List of Greek deities
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In ancient Greece, deities were regarded as immortal, anthropomorphic, and powerful.Template:Sfn They were conceived of as individual persons, rather than abstract concepts or notions,Template:Sfn and were described as being similar to humans in appearance, albeit larger and more beautiful.Template:Sfn The emotions and actions of deities were largely the same as those of humans;Template:Sfn they frequently engaged in sexual activity,Template:Sfn and were jealous and amoral.Template:Sfn Deities were considered far more knowledgeable than humans,Template:Sfnm and it was believed that they conversed in a language of their own.Template:Sfn Their immortality, the defining marker of their godhood,Template:Sfn meant that they ceased aging after growing to a certain point.Template:Sfn In place of blood, their veins flowed with ichor, a substance which was a product of their diet,Template:Sfn and conferred upon them their immortality.Template:Sfn Divine power allowed the gods to intervene in mortal affairs in various ways: they could cause natural events such as rain, wind, the growing of crops, or epidemics, and were able to dictate the outcomes of complex human events, such as battles or political situations.Template:Sfn
As ancient Greek religion was polytheistic,Template:Sfn a multiplicity of gods were venerated by the same groups and individuals.Template:Sfn The identity of a deity was demarcated primarily by their name, which could be accompanied by an epithet (a title or surname);Template:Sfn religious epithets could refer to specific functions of a god, to connections with other deities, or to a divinity's local forms.Template:Sfn The Greeks honoured the gods by means of worship, as they believed deities were capable of bringing to their lives positive outcomes outside their own control.Template:Sfn Greek cult, or religious practice, consisted of activities such sacrifices, prayers, libations, festivals, and the building of temples.Template:Sfn By the 8th century BC, most deities were honoured in sanctuaries (Template:Translit), sacred areas which often included a temple and dining room,Template:Sfn and were typically dedicated to a single deity.Template:Sfn Aspects of a god's cult such as the kinds of sacrifices made to them and the placement of their sanctuaries contributed to the distinct conception worshippers had of them.Template:Sfn
In addition to a god's name and cult, their character was determined by their mythology (the collection of stories told about them), and their iconography (how they were depicted in ancient Greek art).Template:Sfn A deity's mythology told of their deeds (which played a role in establishing their functions) and genealogically linked them to gods with similar functions.Template:Sfn The most important works of mythology were the Homeric epics, including the Iliad (Template:Circalate 8th century BC), an account of a period of the Trojan War, and Hesiod's Theogony (c. 700 BC), which presents a genealogy of the pantheon.Template:Refn Myths known throughout Greece had different regional versions, which sometimes presented a distinct view of a god according to local concerns.Template:Sfn Some myths attempted to explain the origins of certain cult practices,Template:Sfn and some may have arisen from rituals.Template:Sfn Artistic representations allow us to understand how deities were depicted over time, and works such as vase paintings can sometimes substantially predate literary sources.Template:Sfn Art contributed to how the Greeks conceived of the gods, and depictions would often assign them certain symbols, such as the thunderbolt of Zeus or the trident of Poseidon.Template:Sfn
The principal figures of the pantheon were the twelve Olympians,Template:Sfn thought to live on Mount Olympus, and to be connected as part of a family.Template:Sfn Zeus was considered the chief god of the pantheon, though Athena and Apollo were honoured in a greater number of sanctuaries in major cities, and Dionysus is the deity who has received the most attention in modern scholarship.Template:Sfn Beyond the central divinities of the pantheon, the Greek gods were numerous.Template:Sfn Some parts of the natural world, such as the earth, sea, or sun, were held as divine throughout Greece, and other natural deities, such as the various nymphs and river gods, were primarily of local significance.Template:Sfn Personifications of abstract concepts appeared frequently in Greek art and poetry,Template:Sfn though many were also venerated in cult, some as early as the 6th century BC.Template:Sfn Groups or societies of deities could be purely mythological in importance, such as the Titans, or they could be the subject of substantial worship, such as the Muses or Charites.Template:Sfn
Major deities in Greek religion
[edit]The following section is structured after Walter Burkert's Greek Religion, particularly his section "Chapter III: The Gods".Template:Refn
Twelve Olympians
[edit]The main deities of the Greek pantheon were the twelve Olympians.Template:Sfn They were believed to reside on Mount Olympus,Template:Sfn from which they derived their name,Template:Sfn and were thought to be connected as part of a familial group,Template:Sfnm which had Zeus at its head.Template:Sfn This family included two generations: the first consisted of children of Cronus and Rhea – Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia – and the second consisted of children of Zeus – Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Dionysus (though Aphrodite and Hephaestus were sometimes said not to be children of Zeus).Template:Sfnm In myth, the Olympians are preceded by another group of gods, the Titans (among them Cronus and Rhea), who are supplanted by Zeus and the Olympian gods in a war known as the Titanomachy, after which Zeus becomes ruler of the gods.Template:Sfn
In cult, the notion of the twelve gods (or Template:Lang) is first attested in the latter half of the 6th century BC, when the Altar of the Twelve Gods was constructed in Athens.Template:Sfn Around the same time, the Homeric Hymn to Hermes referred to the division of a sacrifice into twelve pieces,Template:Sfn and in 484 BC the poet Pindar mentioned the honouring of twelve gods at Olympia.Template:Sfnm By the Classical period (Template:Circa5th–4th centuries BC), this idea of twelve gods had become established.Template:Sfn Although the Olympians were consistently considered twelve in number, the individual gods which comprised this group of twelve could differ by region; in particular, Hestia and Dionysus were sometimes excluded.Template:Sfn Although Hades is the brother of the first-generation Olympians, he was not included among the twelve Olympians because of his residency in the underworld.Template:Sfn In addition to the canonical twelve Olympians, there were numerous other gods generally believed to live on Olympus.Template:Sfn
| Name | Image | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Aphrodite Template:Lang |
