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Name: ______________________________________________________
Greek/Roman Mythology
Greek Name
Cronus
Roman Name
Saturn
Date: ______________
Symbols and Position
Time
Leader of the Titans
Other Notes
Son of the earth and the sky. He ruled the cosmos during the Golden Age of Man; in fear of a prophecy that he would be
in turn be overthrown by his own son, Cronus swallowed each of his children as soon as they were born. His son Zeus
escaped this fate thanks to Rhea.
Zeus defeated Cronus in a ten year war for power; he the imprisoned him in Tartarus. After many human generations,
Zeus released Cronus and made him king of the Elysian Islands, home of the blessed dead.
Greek Name
Rhea
Roman Name
Opis
Symbols and Position
Fertility, the generations
Other Notes
Wife of Cronus and queen of heaven. When her husband heard a prophecy that he would be deposed by one of his
children, he took to swallowing each of them as soon as they were born. But Rhea bore her youngest, Zeus, in secret and
hid him away in a cave in Crete guarded by spirits. In his stead she presented Cronus with a stone wrapped in swaddling
clothes which he promptly devoured.
Greek Name
Zeus
Roman Name
Jupiter
Symbols and Position
Other Notes
Overthrew his father and established the rule of the Olympian gods. Drew lots with his brothers and became the supreme
ruler. Though he was powerful, he was not omnipotent or omniscient—others trick him on occasion, such as when Hera
got him to force his own son Herakles into labor for King Eurystheus.
Had many affairs (forty-three) and children (eighty-nine). It is likely that this is because he is many gods combined.
When his worship spread to a new community that already had a divine ruler, the two of them would be merged together.
Any wives the old god had would then be transferred to Zeus. It is worthy to note that the later Greeks did not like these
endless love affairs.
Greek Name
Roman Name
Hera
Symbols and Position
Women and marriage
Queen of the Greek gods
Other Notes
Zeus’s sister and wife. Though portrayed in poetry as powerful and beautiful, the details mostly show her punishing
Zeus’s mistresses and children (even those that had been coerced or tricked by Zeus). She held terrible grudges. The
Trojan War could have ended peacefully for both sides, but Hera would not let go of her hatred for Paris until Troy
smoldered in ruins.
She aids heroes only in the Quest of the Golden Fleece. Still, every household revered her.
Greek Name
Poseidon
Roman Name
Neptune
Symbols and Position
Other Notes
Second only to Zeus in power and importance, thanks to the Greek being a seafaring people. He created horses in a
competition with the goddess Athena.
Poseidon figures into the Homer’s epic, the Odyssey, as the primary antagonist preventing Odysseus from returning
home.
Greek Name
Hades
Roman Name
Pluto
Symbols and Position
The dead, King of the Underworld
Hidden wealth of the earth (Seeds,
Minerals, etc.)
Other Notes
Rarely left the underworld; he was an unwelcome guest. He was unpitying and inflexible, but he had a sense of justice.
He was terrifying, but not evil.
Married his niece Persephone after kidnapping her with Zeus’s approval. See: Demeter
Note that Hades was not a god of death but a king of the dead. Thanatos was the god of gentle deaths; the Keres were
the spirits of violent death.
Greek Name
Hestia
Roman Name
Vesta
Symbols and Position
Other Notes
Another of the virgin goddesses. She has no distinct personality and plays no part in any myths. This makes sense as
she represents the home.
Every city had a public hearth that was dedicated to Hestia. When a new colony was founded, they would carry coals
from the mother city to start the public hearth in the new village.
Greek Name
Roman Name
Symbols and Position
Demeter
Other Notes
Her daughter, Persephone, was stolen from her when she was kidnapped by Hades. Demeter’s sadness at the loss of
her daughter caused the earth to wither away. In distress, the gods entreated Hades to return Persephone to Demeter;
before he did so, he fed her a pomegranate. Because Persephone ate the food of the underworld, she was obligated to
return for half of the year every year. Now, when Persephone returns to earth, Demeter’s joy causes all things to grow
and blossom. When Persephone returns to the underworld again, Demeter’s grief causes the vegetation to waste away.
Greek Name
Athena
Roman Name
Minerva
Symbols and Position
Other Notes
Daughter of Zeus alone. No mother bore her. Sprang from his head fully grown in full armor. In the Iliad, she is fierce and
ruthless, but later she is warlike only in defense of the state. Often described as “grey eyed” or “flashing eyed.”
