Download Hera and Zeus had two children, both boys, Ares

Zeus was the king of all the gods. He had many magical powers.
He could shape shift and make himself look like anybody. He
could throw his lightning bolts and do all kinds of damage. He
could throw his voice and make himself sound like anybody. He
also had powers that came from being king of all the gods.
These were powers of government. He could give other gods
titles and jobs.
And he could take those titles and jobs away. He could direct
other gods, like any leader, to do things. His was an elected
position. There were 12 gods on the council.
They could have voted someone else king.
But they never did.
And Zeus never retired.
Hera was the queen of all the gods, and also the goddess of
marriage. She was Zeus' sister. She was also his wife. The gods
did things like that.
Hera and Zeus had two children, both boys, Ares and
Hephaestus. Zeus also had children with other mothers, children
like Hermes and Apollo and Artemis and Hercules. Hera did not
like that. She was very jealous. She was often mean to Zeus'
other children. Some, like Hercules, she even tried to kill.
She was also jealous of Zeus. Probably the only thing in the
earth or heavens that Zeus truly feared was his wife, Hera - or
rather, he feared her temper.
You never knew what Hera might do,
but quite often,
it was something pretty rotten.
There were three very important brothers in the ancient Greek god world - Zeus,
Hades, and Poseidon. Zeus was the king of all the gods. Hades ran the
Underworld. Poseidon was the Lord of the Sea.
Poseidon was not at all jealous of his brothers or their power. He did not want to
be in charge of the Underworld. And he certainly did not want all the
responsibility that Zeus had shouldered. He was very happy being Lord of the Sea.
The job suited him perfectly. Poseidon had deep blue eyes and streaming green
hair. He was moody and restless and powerful. He could magically make an island
appear, or a tidal wave cover the shoreline, or send a wave to suck you right off the
beach. All it took was a wave of his hand!
People who lived inland were not that worried about Poseidon. But all the Greeks
who lived along the coastline were terrified of him. They build temples to honor
him. They brought gifts every day. Sometimes the gifts made Poseidon happy, and
the water was calm and sparkling. Sometimes
the gifts did not make him happy,
and a terrible storm would break over the land.
The people tried very hard to keep Poseidon happy.
Hades was not the lord of death. He did not decide who lived and who died up on
earth. His job was to run things down in the Underworld, the place where you
went after you died.
The Underworld was a big place. Some areas were really nice, and some were not
nice at all. The Elysian Fields, for example, was the place heroes were sent after
they died. It was a great neighborhood. But parts of the Underworld were scary!
People who behaved badly on earth might end up in one of those sections. Hades
decided where you were sent. It was not wise to anger Hades, whether you were
alive or dead, or you might end up someplace you really did not want to be.
Hades was never lonely. For a long time, he did not have a wife, but he did have a
faithful and deeply loved companion, his three-headed dog, Cerberus. His family
visited now and then. Zeus popped in whenever he felt like it. His nephew,
Hermes, the deal maker for the gods, stopped by,
whenever things had to be smoothed over and fixed.
Ares was the god of war. He was true royalty as far as the gods were
concerned. His parents were the king and queen of the ancient Greek
god world. His father was Zeus and his mother was Hera.
Ares was tall. He was handsome. He was mean. He was self-centered.
Nobody liked him much.
Ares best friend was Eris, the spirit of disagreement. The two often
traveled together, and they often brought the spirits of Pain, Panic, and
Famine with them.
When the ancient Greeks went to war, Ares often got involved. He did
not care who won or lost a battle. He just liked bloodshed. His best
friend, the spirit Eris, did not care that much about
bloodshed, but she loved to cause disagreement –
the angrier, the better.
The pair of them were nothing but trouble.
Hermes was Zeus' youngest son. Hermes' mother was Maia.
Zeus liked having his son Hermes around, even as a baby. Hermes was always full
of fun. He was very bright. He had great ideas. He was a natural athlete. He had a
mischievous grin. He seemed to be able to talk others into just about anything.
Both gods and humans liked and trusted Hermes. Their trust was well placed.
Hermes could keep a secret. Zeus decided to make him the messenger and the
deal maker of the gods. That would put Hermes in the midst of things all the time,
and it would make sure that Hermes was important.
Between fixing problems and carrying messages, Hermes was part of many a
myth. He knew just about everything going on in the mythical world. But he never
told what he knew to hurt anyone. Hermes had a true warmth. He wanted to
solve things in a way that would work out best for everyone.
The gods trusted him. That was important. He could never have fixe all
the problems he fixed without trust. As he grew older,
he became better and better at what he did,
until he was the best deal maker in the world.