Goddess of sexual love and beauty.Template:Sfn In Hesiod's Theogony she is born from the castrated genitals of Uranus, while in the Iliad she is the child of Zeus and Dione.Template:Sfnm She was worshipped throughout the Hellenic world, and her best-known cults were located on the island of Cyprus.Template:Sfn A number of scholars believe she was Near-Eastern in origin, though others argue she was derived from a Cypriot goddess who contained indigenous elements.Template:Sfn In the Odyssey, she is married to Hephaestus, though she fornicates with Ares, and the two are caught in sexual embrace by an invisible net crafted by her husband.Template:Sfn She also had affairs with mortals such as Adonis and Anchises, and would provide help to mortal lovers while punishing those who spurned love.Template:Sfn In art, she was represented from the 7th century BC as a robed figure, though in the Hellenistic period various nude and semi-nude depictions were produced;Template:Sfn among her symbols were various birds, especially doves.Template:Sfn Her Roman counterpart is Venus.Template:Sfnm | |
| Apollo Template:Lang |
Son of Zeus and Leto, and twin brother of Artemis.Template:Sfnm His various functions and associations include healing, music, archery and prophecy,Template:Sfnm and he has often been characterised as the "most Greek" of the gods.Template:Sfn Apollo's cult existed throughout Greece, having been this widespread by the beginning of the 7th century BC,Template:Sfn and was likely been brought to Greece during the Greek Dark Ages.Template:Refn By the 5th century BC, his worship had been introduced into Rome, where he was revered primarily as a god of healing.Template:Sfn In mythology, he was said to have slain the dragon Python, who guarded an oracle of Themis at Delphi, before taking over the shrine for himself.Template:Sfn He had numerous love affairs with nymphs and women such as Daphne and Cyrene, as well as with males such as Hyacinth,Template:Sfnm though he was often unsuccessful in his amorous pursuits.Template:Sfn In art, he is depicted as a youth, usually without a beard,Template:Sfn and can be found portrayed as a lyre player or archer.Template:Sfn From the 5th century BC, he was often equated with the sun.Template:Sfn | |
| Ares Template:Lang |
God of war.Template:Sfnm He is the son of Zeus and Hera,Template:Sfn and the lover of Aphrodite,Template:Sfn by whom, in the Theogony, he is the father of Deimos, Phobos and Harmonia.Template:Sfnm His cult was relatively limited,Template:Sfn and his temples were located mostly on Crete and in the Peloponnese;Template:Sfn he also often appeared alongside Aphrodite in cult.Template:Sfn In the Iliad, he is depicted in a largely negative manner, as a brash and wild warrior;Template:Sfn he supports the Trojan side of the war, and is frequently presented in opposition to Athena.Template:Sfn In ancient art, he was depicted early on as a warrior, bearded and with a spear and shield, though from the classical period he can found as a beardless and more youthful figure.Template:Sfn In Rome, his counterpart was Mars.Template:Sfn | |
| Artemis Template:Lang |
Daughter of Zeus and Leto, and twin sister of Apollo.Template:Sfn She presided over transitions,Template:Sfn and was associated with hunting and the wild.Template:Sfn Her cult was the most far-reaching of any goddess,Template:Sfn and she presided over female (as well as male) initiation rites.Template:Sfn She is among the oldest of the Greek gods, and is closely linked with Asia Minor.Template:Sfn In Homeric epic, she is described as a talented hunter who traverses the Arcadian mountains, accompanied by a retinue of nymphs.Template:Sfn She remained a young maiden and virgin indefinitely,Template:Sfn and men who attempted to violate her chastity generally faced severe consequences.Template:Sfn She dispatches swift punishment against mortals who display arrogance towards her, or fail to honour her properly,Template:Sfn and is also known for unexpectedly and suddenly killing mortal women.Template:Sfnm In art, she is often depicted as a hunter carrying a bow and arrow, and wearing a dress, though from the 7th century BC there exist depictions of her as Potnia Theron.Template:Sfn Her Roman counterpart is Diana.Template:Sfn | |
| Athena Template:Lang |
Daughter of Zeus, who is born from his head after he swallows her mother, Metis.Template:Sfn She was originally a Minoan or Mycenaean goddess, and her name is likely derived from that of Athens.Template:Sfn Throughout Greece she was the foremost polis deity, and in Greek cities her temple was typically located on the citadel;Template:Sfn the nexus of her worship was the Athenian Acropolis, upon which there was temple to her by the 8th or 7th century BC.Template:Sfn She is both a virgin goddess and a warrior,Template:Sfn and is the patroness of all forms of craftmanship.Template:Sfn In mythology, she competes with Poseidon for the patronage of Athens, besting him by offering its inhabitants the olive tree.Template:Sfnm She is described as a provider of aid to male heroes,Template:Sfn helping figures such as Heracles, Perseus, and Bellerophon in their quests.Template:Sfn In the earliest known artistic depictions of Athena, she wears a helmet and carries a spear and lance, and around the early 6th century BC there begin appearing representations including the aegis and a shield adorned with a gorgoneion.Template:Sfn Her Roman counterpart is Minerva.Template:Sfnm | |
| Demeter Template:Lang |
Goddess of agriculture.Template:Sfn She is the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and the mother of Persephone by Zeus.Template:Sfn She and her daughter were intimately connected in cult,Template:Sfn and the two goddesses were honoured in the Thesmophoria festival, which included only women.Template:Sfn Demeter presided over the growing of grain, and she was responsible for the lives of married women.Template:Sfn Her most important myth is that of her daughter's abduction, in which Persephone is stolen by Hades and taken into the underworld;Template:Sfn hearing the cries of her daughter as she is taken, Demeter traverses the earth looking for her, and local versions of the story tell of her interactions with mortals during her search.Template:Sfn This myth, which is first narrated in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter,Template:Sfn was central to the Eleusinian Mysteries,Template:Sfn the most ancient of the Greek mystery religions.Template:Sfn In art, Demeter is typically depicted as a clothed figure, and features of her representations include the polos, calathus, sheaf, and torch.Template:Sfn Her Roman counterpart is Ceres.Template:Sfnm | |
| Dionysus Template:Lang |
Son of Zeus and the mortal woman Semele.Template:Sfn He is the "most versatile and elusive" Greek deity,Template:Sfn and is the god who has received the greatest attention in modern scholarship.Template:Sfn He is the god of wine, intoxication, and ecstasy,Template:Sfnm and is associated with theatre, eroticism, masks, and madness.Template:Sfnm His name is attested in Mycenaean Greece,Template:Sfnm and there is evidence of him having been worshipped continuously from the 15th century BC.Template:Sfn His cult was more far-reaching than that of any other Greek god;Template:Sfn his festivals, which could be found across the Greek world, often featured drunkenness and revelry,Template:Sfn and included the Anthesteria, the Agrionia, the Rural Dionysia, and the City Dionysia.Template:Sfnm His pregnant mother dies upon seeing Zeus in the form in which he appears to Hera, and Zeus stitches the unborn god into his thigh, from which he is then born.Template:Sfn He is accompanied by a retinue of satyrs, maenads, and silenoi, and is said to have travelled with his followers to locations such as Egypt and India.Template:Sfn His artistic depictions are more numerous than those of any other god; prior to 430 BC, he is portrayed as a bearded and clothed adult, often adorned with an animal skin, while later representations depict him as a beardless, effeminate youth.Template:Sfn | |
