The 12 Olympian Gods and Goddesses

Mythology

Handbook

The 12 Olympian Gods and Goddesses

GREEK / ROMAN / GOD OF... / SYMBOL
1. Zeus / Jupiter/Jove / King of the Gods / Thunderbolt, eagle and oak tree
2. Hera / Juno / Queen of the Gods / Peacock, cow, wedding ring
3. Poseidon / Neptune / The Sea / Sea, trident, horse, dolphin
4. Hades / Pluto / The Underworld / Pomegranate, cap of invisibility
5. Hestia / Vesta / Hearth/Home / Fireplace
6 Athena / Minerva / Wisdom/War / Owl, olive, tree, plow, loom
7. Artemis / Diana / Moon/Hunt / Moon, deer, silver bow and arrows
8. Apollo / Apollo / Light/Music/Prophecy / Lyre, sun, mice, Laurel tree
9. Aphrodite / Venus / Love/Beauty / Dove, swan, roses
10. Hephaestus / Vulcan / Fire/Forge / Hammer, quail
11. Ares / Mars / War / Dog, wild boar, vulture
12. Hermes / Mercury / Messenger/Divine Herald / Caduceus, crane

What is a myth?

To the ancient Greeks, myths were both education and entertainment. Some myths explained moral events, and others taught mortals about the ways of the gods. Although the ancient Greeks believed that the gods and goddesses looked and acted a lot like them, they also believed the immortals had special powers, which the myths served to illustrate. Most myths reminded mortals how the gods preferred to be treated—with honor and respect!

Today we still know about these myths because they were eventually written down by wrights and poets. But for centuries the myths were simply oral tales, passed by word of mouth from storyteller to listener.

About the Greek Myths

The Greeks, who lived thousands of years ago, had wonderful stories to tell about gods, monsters and brave heroes. They believed the gods and goddesses lived all around them, in the fields and woods, in the sea, under the ground and in great palaces among the towering peaks of Mount Olympus.

Sometimes the Greeks could see the gods and goddesses; sometimes they were invisible. They could be kind and helpful to the people they like, but they could also be mean and spiteful, playing nasty tricks and appearing when least expected.

In the magical world of the Greek myths, ordinary mortals are caught up in extraordinary events, foolish and wicked people are punished, but the brave and daring are richly rewarded. Read on and enjoy these fascinating ancient stories which have stood the test of time!

The Beginning of the World

The story the ancient Greeks told about the beginning of the world explains how the universe was divided into four parts: Earth, the underworld, the sea, and the sky, where Mount Olympus is located. Although Mount Olympus is a real mountain in Greece, the many came to mean an imaginary place where many of the Greek gods were believe to live.

Chaos, Titans, and the New Gods at Battle

The world began in a state of nothingness called Chaos. Slowly Mother Earth (Gaia) emerged from Chaos and produced a generation of giants called Titans. Cronos, the king of these Titans, married Rhea, and they had five children. But Cronos was so jealous and power hungry that he swallowed them all. When Rhea had her last child, Zeus, she tricked Cronos into swallowing a stone instead, so that the child would live.

As Zeus grew up, he plotted revenge against his father for swallowing his brothers and sisters. He knew that, because they were immortal, his brothers and sisters had not died when they were swallowed. They were still inside Cronos, waiting to be rescused. One day, Zeus slipped a bitter potion into Cronos’ drink. When Cronos choked, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon came tumbling out of him.

A fierce battle between the Titans and Cronos’ children followed. Zeus hurled huge boulders down the side of Mount Olympus. Pan, the young goat god, shouted that the world was ending. The Titans feared the mountain’s collapse and fled. The younger gods, called the New Gods, won control of Earth. Zeus banished the Titans, except for Atlas, who was sentenced to hold up Earth forever.

The three brothers, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, divided the world. Zeus took control of the sky and Mount Olympus, Hades became the god of the underworld, and Poseidon controlled the sea. Zeus’ three sisters, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera, joined him on Mount Olympus

The Gift of Fire

Long, long ago and far away the Greek gods and goddesses lived in palaces among the towering peaks of the great Mount Olympus. Zeus, the ruler of the gods, was wise and very powerful, but he could sometimes be spiteful and do foolish things. When he was angry, he fired thunderbolts from his fingers and all the other gods were a little scared of him. He married the goddess Hera and they had many children.

At first, the gods and goddesses ruled over an almost empty world; there were lots of animals roaming around but no people. The animals had been created the god Epimetheus, who was very good at making things. One day, Zeus asked Prometheus, who was Epimetheus’s brother, to make human beings to live in the world.

Prometheus picked up some mud. He shaped lumps of it into men and women, making them look just like the gods, and breathed on them to make them come alive. The people were happy on Earth but the one thing that Zeus wouldn’t let them have was fire. Prometheus loved the people and felt sorry that they had to shiver through the dark nights, and eat raw food.

He went to Mount Olympus and when no one was watching, stole a lump of burning charcoal from Zeus’s palace. He took it to the people and showed them how to make fire with it. Now they could eat cooked food, and have warmth and light in the night. They were always very grateful to Prometheus and never forgot his special gift.

When Zeus noticed the smell of cooking and saw the fires glowing at night, he knew what Prometheus had done. He flew into a terrible rage. “Prometheus, how dare you go against my orders?” he shouted in a voice like thunder. “I’ll punish you for this.”

Zeus chained Prometheus to the side of a huge mountain. Every day an eagle flew down and tore out his liver, and every night it grew again. Prometheus was in terrible pain, be couldn’t die because he was a god. He had to stay there for hundreds of years until, at last, Zeus forgave him and he was rescued.

