 Other gods and goddesses couldn’t stand
him
 Not too important to Greeks – very
important to Romans
 Symbols: vultures, weapons and shields

Hephaestus / Vulcan
Son of Zeus and Hera
 God of fire and the gods’ chief workman
 He was lame and deformed so his parents
were ashamed of him; cast from Olympus
and landed on Lemnos
 Forge under Mt. Aetna
 Caught Aphrodite and Ares in a net

Dionysus / Bacchus

Son of Zeus and Semele, a mortal
 Hera
makes her doubt the paternity
 Zeus reveals himself; bacon sizzle
 Dionysus saved
God of wine, partying, theater
 Maenads/Bacchants
 Symbols: grapes, thyrsus, vines, drinks
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Recap
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13 gods and 12 Olympians – sometimes
Hades or Dionysus is excluded as an
Olympian
 Hades
has his own place
 Dionysus a late entry