| Hephaestus Template:Lang |
God of fire and metalworking.Template:Sfnm He is the son of Hera, either on her own or by Zeus.Template:Sfn He is non-Greek in origin,Template:Sfn and his cult was likely imported from Asia Minor.Template:Sfn He was worshipped on the island of Lemnos, and more famously at Athens, where he was linked with Athena.Template:Sfnm In Homeric epic he is the smith of the gods, who produces creations such as the shield of Achilles;Template:Sfn he has crippled feet, and is an outcast among the Olympians.Template:Sfn He is said to have been hurled from Olympus as an infant, either by Zeus, landing on Lemnos, or by Hera, landing in the sea.Template:Sfn His wife is Aglaea, one of the Charites, or the unfaithful Aphrodite.Template:Sfn In art, he is depicted wearing a pilos from the 5th century BC, and can be found holding an axe or hammer.Template:Sfn His Roman counterpart is Vulcan.Template:Sfn | |
| Hera Template:Lang |
Wife of Zeus, and daughter of Cronus and Rhea.Template:Sfn She is associated with marriage in particular,Template:Sfnm and is the queen of the gods.Template:Sfn She likely descends from a goddess who was worshipped in Mycenaean Greece.Template:Sfn She has some of the oldest sanctuaries, which often contain immense temples,Template:Sfn and her two most important locations of worship were the Heraion of Argos and Samos;Template:Sfn she was venerated in her role as the wife of Zeus, and as a city goddess.Template:Sfn By her husband she is the mother of Ares, Hebe, and Eileithyia,Template:Sfnm and in myth she is a jealous wife who torments Zeus's mistresses and other children.Template:Sfn In artistic depictions of groups, she can sometimes be distinguished as a figure in bride's attire, accompanying Zeus, and in scenes of hieros gamos she is portrayed as a matronly figure; features of her depictions include clothing being pulled around her head like a veil, the patera, the sceptre, and pomegranate.Template:Sfn Her Roman counterpart is Juno.Template:Sfn | |
| Hermes Template:Lang |
Son of Zeus and the nymph Maia.Template:Sfn He is the messenger and herald of the gods,Template:Sfnm the god of boundaries and their crossing,Template:Sfn and a trickster deity.Template:Sfn He is likely derived from a god which existed in Mycenaean Greece, and the most ancient location of his cult was the region of Arcadia, where his worship was especially prevalent;Template:Sfn his cult was spread through the Peloponnese, and existed in a particularly ancient in Athens.Template:Sfn He was closely linked with herms, stone statues which marked various boundaries, and was the patron of shepherds, especially young men whose job it was to protect crops from cattle.Template:Sfn He is said to have stolen the cattle of Apollo as a new-born, receiving the herd from the god by gifting him the lyre, which he had created from a tortoise's shell.Template:Sfnm In art, his symbols include the caduceus, the petasos (or pilos), and his winged sandals; he is a bearded figure prior to the 4th century BC, after which beardless begin appearing.Template:Sfn His Roman counterpart is Mercury.Template:Sfnm | |
| Hestia Template:Lang |
Goddess of the hearth.Template:Sfnm She is the daughter of Cronus and Rhea.Template:Sfn Her role in mythology is minimal,Template:Sfnm and she is never fully anthropomorphic.Template:Sfn In cultic activity, she is always the deity who receives the first offering or prayer, and she was venerated in each city's communal hearth, or prytaneion.Template:Sfn She is a virgin goddess, who forever retains her chastity, and rejects the advances of male deities such as Apollo and Poseidon.Template:Sfn Her Roman counterpart is Vesta.Template:Sfn | |
| Poseidon Template:Lang |
God of the sea, earthquakes, and horses.Template:Sfnm He is the son of Cronus and Rhea, and the brother of Zeus and Hades.Template:Sfn He was an important deity in Mycenaean Greece, and through the archaic period his position receded.Template:Sfn He had sanctuaries in many coastal locations, though he was also worshipped in inland areas, where he was associated with bodies of water such as pools and streams.Template:Sfn His epithets include Hippios (relating to horses), "Earth-Shaker", and "Embracer of Earth".Template:Sfnm In the Iliad, he and his brothers split the cosmos between themselves, with Poseidon receiving the sea.Template:Sfnm His wife is Amphitrite, with whom he lives below the ocean, though he has affairs with numerous women, producing sometimes dangerous or monstrous children.Template:Sfn From the 7th century BC, Corinthian votive tablets show him with his trident in hand, wearing a diadem and chiton; it can be difficult to tell apart him apart from Zeus, and only from the Hellenistic period is he found in a chariot pulled by hippocampi.Template:Sfn His Roman counterpart is Neptune.Template:Sfnm | |
| Zeus Template:Lang |
Chief god of the Greek pantheon.Template:Sfn He is the king of the gods,Template:Sfnm and the most powerful deity.Template:Sfnm He is the son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and the husband of Hera.Template:Sfn He is the only Greek god who is unquestionably Indo-European in origin,Template:Sfn and he is attested already in Mycenaean Greece.Template:Sfn His cult existed from the Bronze Age, and was spread across the Greek world, with major temples in Olympia, Athens, and Acragas.Template:Sfn His functions and domains are more varied than those of any other god, and over 1000 of his epithets survive.Template:Sfn According to Hesiod's Theogony, he attains his power by overthrowing his father and the other Titans in a ten-year war known as the Titanomachy.Template:Sfnm Through his numerous amorous encounters with mortal women, he is the father of various heroes and progenitors of well-known family lines.Template:Sfn Among his symbols are the thunderbolt, the sceptre, and the eagle.Template:Sfn In art, from the 6th century BC onwards he is often shown sitting on a throne, or as an upright figure wielding a lightning bolt; Zeus's lusting after women is also frequently found on vase paintings of the 5th century BC.Template:Sfn His Roman counterpart is Jupiter, also referred to as Jove.Template:Sfn |
Chthonic deities
[edit]The word "chthonic" is applied to deities who were believed to inhabit the underworld or to be otherwise subterranean in nature, and who were associated with fertility or the dead.Template:Sfn Hades and Persephone, the rulers of the underworld, were the principal chthonic deities.Template:Sfnm They were not the only gods held as chthonic, though such figures were typically only alluded to, and were referenced with apprehension.Template:Sfn
| Name | Image | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Hades Template:Lang |