Pandora’s Box

Pandora’s name means “all gifted” because each of the gods and goddesses gave her a gift when she was created. She is the first mortal woman Greek mythology.

Zeus was very angry with the people who were so pleased with the gift of fire from Prometheus. He decided to punish them. He asked the other gods to help him make a special woman. When they had finished, she was very beautiful; she was bright and clever, and could play lovely music. Zeus called her Pandora.

Then Zeus sent for Epimetheus. “Here is a wife for you, Epimetheus,” he said. “She is a reward for making all the animals on the Earth.” Zeus gave Pandora and Epimetheus a box which was bound and locked. “Take this box and keep it safe. I must warn you,” said Zeus, “that you must never open it.”

Epimetheus thanked Zeus and gazed a Pandora. She was so beautiful that he forgot that his brother, Prometheus, had warned him never to accept gifts from the other gods. He took Pandora away and soon they were married. He put the box in dark corner of his house.

Pandora was very happy with her new husband. The world was a wonder place to live. No one was ever ill or grew old. No one was ever unkind or unpleasant. But Pandora was curious about the locked box and the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to know what was in it. Could it be jewels or some other precious things?

“Let’s just have a little peek inside,” she said to Epimetheus, smiling sweetly at him. “No, Zeus warned us never to open it,” answered Epimetheus, frowning. He wanted to do everyting he could to please his wife but he was scared of Zeus. Day after day Pandora begged Epimethus to open the box and everyday he refused.

One morning, when Epimetheus had gone out, Pandora crept into the room and stared at the box for a while. Then she made up her mind that she would open it. She broke off the lock with a tool. Then, hardly daring to breathe, she slowly lifted the lid. Before she could look inside, there was a terrible screaming , wailing noise. She jumped back, terrified. Out of the box streamed all sorts of horrible things. There were hate and jealousy, cruelty, and anger, hunger and poverty, pain and sickness, old age and death.

Pandora quickly put the lid back on the box. Only one thing was left—hope. People would now suffer all kinds of terrible things, but because they had hope, they would never despair.

Persephone and the Seasons

This ancient Greek myth explains the changing seasons and the growth of the plants. Demeter, the goddess of grain, was known to the Romans as Ceres, and we get the word “cereal” from her name.

Happy Demeter, goddess of harvest, made the world’s plants and trees bloom and grow all year. He daughter Persephone, helped her in this work. All was well when they were together, and Demeter allowed the mortals to enjoy the fruits and vegetables that she grew on Earth.

Zeus’ brother Hades, god of the Underworld, loved Persephone from afar. He asked Zeus, who was not only the king of the gods bus also Persephone’s father, permission to marry her. Zeus didn’t say yes, because he know Demeter would never part with her daughter. But he also didn’t say no, as he was loyal to his brother. Finally, Hades decided to act for himself.

One day, when Persephone was alone in the meadow, Hades kidnapped her and took her to the underworld. In that dark place, where almost nothing grew, Persephone was miserable. She refused to drink or eat anything except for a few pomegranate seeds.

Demeter was equally miserable without her daughter, and she neglected the world’s plants as she searched for Persephone. Harvests failed, trees and plants withered. The mortals were in danger of starving.

When Demeter finally discovered Persephone in the underworld, she begged Zeus for help. “Command Hades to release our daughter !” she cried. “Look at her! Persephone is withering away like the plants of the earth.” Zeus agreed. “As long as Persephone hasn’t eaten any food of the dead she shall be free.”

“I ate almost noting,” cried Persephone from inside the underworld’s gates, “Just six pomegranate seeds.”

Then you shall spend six months of each year as Queen of the underworld,” said Zeus. “The other six months you may live with your mother.”

Though Demeter and Persephone cried and pleaded, Zeus was firm. For six months every year, Persephone stated with Hades in the underworld. While Demeter mourned for her daughter, Earth’s plants and trees drooped, withered, and died. When Persephone returned and Demeter rejoiced, the growing things revived and bloomed again.

Medusa’s Head

On his way home after slaying Medusa, Perseus rescued the princess Andromeda, who had been chained to a rock as a sacrifice to the sea god, Poseidon. Perseus and Andromeda married and became the ancestors of another Greek hero, Hercules.

Perseus was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman, Danae. King Polydectes, the ruler of the land where they lived, wanted Perseus out of the way so that he could force his attentions on Danae. He sent Perseus on a mission to kill the Gorgon, a scaly monster named Medusa who had snakes instead of hair growing out of her head. Medusa was so frighteningly hideous that anyone who looked at her turned to stone.

The gods quickly came to Perseus’s aid. Athene gave him a mirrored shield so that he could look at Medusa’s reflection instead of at her. And Hermes gave Perseus his sickle. “It is the only blade that can cut through the Gorgon’s scales,” said Hermes.

To find Medusa’s lair, Perseus first had to visit the Hesperides, the daughters of the night, who gave Perseus three more gifts to help him on his quest: winged sandals to help him fly; a helmet that would make him invisible; and a sack to hold Medusa’s severed head. Then they told him where to find Medusa.

As Perseus flew over the island where she lived, he saw strange rocky forms—the people who had looked at Medusa and turned to stone. But he had Athene’s mirrored shield, so he was not afraid. He held up the shield and struck out with Hermes’ sickle, which sliced through Medusa’s scaly neck as if it were a melon. He quickly stuffed the head into the sack and started for home.

Perseus returned to find that King Polydectes had treated his mother cruelly while he was away. Pulling Medusa’s head from the sack, Perseus held it up before the king, and Polydectes at once turned to stone. Perseus then presented the head to Athene, who fixed it to her shield—a terrifying trophy for all time.