Apollo was the son of Zeus, king of all the gods. His mother was
the gentle Leto. Apollo had a twin sister, Artemis, the huntress.
Apollo had lots of jobs in the ancient Greek god world. One of
them was to bring up the sun. Another was to watch over
music and musicians. Apollo was a gentle god. But he could
lose his temper if provoked enough. When he did, Apollo
always got even in very clever ways.
Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and the goddess of the moon. She
was Apollo's twin sister. Her father was Zeus, king of all the gods. Her
mother was the gentle Leto.
Artemis was Apollo's opposite. Her brother could be warm and loving.
But Artemis was not like that. She adored her dogs. She loved her twin
brother. She loved her Mom. She respected her Dad. She even liked
most of her half-siblings. But to others, Artemis was cold and pitiless.
Artemis was a private goddess. There are not that many myths about
her. She absolutely, positively, no question
about it, resented anyone who intruded upon her,
or spied upon her, or interrupted her, especially
any man. Artemis had swore never to marry.
She never did.
Athena was the goddess of wisdom. She could get angry, but
more typically, she was wise, and kind, and understanding.
Athena was born very oddly. Her father was the mighty Zeus.
But she did not have a mother. Instead, as the myth goes, she
was born directly out of Zeus' brain. Zeus loved all his children.
But one of his favorites was Athena.
Athena held a powerful position in the ancient Greek god world.
She was an Olympian, one of the council of 12, who held a seat
on Mount Olympus. She also had a home there.
Here is a myth about Athena that shows how
clever and practical she was.
Hestia had two sisters. One was Hera, the queen of all the gods, and
the goddess of marriage. The other was Demeter, the important
goddess of the harvest. Hestia also had an important job. She was the
goddess of hearth and home. To the ancient Greek women, Hestia was
the most important goddess of all.
There are not many myths about Hestia. There did not need to be.
Except for Sparta, women in ancient Greece lived very similar lives.
Every day, when the ancient Greek women gathered in their central
courtyards to sew, to cook, or to listen to stories of the gods, they knew
Hestia was watching over them. They never doubted it. It gave them
great comfort. They really did not want Hestia to have a
life of her own. They were very happy to have Hestia
spend her time watching over all the women
in ancient Greece,
even Spartan women.
Zeus, the king of all the gods, had two brothers and three
sisters. Each had an important job. His sister, Demeter, was in
charge of the harvest. If Demeter did not do her job, the crops
could die, and everyone would starve. It was important to keep
Demeter happy. Everyone helped out
with that - both gods and mortals.
It was that important.
Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty. Some people believed she was the
daughter of Zeus, king of all the gods. Others insist she simply appeared one day,
riding to shore on a wave of sea foam. Zeus had many daughters. As far as he was
concerned, the lovely Aphrodite was welcome to be one of them. Nobody actually
knows where she came from, but once she arrived, she became part of many Greek
myths.
Aphrodite had a son, Eros, whom she loved dearly. She had a husband, the
handyman to the gods, Hephaestus, whom she tolerated. She often hung out with
Mars, the god of war. She also got along with Hera, queen of the gods, most of the
time. Not many goddesses did.
Trouble seemed to follow Aphrodite. As Aphrodite would often insist, the things
that went wrong were not really her fault. Not really. For example, if you believe
the old myth, it was Aphrodite's vanity that caused the Trojan
War. Aphrodite would tell you that the whole war was her
half-sister's fault. But don't take either sister's
word for it; decide for yourself as you read
the myth Aphrodite and Queen Helen of Sparta.
Hephaestus and Ares were the sons of Hera and Zeus, the king and queen of the
gods. Ares was the god of war. He liked to destroy things. Hephaestus was his
opposite. He liked to build things.
Zeus made Hephaestus the god of fire and forge. (Somewhere along the way,
Hephaestus also became the god of volcanoes.)
It was Hera, queen of the gods, who arranged a marriage between Hephaestus and
Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Aphrodite was not pleased about it, but what could
she do? Hera was even more powerful than she was. Mostly, Aphrodite ignored
her husband.
Hephaestus busied himself by becoming the handyman of the gods. He built all the
houses on Mount Olympus. When Zeus
directed him to do so, he even built a woman out
of clay, the lovely Pandora. Some say he created
Pandora with characteristics he wished his own wife ha
- gentleness, kindness, thoughtfulness – all the things
his own wife was not.
Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and theatre. He had quite a
sense of humor and a dramatic flair.
Some gods were shape shifters. They could change their shape
at will. They could turn into just about anything. Dionysus was
very good at shape shifting. One minute, he could be a fierce
animal with sharp claws and razor teeth,
and the next - his favorite shape –
a handsome young man with
glowing garments and expensive
jewels.
He had a lot of fun shape shifting.