File:Hades Altemps Inv8584.jpg | Ruler of the underworld and the dead.Template:Sfnm He is the child of Cronus and Rhea, and the consort of Persephone.Template:Sfn In the Iliad, Hades and his brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, split the world between themselves, with Hades receiving the underworld.Template:Sfn He was referred to under names such as Plouton and "chthonian Zeus", and his epithets included Clymenus ('Renowned') and Eubouleus ('Good Counsellor').Template:Sfnm In his best-known myth, he kidnaps Persephone, after receiving Zeus's assent, and takes her into the underworld; while there, she consumes some of his food, forcing her to henceforth spend part of each year in the underworld.Template:Sfn He had virtually no role in cult, and was worshipped instead as Plouton, throughout Greece.Template:Sfn In artistic depictions he often holds a sceptre or key, with his appearance being similar to that of Zeus.Template:Sfn His name can also be used to denote to the underworld itself.Template:Sfnm |
| Persephone Template:Lang |
Daughter of Zeus and Demeter.Template:Sfn She is the wife of Hades, and queen of the underworld.Template:Sfn In her central myth, first narrated in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, she is seized by Hades while frolicking in a meadow, and carried her into the underworld;Template:Sfnm Zeus asks for her return, but Persephone, having consumed pomengranate seeds during her stay, is forced to from then on spend a part of each year there.Template:Sfn She is frequently found alongside her mother in cult, and the two are honoured in the Thesmophoria festival,Template:Sfn as well as the Eleusinian Mysteries;Template:Sfn she can also be found closely linked in cult with Hades.Template:Sfn She also appears in myth as the queen of the underworld, a realm over which she wields significant power, with her being described as helping certain mortals who visit.Template:Sfn | |
| Plouton Template:Lang |
A name for the ruler of the underworld, who is also known as Hades.Template:Sfn Plouton is attested from around 500 BC,Template:Sfn before which he was a distinct deity from Hades;Template:Sfn the name is a euphemistic title, which alludes to the riches that exist beneath the earth.Template:Sfn Plouton appears in cult linked with Persephone and Demeter, and his worship is attested almost exclusively in Attica prior to the Hellenistic period, in relation to Eleusinian cult in particular.Template:Sfn In art, he is depicted with a beard (which is sometimes white), and carrying a cornucopia or sceptre.Template:Sfn |
Lesser deities
[edit]| Name | Image | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Eileithyia Template:Lang |
Goddess associated with birth.Template:Sfn In the Theogony, she is the daughter of Zeus and Hera.Template:Sfnm She is attested in the Bronze Age,Template:Sfn and was worshipped at a cave in Amnisos on Crete as early as the Middle Minoan period.Template:Sfn She was venerated mostly by women,Template:Sfn and in the archaic period her worship was found most prominently on Crete, in the Peloponnese, and in the Cyclades;Template:Sfn she is also worshipped in a number of locations as an aspect of Artemis.Template:Sfn | |
| Enyalius Template:Lang |
A war god.Template:Sfnm He is associated in particular with close-quarters fighting, though the degree to which he is a separate deity from Ares has been debated since antiquity.Template:Sfn He is mentioned as early as the Mycenaean period,Template:Sfn and his worship is most clearly attested in the Peloponnese; he possessed a significant cult at Sparta, where there sat a statue of him bound in chains.Template:Sfn In literature, he is little more than an epithet or byname for Ares.Template:Sfn | |
| Hecate Template:Lang |
A goddess associated with ghosts and magic.Template:Sfn In the Theogony, she is the daughter of Perses and Asteria.Template:Sfn She was likely originally from Caria in Asia Minor, and her worship seems to have been taken up by the Greeks during the archaic period.Template:Sfn She is attested in Athens in the sixth century BC, and statues of her stood guard throughout the city by the Classical period.Template:Sfn She is absent from Homeric epic, and Hesiod celebrates her in a section of his Theogony, treating her as a mighty goddess who helps various members of society.Template:Sfn She was said to have been accompanied by the ghosts of maidens and women who died childless, and was linked with dogs and their sacrifice.Template:Sfn Beginning in the 5th century BC, she was assimilated with Artemis.Template:Sfn In art, she is depicted with either one or three faces (and sometimes three bodies), and is frequently found wearing a polos and carrying torches.Template:Sfn | |
| Pan Template:Lang |
God of shepherds and goatherds.Template:Sfnm He comes from the region of Arcadia, and was conceived of as partly human and partly goat.Template:Sfn During the 5th century BC, his worship spread to Athens from Arcadia, before being dispersed across the Greek world;Template:Sfn he was venerated in caves, sometimes in conjunction with Hermes and the nymphs.Template:Sfn There were numerous conflicting versions of his parentage,Template:Sfnm and in myth he is a figure who roams the mountains and plays the syrinx;Template:Sfn he is a lecherous figure who lusts after both nymphs and young men,Template:Sfn though he is typically met with little success in his lustful pursuits.Template:Sfn In art, he is portrayed as an ithyphallic figure.Template:Sfn | |
| Prometheus Template:Lang |
Son of the Titan Iapetus.Template:Sfn He was credited with the creation of mankind, producing the first human from a lump of clay.Template:Sfn He was said to have brought fire to humanity, having covertly stolen it from Olympus; this action earned him the punishment of Zeus, who had him bound to a rock face in the Caucasus Mountains, where an eagle would tear apart his liver each day, before it regenerated over the following night.Template:Sfn He is later set free from his punishment by Heracles.Template:Sfn The image of his punishment is found in art as early as the 7th century BC, and he is typically found as a bearded figure with an unclothed body and arms bound, while the eagle hovers overhead.Template:Sfn | |
| Leto Template:Lang |
Mother of Apollo and Artemis by Zeus.Template:Sfn She is the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe.Template:Sfn When pregnant with her children, she travels to find somewhere give birth, but is rebuffed in each location (in some accounts due to the efforts of a jealous Hera), before arriving at Delos, where she eventually delivers both children (though in an early version Artemis is born instead on Ortygia).Template:Sfn In cult, she was frequently linked with her children,Template:Sfn though in Asia Minor she was more important as an individual, and from the 6th century BC she was worshipped at the Letoon in Lycia.Template:Sfn | |
| Leucothea Template:Lang |
A sea goddess.Template:Sfn In myth, she was originally a mortal women named Ino, who fled from her frenzied husband with her young son, Melicertes, in her arms; she jumped into the sea, taking her son with her, and the two were deified, becoming Leucothea and Palaemon, respectively.Template:Sfn Leucothea was venerated across the Mediterranean world,Template:Sfn and was linked with initiation rites, a connection which is likely responsible for her identification with Ino.Template:Sfn | |
| Thetis Template:Lang |
