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While the Greeks view of life was
reflected
in
their
politics,
it
was
Which brings us to..
expressed most fully in their religion,
philosophy and art.
The Greek Gods
•From earlier civilizations, the
Greeks inherited the basic ideas of
a polytheistic and
anthropomorphic religion
They believed that the
natural world was
controlled by hundred of
living beings similar to
humans in appearance
and personality
The difference of
the Gods
Immortality
Even though the Gods were immortal, they were
not all powerful. They had to obey fate, which
overrided all.
• The Fates (or Moirae) are the
three sisters, robed in white,
who decide human fate.
Lachesis sings of the things
that were, Clotho those that
are, and Atropos (or Atropus)
the things that are to be. Of
the three, Atropos is the
smallest in stature, but the
most terrible and feared.
Greek Gods
Similarities to humans
Differences from humans
Were Ambition,
Prideful, and Jealous
Can not die
LUSTFUL
Perfect and
beautiful in shape
Subject to Fate
Zeus
Greek
Gods
•God of the sky, thunder, lightning.
•Leader of all the Gods
•His brothers are Hades and Posiedon.
•His sister and wife is Hera.
Hera
Greek
Gods
•Protector of marriage and the home
•Wife (and sister) of Zeus though they
were constantly fighting
•A vindictive* and jealous wife, who often
outsmarted *Having
herorhusband
showing a strong or unreasoning desire for revenge
Aphrodite
Greek
Gods
•Goddess of Love, Desire, and Beauty
•Born from… Cronos…
•Married the ugly God Hephaestus, but
had many, many lovers including Ares
Aphrodite is the only character in Greek mythology not to have a
mother or father. She was born during the primal murder, when
Cronus murdered his father, Oranos, and castrated him. Cronus then
threw the severed genitals into the sea. From the foam rose a
beautiful maiden standing naked and dripping on a
seashell. Wherever she stepped, flowers bloomed and beach sand
turned to green grass. She went to Mount Olympus, and Hera
immediately decided that Aphrodite should marry. So Zeus gathered
all the gods and asked that they make their suit, and that Aphrodite
would choose her own husband. Now, Hepheastus had been promised
by Hera to have Aphrodite as his bride if he came back to
Olympus. So Hera told him exactly what to say when it was his turn
to make his suit.
Now all the gods offered amazing
gifts. Poseidon offered grottos,
riddles, and fine undersea
treasures. He also pointed out that
since she was born of the sea, that
she belonged to him. Hermes
offered to make her queen of the
crossroads where all must come, so
she would know every secret in the
world. All the other gods made their
Poseidon
Greek
Gods
•God of the Sea
•Married a beautiful water nymph, but
fathers hundreds of children with other
female characters of myth
•Invented the horse to impress his sister
Demeter
Greek
Gods
•Goddess of Corn and the Harvest
•Controlled whether or not plants grew
•Mother of Persephone, whose father was
Zeus (her brother)
Hades
Greek
Gods
•God of the Underworld
•Was severely jealous of his brothers
Zeus and Poseidon.
•Married Persephone (his niece)
Abduction of Persephone (Greek
Mythology)
Persephone was the beautiful daughter of Zeus and
Demeter. She spent most of her days roaming the lands of the
earth. Wherever he stopped, flowers would appear and
animals would follow her. One day Hades, the Lord of the
Underworld was lonely and depressed so he decided to have
Persephone. He kidnapped her using his chariot without
anyone seeing him. Persephone’s mother started wandering
the earth in search for her daughter. She neglect her duties
until her daughter was returned to her. All the plants soon
began to die. The earth become frozen. Zeus, in fear of losing
everything offered ordered Hades to return Persephone but
since she had eaten already six pomegranate seeds (food for
the dead), Zeus made an agreement that Persephone would
stay 6 months with Hades underworld then 6 months with
Demeter on Earth.
Athena
Greek
Gods
•Goddess of Wisdom, Justice, War,
Civilization, and Peace
•Taught man to use tools
•Hated Ares
Ares
Greek
Gods
•God of War
•A ruthless and murderous god ( was
symbolic of the many of the faults of man
)
•Where he traveled grief, pain, and
struggle came.
Dionysus
Greek
Gods
•God of Revelry *and Fertility
•Huge amounts of ancient Greek poetry is
dedicated to him
•Created Wine
•The two sides of
*Lively and noisy festivities, esp.
when these involve drinking a large
amount of alcohol.
Dionysus
Zeus came to Semele in the night, invisible, felt only as a
devine presence. Semele was pleased to be a lover of a god,
even though she did not know which one. Word soon got
around and Hera quickly assumed who was responsible.
Hera went to Semele in disguise and convinced her she
should see her lover as he really was. When Zeus next came
to her she made him promise to grant her one wish. She
went so far as to make him swear on the River Styx that he
would grant her request. Zeus was madly in love and agreed.
She then asked him to show her his true form. Zeus, was
unhappy, and knew what would happen but, having sworn
he had no choice. He appeared in his true form and Semele
was instantly burnt to a crisp at the sight of his glory. Zeus
did manage to rescue Dionysus and stitched him into his
thigh to hold him until he was ready to be born. His birth
from Zeus alone conferred immortality upon him.