Download Pantheon

Out of
Chaos
GAIA
Goddess of All Things,
inspired by Eros,
rose from Chaos and
divided the seas from
the sky;
she created all life:
the universe, the divine
beings and humans.
“all-producing
and all-nourishing”
TELLUS
First Principles
CHAOS (Void)
GAIA (Earth)
EROS (Sexual Desire)
Primacy and Mystery of Eros
procreative force
The Progeny of Gaia
The Earth:
Elementals and
Titans
EROS: love as catalyst
GAIA
Ouranos
(sky)
Oroi
(mountains)
Pontus
(sea)
Elementals
Tartaros
(wild winds)
OURANOS, god of the sky, first son of GAIA and her husband,
covered the earth and Gaia brought forth numerous offspring:
the TITANS, the CYCLOPES, the HECATONCHIRES and the
ERINYES. Aghast at the sight of the monstrous offspring and
fearful of their power, OURANOS hid them away in TARTAROS,
the bowels of the earth, inside GAIA.
Suffering, GAIA sought
vengeance and an end to the monstrous progeny of OURANOS.
GAIA convinced their son, KRONOS, to castrate his father with
an adamantine sickle she gave to him. From OURANOS’s blood
were born
the GIANTS and NYMPHS.
Vasari, Castration of Uranus
From the genitals of OURANOS, which KRONOS
threw into the sea, a white foam was produced. From this foam,
APHRODITE, goddess of love and beauty, was born.
Botticelli, The
Birth of Venus
Kronos
Time and the Ages
Saturn
RHEA
OPS
The Great
Mother
Magna Mater
CYBELE/KYBELE
Statue of Cybele in the Plaza de Cibeles,
Madrid
Kronos
ruled the cosmos
during the socalled Golden Age,
after castrating and
deposing his own
father Ouranos
(the Sky) from the
throne.
In fear of a
prophecy that he
would be
overthrown by a
son, Kronos
swallowed each of
his children as
soon as they were
born.
KRONOS
SATURN
Goya, Saturn Devouring
One of His Children
The
dethronement
of Kronos
by the
Olympians
Kronos/Saturn
Saturn was an ancient Roman god of
fertility, especially of agriculture.
He was believed to be the deity who
had introduced agriculture and with it
civilization and government.
He carried a sickle as his symbol.
Saturday
"Days of the Week"
Roman Mosaic, Orbe
C3rd AD
Villa at Orbe-Bosceaz
(Switzerland)
Detail: Kronos (or
Saturnus) is seated on a
chair carried by two
winged Daimones. He is
here depicted
representing Saturday,
in a procession of the
seven days of the week
OLYMPIANS
TITANS
The Gods and
Goddesses
of Mount Olympus
THE TWELVE OLYMPIANS
Hestia
Aphrodite Demeter
Hephaestus
Ares
Hera
Athena
Hermes Poseidon
Artemis
Zeus
Apollo
Relief from Tarentum
THE FIRST GENERATION
Children of Kronos and Rhea
HESTIA
VESTA
Goddess of the Hearth
The cult of Vesta became an
important state cult in
Rome.
VESTAL VIRGINS
ZEUS
King
of
Mount
Olympus
JUPITER
JOVE
God
of
the Sky
Ruler
of
Storms
POSEIDON
God of
the Sea
NEPTUNE
Creator of
Horses
Married to Amphitrite
HERA
JUNO
Goddess of Marriage and Female Life
Zeus and
Hera,
King and
Queen of
Mount
Olympus
Zeus the Philanderer
Jupiter and Thetis
Jean-Auguste Ingres
Oil on canvas, 1811
Musée Granet,
Aix-en-Provence
Beware the Fury of a Goddess Scorned
DEMETER
Goddess
of the
Earth
CERES
of
Grain
Goddess
KORE/Persephone
Triple Goddess
Maiden: Persephone
Mother: Demeter
Crone: Hekate
The Rape of Persephone (Proserpine) by Hades
Collection: New York, Metropolitan Museum
Ware: Attic Red Figure
Painter: Attributed to the Persephone Painter
The Reunification of Demeter
and Persephone heralds the
return of Spring
The
Eleusinian Mysteries
reenacted the loss and
return of Persephone
providing initiates with
a hope for eternal life
Eleusinian
Mysteries
Athenian red-figure clay vase, about 335-325 BC. St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum
Hades
and
Persephone
Pluto
and
Proserpine
King and Queen of the Underworld
THE SECOND GENERATION
ATHENA
MINERVA
Goddess of Wisdom and Strategy
o Zeus, king of the gods, took as his first
wife, Metis, a being wiser than all gods and
mortal men.
Metis
o When she was about to bear gray-eyed
Athena,Zeus deceived the mind of Metis
with guile and coaxing words, and lodged
her in his belly.
o It was prophesied that Metis would bear
keen-minded children, first a gray-eyed
daughter who in strength and wisdom would
be her father's match,and then a male child,
destined to rule over gods and men.
o But Zeus lodged her in his belly before
she did all this, that she might advise him in
matters of good and bad.
Thought
The Birth of Athena
Pallas
Athena
Patron
of
Athens
Iktinos and Kallikrates
The Parthenon
The Parthenon,dedicated to Athena, is the most important
building on the Acropolis.
The building was as colorful as it was impressive.
A forty foot
statue of
Athena,
made of ivory
and gold,
stood in the
cella of the
Parthenon.
HEPHAESTUS
God of
The
Forge
to the
Gods
VULCAN
Armorer
APHRODITE
VENUS
Goddess of Love and Beauty
Mother of
Eros
Cupid
The original
Mother
Goose?
ARES
MARS
God of War
Although Aphrodite
was married to
Hephaestus,
she was attracted to
the far more
handsome Ares
APOLLO and ARTEMIS
twin children of Zeus and Leto
APOLLO
God of the Sun, Healing and Prophecy
Patron
of
Archery, Music and
Medicine
Embodiment of Rationality
The Olympics were
dedicated to Apollo:
contests in sport and lyric
poety
Oracle at Delphi
ARTEMIS
DIANA
Goddess
of the
Moon
Goddess
Hunt
of the
Protector of
Life, and...
Bringer of Death
Artemis and Apollo slaying
the children of Niobe
HERMES
MERCURY
Messenger
of the Gods
God of the
Roads
caduceus
Born a
Trickster
Beloved patron of
cunning, theft and
invention
Good-luck Herms
The Birth of Dionysos
DIONYSOS
BACCHUS
God of Wine
and
Fertility
Embodiment
of the
Irrational
Patron
of
Tragedy
His Bacchanalian rituals gradually gave way to
a widespread mystery cult.
The Olympian Gods
remain an integral part of Western culture and
imagination.