The mother of Achilles.Template:Sfnm She is one of the Nereids, the daughters of Nereus and Doris.Template:Sfn She is courted by Poseidon and Zeus until they hear of a prophecy that any son she bears will overthrow his father, prompting Zeus to wed Thetis to the hero Peleus.Template:Sfn Prior to their marriage, her future husband pursues her, with her transforming into different shapes as she flees.Template:Sfn After the birth of Achilles, she burns her son in an attempt to make him immortal, an action which led to the end of her marriage.Template:Sfn Her cult existed in Thessaly and Sparta,Template:Sfn and she was a popular subject in vase paintings, particularly in the 6th and 5th centuries BC.Template:Sfn |
Nature deities
[edit]While many of the major Greek gods were associated with aspects of nature, various lesser deities are classed as nature gods because they personify particular parts of the natural world.Template:Sfnm Some such deities stood for parts of nature that played a role in the lives of all people – such as the earth, sea, sun, moon, and winds – and so were held as divine throughout Greece (though these gods did not experience the same development in myth and cult as figures such as the Olympians).Template:Sfn Other nature deities – the river gods and nymphs,Template:Refn who represented features of the landscape such as rivers, springs, or mountains – were individually worshipped only in a specific town or area.Template:Sfn They were numerous, and their cults were found throughout the Greek world.Template:Sfn
| Name | Image | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Achelous Template:Lang |
One of the river gods, sons of Oceanus and Tethys.Template:Sfn He was the god of the Achelous River,Template:Sfn the largest river in Greece.Template:Sfn The oracle of Zeus at Dodona helped to spread his worship,Template:Sfn and he was often venerated alongside the nymphs,Template:Sfn though his cult began to recede in the 4th century BC.Template:Sfn In myth, he fights the hero Heracles for the hand of Deianeira, assuming multiple forms in the battle, including that of a bull; he is beaten when Heracles snaps one of his horns from his head.Template:Sfn | |
| Winds Template:Lang |
Personifications of the winds.Template:Sfn They are typically four in number – Zephyrus (West Wind), Boreas (North Wind), Notus (South Wind), and Eurus (East Wind)Template:Sfn – though Hesiod, who describes them as children of Eos and Astraeus, omits Eurus.Template:Sfnm There survives a reference to a "Priestess of the Winds" from the Mycenaean period, and major deities, especially Zeus, were connected with winds.Template:Sfn In myth, Boreas was said to have kidnapped the Athenian princess Orithyia.Template:Sfn | |
| Gaia Template:Lang |
Personification and goddess of the earth.Template:Sfnm In Hesiod's Theogony, she is one of the earliest beings in existence, and the progenitor of an extensive genealogy,Template:Sfn producing figures such as Uranus and Pontus on her own, and the Titans, Cyclopes, and Hecatoncheires by Uranus.Template:Sfn She has the ability of prophecy, and was believed to have preceded Apollo at the oracle of Delphi.Template:Sfn In cult, she is more commonly referred to as Ge, and is often venerated alongside Zeus;Template:Sfn her worship existed primarily outside of the polis,Template:Sfn though Gē Kourotrophos was venerated in Athens.Template:Sfn | |
| Helios Template:Lang |
The sun and its god.Template:Sfn He is the son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia.Template:Sfnm It was believed that he travelled through the sky each day in a horse-pulled chariot, making his way from east to west; each night he drifted back to the east in a bowl, through Oceanus (the river which wrapped around the earth).Template:Sfn Though the sun was universally viewed as divine in Classical Greece, it received relatively little worship;Template:Sfn the most significant location of Helios's cult was the island of Rhodes, where he was the subject of the Colossus of Rhodes.Template:Sfn He was commonly called upon in oaths, as it was believed he could witness everything across the earth.Template:Sfn He was assimilated with Apollo by the 5th century BC, though their equation was not established until later on.Template:Sfn | |
| River gods Template:Lang |
The 3000 male offspring of Oceanus and Tethys, and brothers of the Oceanids.Template:Sfn River gods were often locally venerated in Greek cities, and they were seen as representations of a city's identity.Template:Sfn Their worship was developed by the time of Homer;Template:Sfnm river gods were given a sanctuary in their city, and were given sacrifices of youths' hair.Template:Sfn The only river god worshipped throughout Greece was Achelous.Template:Sfn Their iconography includes the melding of the human form with bull-like features.Template:Sfn Other river gods include Eridanos, Alpheus, and Scamander.Template:Sfn |
Other deities in cult
[edit]| Name | Image | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Asclepius Template:Lang |
God of healing and medicine.Template:Sfnm In mythology, he is described as a mortal hero,Template:Sfn with the usual tradition calling him the son of Apollo and Coronis;Template:Sfn while pregnant, Coronis weds the mortal Ischys, which leads Apollo to kill her, and he rescues the infant in the process.Template:Sfn Asclepius grows up to become a skilled healer, capable even of bringing the deceased back to life, an activity which leads Zeus to strike him down with lightning.Template:Sfn During the archaic era, his worship was likely centred in Tricca and Messenia, and towards the end of the period his cult seemingly spread further abroad.Template:Sfn His veneration at Epidauros started around 500 BC, and in the late 5th century BC he possessed two sanctuaries in Athens;Template:Sfn he was worshipped alongside family members, such as Hygieia, Machaon, and Podalirius.Template:Sfn Artistic depictions of Asclepius often portray him as a figure sitting on a throne, or an upright figure holding a staff laden with a snake.Template:Sfn | |
| Cabeiri Template:Lang |
A group of divinities venerated in mysteries.Template:Sfn Evidence of their worship is known primarily from the island of Lemnos and from Thebes,Template:Sfn though they are attested through the northern Aegean, in Thrace, and at Anthedon.Template:Sfn They originated from outside of Greece, though there is evidence of their worship in Thebes as early as the 7th century BC.Template:Sfn The gods of the Samothracian mysteries are called Cabeiri by some sources, though in epigraphic evidence from the island there is mention only of Megaloi Theoi ('Great Gods') or Theoi ('Gods').Template:Sfn The Cabeiri are commonly associated with other groups of divinities – such as the Kouretes, Corybantes, and Idaean DactylsTemplate:Sfn – and their number varies according to the source.Template:Sfn Some authors call them the offspring of Hephaestus.Template:Sfn | |
| Charites Template:Lang |
Goddesses who embody beauty, charm, and grace.Template:Sfnm In the Theogony there are three Charites – Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia – who are the offspring of Zeus and Eurynome.Template:Sfn They were associated with Aphrodite, and were said to be her attendants.Template:Sfn The most famous location of their worship was Orchomenus,Template:Sfn where they were venerated in the form of three stones;Template:Sfn they were also worshipped in Athens and on the island of Paros.Template:Sfn In the Iliad, the Charis Pasithea is the wife of Hypnos, while in the Theogony Aglaea is married to Hephaestus.Template:Sfn | |
| The Dioscuri Template:Lang |