She was Zeus’s favorite child; she was allowed to carry his aegis and thunderbolts. She was also the chief of the three
virgin goddesses. Her name “Pallas” comes from a tale in which she was training with a friend or rival and accidentally
slew him/her. Afterwards, in her distress she adopted the person’s name as her own.
Created the olive tree in order to defeat Poseidon in a contest. She won patronage of the city of Athens as her prize.
Greek Name
Roman Name
Ares
Symbols and Position
War, bloodlust
Civil order
Manly courage
Other Notes
Perhaps it is no surprise that Zeus and Hera gave birth to the hateful god Ares, detested still by both of his parents. The
Greeks also regarded him poorly. Romans, on the other hand, considered him a magnificent and glorious god.
He has many attendants in battle. Her sister is Eris, goddess of discord. Her son is Strife. He is accompanied by Enyo,
goddess of war. She brings with her Terror, Trembling, and Panic. As their war party moved, the earth groaned beneath
them and streamed with blood.
He figures little into mythology, though. He has no distinct personality like so many of the other gods.
Greek Name
Apollo
Roman Name
Apollo
Symbols and Position
Prophecy, truth, oracles; Light,
healing, plague, disease; Music, song,
poetry; Archery; the Young
Other Notes
Twin of Artemis. A beautiful young man often considered the “most Greek of all the gods.” He taught the healing arts to
men and offered them prophecy through his cult of oracles at Delphi.
As the most talented musician of Greek mythology, he was the leader of the Muses, goddesses of inspiration (history,
astronomy, tragedy, comedy, dance, epic poetry, love poetry, lyric poetry, and songs to the gods)
His name “Phoebus” means “brilliant,” but though he is a god of light, Helios was the actual sun god.
Greek Name
Artemis
Roman Name
Symbols and Position
Hunting, wilderness, wild animals
Childbirth
Young girls (until marriage)
Other Notes
Twin of Apollo and one of the three virgin goddesses. Like a good hunter, she protected the young. When women died a
swift and painless death, they were said to have been slain by her silver arrows.
Later stories confuse her with the goddess of the moon Selena (Luna) and the goddess of magic and crossroads, Hecate.
Greek Name
Aphrodite
Roman Name
Venus
Symbols and Position
Other Notes
Early tales suggest she is a daughter of Zeus, but later she is said to be born fully grown from the sea foam. She was so
overwhelmingly beautiful that no one could resist her. However, in later poems she is shown to be malicious and
treacherous; she wields a destructive power over men.
Perhaps her most famous son is Eros, god of erotic love. He would use his gold arrows to make people fall in love; lead
arrows caused victims to hate others.
Aphrodite was forced into a marriage with Hephaestus, but she had affairs despite this.
Greek Name
Roman Name
Dionysus
Symbols and Position
Wine, vegetation
Pleasure, festivities
Other Notes
The only god whose parents were not both divine (his father was Zeus, and his mother was a Theban princess, Semele).
He was also the last god to be included in the pantheon. Zeus was forced to take Dionysus from Semele when he killed
her by revealing the fully glory of his godhood to her (she had asked him to do so, and because he swore on the river
Styx he could not take back his promise).
Though often benevolent and kind, he would sometimes punish men and women with madness. Most famously, the
Maenads were a band of wine-frenzied women who would tear through the forests shrieking loudly. Anyone that they
came across would be ripped to shred, and they would feast on the flesh of those they killed.
Greek Name
Hermes
Roman Name
Mercury
Symbols and Position
Other Notes
Fleet-footed messenger of Zeus. He had winged-sandals that allowed him to fly and a magic wand called the Caduceus.
He appears oftener in stories than any other god.
He was the most cunning of the gods. On the day of his birth, he successfully stole all of Apollo’s cattle; when Zeus
made him return them, Hermes appeased Apollo by inventing the lute out of a tortoise shell.
An additional duty of his was to serve as a psychopomp; he guided the souls of the dead to the underworld.
Greek Name
Hephaestus
Roman Name
Vulcan
Symbols and Position
Fire, volcanos
Metalworking, stonemasonry,
sculpture
Technology
Other Notes
Hera alone birthed him in retaliation for Zeus giving birth to Athena. When she saw him ugly and deformed, she cast him
from heaven. As an adult, he returned with gifts for the gods. Others had thrones of gold, but he forged a throne of
Adamantium for Hera. When she sat in it, she triggered a trap that left her suspended in the air. When Zeus told
Hephaestus to release his mother, Hephaestus claimed to have no mother. The gods eventually appeased him by
offering him Aphrodite’s hand in marriage. He then took his place as the blacksmith of the gods.