A pair of divine twins named Castor and Polydeuces.Template:Sfn The Iliad places Helen of Troy as their sister and Tyndareus as their father, while in later sources Polydeuces is the son of Zeus.Template:Sfn They are generally considered Indo-European in origin,Template:Sfn and were venerated across Greece; Sparta was regarded as the primary location of their worship, though their cult was also very prominent in Attica.Template:Sfn In myth, they are often described as being involved in disputes with other pairs of mythical figures, including battling Lynceus and Idas after stealing their wives;Template:Sfn they were also said to have retrieved a kidnapped Helen from Attica.Template:Sfn Artistic representations depict them with symbols such as horses, piloi, and stars.Template:Sfn | |
| Heracles Template:Lang |
The mightiest of the Greek heroes.Template:Sfnm He is the son of Zeus and Alcmene,Template:Sfn and was considered both a hero and a god.Template:Sfn He was worshipped throughout the Greek world (though he received little veneration in Crete), and his cult resembled those of the gods.Template:Sfn His cult on the island of Thasos was among his oldest, he was worshipped in numerous locations in Attica,Template:Sfn and in Thebes his cult existed as early as the time of Homer.Template:Sfn He was said to have completed twelve labours on the command of Eurystheus,Template:Sfn though the canonical set of labours was established only by the early 5th century BC; most of these tasks involve him fighting monstrous beasts or humanoid creatures.Template:Sfn In art, scenes from his labours can be found from the 8th century BC,Template:Sfn and his attributes include his cape (made from the Nemean lion's fur), a club, and a bow.Template:Sfnm | |
| Muses Template:Lang |
Goddesses who were responsible for inspiring poets and other creative and intellectual figures.Template:Sfn In the Theogony, they are the nine daughters of Zeus and the Titan Mnemosyne.Template:Sfn Their earliest site of worship was on Mount Olympus,Template:Sfn and they possessed a sanctuary at the foot of Mount Helicon.Template:Sfn There were different sets of Muses said to come from different locations,Template:Sfn and particular areas of creative activity were believed to have been governed by individual Muses.Template:Sfn As a group, they are commonly associated with Apollo.Template:Sfn |
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Foreign deities worshipped in Greece
[edit]Through a process termed interpretatio (Template:Gloss) by modern scholars, the Greeks identified their gods with those of foreign cultures.Template:Sfn They held respect for foreign gods when in those deities' land of origin (without losing the distinct nature of their own gods),Template:Sfnm and there is evidence of deities from foreign cultures retaining their identities when in the Greek world.Template:Sfn Following the 8th century BC, which marked the development of epic art and the establishment of the polis system, it became more difficult for foreign deities to be accepted into Greek religion.Template:Sfnm
| Name | Image | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Adonis Template:Lang |
A figure of Levantine origin.Template:Sfnm He is born of the incestuous union between a Phoenician king and his daughter, Myrrha.Template:Sfn Though this genealogy places him as a mortal, in cult he was considered a god.Template:Sfn He is known to have been worshipped on Lesbos by the beginning of the 6th century BC,Template:Sfn and in Athens by the 5th century BC;Template:Sfn he was venerated primarily by women, who were the participants in the Adonia festival.Template:Sfn In myth, he is a young man of great beauty, who is loved by Aphrodite; because Persephone is also enchanted by his beauty, Zeus decrees he spend parts of the year with each goddess.Template:Sfn | |
| Ammon Template:Lang |
The principal deity of the Egyptian pantheon.Template:Sfn Due to his position in the pantheon, he was equated by the Greeks with Zeus.Template:Sfnm He was worshipped at the Siwa Oasis from at least the 6th century BC,Template:Sfn and his oracle began to be broadly known in that century.Template:Sfn Greek attention towards Ammon was due primarily to the Greek colony of Cyrene in Libya,Template:Sfn and by the 4th century BC he was venerated in Athens.Template:Sfn | |
| Cybele Template:Lang |
A mother goddess from Asia Minor.Template:Sfn She is the Anatolian form of the Great Mother, and in Greece she was typically referred to as Meter.Template:Sfn During the 6th century BC, her worship proliferated through the Greek world, and in the same century she was introduced in Athens.Template:Sfn Upon the spread of her cult, she was identified with the Greek goddess Rhea, the mother of the first generation of Olympians, as well as other goddesses such as Gaia and Demeter;Template:Sfn she may have also been identified with an indigenous mother goddess.Template:Sfn In artistic depictions, she is found seated on a throne, accompanied by lions and holding a tambourine.Template:Sfn Her cult was officially introduced in Rome around the end of the 3rd century AD.Template:Sfn | |
| Isis Template:Lang |
An Egyptian goddess.Template:Sfn In Egyptian mythology, she was the wife of Osiris, and the mother of Horus.Template:Sfn She was known to the Greeks as early as the archaic period, and possessed a temple in Athens by the 4th century BC.Template:Sfn In the Graeco-Roman world, she was a goddess who presided over the family,Template:Sfn and was a healer and protective figure.Template:Sfn Herodotus equates her with Demeter.Template:Sfnm | |
| Men Template:Lang |
A deity from western Asia Minor.Template:Sfn He was a moon god, and his worship is most clearly documented in Lydia and Phrygia.Template:Sfn He is attested from the 4th century BC, with the earliest evidence in the Hellenistic period originating from Greece, particularly Attica.Template:Sfn In art, he is often found with crescent moons extending up from his shoulders, wearing a Phrygian cap and sleeved clothes, and holding a sceptre or rod.Template:Sfn | |
| Sabazios Template:Lang |
A god from Phrygia in Asia Minor.Template:Sfn His earliest literary attestion is from the 5th century BC,Template:Sfn and his worship in Attica is mentioned in the 4th century BC.Template:Sfn He was identified with Dionysus, and an Orphic myth of Dionysus's birth to Zeus and his daughter, Persephone, was linked with the mysteries of Sabazios.Template:Sfn In artistic depictions, he is portrayed as a bearded figure in Phrygian garb, or as having the iconography of Zeus-Jupiter; there also exist votive hands dedicated to him, which hold objects such as snakes or pine cones.Template:Sfn | |
| Serapis Template:Lang |
A god derived from the syncretic Egyptian figure Osiris-Apis.Template:Sfn This Egyptian antecedent had a cult in Memphis, where he was a sacred bull figure.Template:Sfn This cult was adapted by the Greeks into that of Serapis;Template:Sfn the first three Ptolemies had a Serapeum constructed in Alexandria,Template:Sfnm and Ptolemy I Soter was said to have brought to the city a statue of Pluto, which was given the name of Serapis.Template:Sfn The god was identified with Greeks deities such as Dionysus, Pluto, and Zeus,Template:Sfn and in art he was depicted wearing a calathus atop his head.Template:Sfn His worship propagated in the Mediterranean, and he possessed temples in Athens and Corinth.Template:Sfn |
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Early deities
[edit]The following section is structured after the chapter "1. The Early Gods" in Timothy Gantz's Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources.Template:Sfn
In antiquity, the Theogony (Template:Circa700 BC), a work by the Boeotian poet Hesiod, was considered the "standard mythical account" (according to Robin Hard) of the world's origins and earliest ages.Template:Sfn The poem details an extensive genealogy of the gods, from their origins, and describes the events which led to the current state of the cosmos, under the rule of Zeus.Template:Sfn The cosmogonic part of the work, which is fairly brief,Template:Sfn begins the account of this history.Template:Sfn Though Hesiod's poem is the only theogony which is extant in its entirety, during the archaic era (c. 800–480 BC) there existed similar works, ascribed to various legendary or historical writers such as Orpheus, Musaeus, Pherecydes, and Epimenides.Template:Sfn Of works outside the theogonic genre, Homeric epic only briefly references the world prior to Zeus's rule, and the 1st–2nd-century AD Bibliotheca of Apollodorus provides an account similar to Hesiod's.Template:Sfn
Primal elements
[edit]Hesiod's cosmogony begins with Chaos, who is followed by several similarly primal entities.Template:Sfn The poet then details two generations of descendants of Chaos.Template:Sfn Later in the poem, he continues his enumeration of her descendants, listing various dismal abstractions who descend from her daughter, Nyx (these figures are listed under Template:Section link).Template:Sfn Among these primordial figures of Hesiod's poem, deities such as Nyx, Aether, and Eros feature in a number of other early cosmogonies.Template:Sfn
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Aether (right)
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| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Aether | Personification of the brightness present in the upper sky.Template:Sfn In the Theogony, he is the offspring of Nyx and Erebus, and the brother of Hemera.Template:Sfnm He appears in a number of other early cosmogonies,Template:Sfn while in an Orphic theogony, he is produced by Chronos, alongside Chaos and Erebus.Template:Sfn |
| Chaos | The first being to exist in Hesiod's Theogony.Template:Sfnm The word means Template:Gloss or Template:Gloss, though the location of Chaos, or what it sits between, is not specified.Template:Sfn After Chaos there comes Gaia, Tartarus, and Eros, and from Chaos itself is born Erebus and Nyx.Template:Sfnm |
| Erebus | Personification of darkness.Template:Sfn In the Theogony, he is the offspring of Chaos, and the brother of Nyx, with whom he produces Aether and Hemera.Template:Sfn In an Orphic theogony, he is produced by Chronos.Template:Sfn The word is often also used to refer to the underworld.Template:Sfn |
| Eros | God of love.Template:Sfnm He is typically considered the son of Aphrodite,Template:Sfnm though in the Theogony he is among the earliest beings to exist.Template:Sfnm In other cosmogonies, he is similarly conceived of as a primordial figure, a depiction which can also be found in Orphic literature.Template:Sfn He is absent from Homeric epic, and lyric poets of the archaic era present him as a representation of the subjective experience of love.Template:Sfn He features as part of Aphrodite's retinue alongside figures such as Himeros and Pothos.Template:Sfnm In Thespiai, he was venerated in the form of a stone,Template:Sfn and in cult he typically appears alongside Aphrodite.Template:Sfn The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor.Template:Sfnm |
| Gaia | See Template:Section link. |
| Hemera | The personification and goddess of the day.Template:Sfn In the Theogony, she is the offspring of Nyx and Erebus, and the sister of Aether.Template:Sfn Hemera and Eos are frequently identified in later works.Template:Sfn |
| Nyx | The goddess and personification of the night.Template:Sfn In the Theogony, she the is offspring of Chaos, and the sister of Erebus, by whom she becomes the mother of Aether and Hemera.Template:Sfn Without the help of a father, she gives rise to a dismal brood of negative personifications.Template:Sfn She is said to live at the extremes of the earth or in the underworld, and to drive a horse-pulled chariot.Template:Sfn In the Iliad, even Zeus fears to upset her,Template:Sfn and she figures prominently in early cosmogonies.Template:Sfn In the oldest known Orphic theogonies, Nyx appears to have been the first deity,Template:Sfn while in the Orphic Rhapsodies she is a ruler who supplants Phanes.Template:Sfn |
| Tartarus | A region which sat far below the underworld,Template:Sfn and its personification.Template:Sfn In the Theogony, he is one of the first beings to come into existence, appearing after Gaia and prior to Eros.Template:Sfn By Gaia, he becomes the father of the monstrous offspring Typhon and (in later sources) Echidna.Template:Sfn |
Descendants of Gaia and Uranus
[edit]Aside from the progeny of Chaos, all the deities of Hesiod's poem, from this point on, descend from Gaia (or Earth).Template:Sfn On her own, she produces several figures who represent parts of the phyical world, including Uranus (or Sky) and Pontus (or Sea), both of whom subsequently mate with her.Template:Sfn Together with Uranus, she sits at the head of the family which eventually produces the Olympians;Template:Sfn their children include the twelve Titans (listed under Template:Section link), the youngest of whom, Cronus, castrates him.Template:Sfnm The resultant spilt blood and detached genitals produce further offspring, in time.Template:Sfnm
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Aphrodite | See Template:Section link. |
| Erinyes | Figures that punish those who commit serious offences, particularly against family members.Template:Sfn Their names are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone.Template:Sfn In the Theogony, they are produced from blood spilling onto the earth when Uranus is castrated by his son, Cronus;Template:Sfnm elsewhere they are offspring of Nyx.Template:Sfn They are said to be inhabitants of the underworld, and to be capable of cursing mortals, or driving them mad.Template:Sfn Erinys (the singular from of "Erinyes") was assimilated to Demeter in Arcadia, and was considered the mother of Arion by Poseidon.Template:Sfn The Roman counterparts of the Erinyes are the Furies.Template:Sfnm |
| Meliae | Considered by most scholars to be nymphs of ash trees.Template:Sfn According to the Hesiod, they are born from drops of blood which are spilt when Uranus's genitals are severed.Template:Sfn |
| Ourea | The mountains.Template:Sfnm In the Theogony, they are produced by Gaia without the aid of a father.Template:Sfn |
| Pontus | Personification of the sea.Template:Sfnm In the Theogony, he is the offspring of the Gaia, who produces him without a father.Template:Sfn By Gaia, he fathers Eurybia, Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, and Ceto.Template:Sfn |
| Uranus | Personification of the sky.Template:Sfnm He is the offspring of Gaia, who produces him without the help of a partner.Template:Sfn By Gaia, he fathers the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Hecatoncheires;Template:Sfn he imprisons his offspring within the earth, leading his Titan son Cronus to castrate him.Template:Sfn He hurls the severed genitals into the ocean, and the blood spilt onto the earth in time produces the Erinyes, Giants, and Meliae.Template:Sfn |
Descendants of Gaia and Pontus
[edit]The other lineage issuing from Gaia, the family she produces with Pontus, includes figures associated with the sea and an assortment of monsters.Template:Sfn
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A Nereid
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Winds | See Template:Section link. |
| Astraeus | Son of Crius and Eurybia.Template:Sfn He is the husband of Eos, by whom he becomes the father of the winds – Boreas, Zephyrus, and Notus – as well as the stars, including Eosphorus.Template:Sfnm |
| Ceto | Daughter of Gaia and Pontus.Template:Sfn She is the wife of the sea god Phorcys, by whom she produces a brood of monstrous creatures, including the Gorgons, the Graeae, and Echidna.Template:Sfn |
| Eosphorus | The morning star.Template:Sfn He is one of the children of Eos and Astraeus,Template:Sfn and his offspring across different sources include Stilbe, Philonis, and Leuconoe.Template:Sfn His Roman counterpart is Lucifer.Template:Sfn |
| Eurybia | Daughter of Gaia and Pontus.Template:Sfn She is the wife of the Titan Crius, by whom she becomes the mother of Astraeus, Pallas, and Perses.Template:Sfn |
| Hecate | See Template:Section link. |
| Iris | Messenger of the gods and the personification of the rainbow.Template:Sfn She is considered the daughter of Thaumas and Electra, and at times the wife of Zephyrus.Template:Sfn In the Iliad, as divine messenger she acts mostly upon the orders of Zeus, though she also acts independently in some instances;Template:Sfn in later works, she instead serves Hera.Template:Sfn She sometimes transforms into another figure during a task, and her epithets in the Iliad emphasise her swiftness.Template:Sfn In artistic depictions, she is commonly portrayed as a winged figure who carries a staff, and is often found accompanying more important deities.Template:Sfn |
| Nereus | A sea god, and son of Gaia and Pontus.Template:Sfn He is the husband of Doris, by whom he becomes the father of the fifty Nereids, who live with him beneath the sea.Template:Sfn He is one of the deities referred to as an "Old Man of the Sea", and is described as having prophetic abilities and being capable of shapeshifting.Template:Sfn He was said to battled the hero Heracles, changing himself into numerous forms during the struggle; this myth is a common subject in vase painting, with him having the tail of a fish in the earliest depictions, and having legs in later works.Template:Sfn |
| Nereids | Sea nymphs, who are the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris.Template:Sfnm Different enumerations of Nereids are given by different authors,Template:Sfn and only a handful – such as Thetis, Galateia, Amphitrite, and Psamathe – have any meaningful role in myth.Template:Sfn They live with their father at the bottom of the sea, and were said to partake in song and dance.Template:Sfn In art, they are often found riding marine animals, accompanying a sea deity such as Poseidon; from the 4th century BC, they can be found partially or fully naked, and are occasionally found with fishtails.Template:Sfn |
| Pallas | A Titan.Template:Sfnm In the Theogony he is the husband of Styx, and the father of Zelus, Nike, Kratos, and Bia.Template:Sfnm Elsewhere Eos is given as his daughter.Template:Sfn |
| Perses | Son of Crius and Eurybia.Template:Sfn With Asteria, he produces the goddess Hecate.Template:Sfn Hesiod states that he is exceptionally wise.Template:Sfn |
| Phorcys | An early sea god.Template:Sfnm He is most often considered the offspring of Gaia and Pontus.Template:Sfn His wife is Ceto, with whom he produces a series of monsters, such as the Gorgons, the Graeae, and Echidna.Template:Sfn He is referred to as an "Old Man of the Sea" in the Odyssey, and called the father of Thoosa;Template:Sfn figures elsewhere given as his offspring include the Sirens, the Hesperides, and Scylla.Template:Sfn |
| Thaumas | He is the offspring of Gaia and Pontus.Template:Sfn His wife is Electra, by whom he becomes the father of the goddess Iris and the Harpies.Template:Sfn |
The Titans and their descendants
[edit]The Titans, the twelve offspring of Uranus and Gaia, are the former gods, the generation who come before the Olympians.Template:Sfn The group consists of six members of each sex:Template:Sfn four male-female pairs are married couples,Template:Sfn with the remaining two male Titans marrying other goddesses, and the remaining two female Titans later coupling with Zeus.Template:Sfn Many of the Titans' descendants relate to the physical world and its ordering.Template:Sfn In sources after Hesiod, there is some disagreement as to the names of the twelve Titans,Template:Sfn and there are several figures described as Titans who exist beyond the original group of twelve.Template:Sfn
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Eos (winged)
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| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Asteria | Daughter of Coeus and Phoebe.Template:Sfn In the Theogony, she marries Perses, and the two give rise to Hecate.Template:Sfn It was said that when Zeus chased lustfully she ended up falling into sea, and was transformed into a quail; in the place she landed would rise the island, sometimes called Asteria, on which her sister Leto would later give birth.Template:Sfn |
| Atlas | The offspring of the Titan Iapetus and an Oceanid, either Clymene or Asia.Template:Sfnm He was said to stand at the edge of the earth (in the far west or far north), and hold up the sky;Template:Sfn the earliest sources for the punishment give no explicit reason as to why he was given this burden,Template:Sfn though later authors believed it was due to his role in the Titanomachy.Template:Sfn A story from the Metamorphoses tells that Perseus encounters Atlas and caused him to become a mountain, using the severed head of Medusa; it was also said that he was approached by Heracles, who tricked Atlas and stole the golden apples from the nearby garden of the Hesperides.Template:Sfn |
| Coeus | One of the Titans, children of Uranus and Gaia.Template:Sfn He marries Phoebe, with whom he produces Leto, the mother of Artemis and Apollo, and Asteria.Template:Sfn |
| Crius | One of the Titans, offspring of Uranus and Gaia.Template:Sfn His wife is Eurybia, by whom he becomes the father of Astraeus, Pallas, and Perses.Template:Sfn |
| Cronus | The youngest of the Titans, the offspring of Uranus and Gaia.Template:Sfn He was chief among the Titans, and was the ruler prior to Zeus.Template:Sfn He is said to have castrated his father with a sickle, overthrowing him, and becoming a tyrant; he swallows each child he has by his sister Rhea, until she hands him a stone to swallow in place of their final child, Zeus.Template:Sfn Once grown, Zeus forces Cronus to disgorge his other children, who side with Zeus in a battle against the Titans, with Cronus and his siblings being defeated and banished to Tartarus.Template:Sfn In Hesiod's Works and Days, Cronus's reign is contrastingly described as an idyllic age in which a golden race of humans lived.Template:Sfn He was honoured in the Kronia festival, which may have been associated with the harvest, and he possessed a temple in Olympia.Template:Sfn His Roman counterpart is Saturn.Template:Sfnm |
| Dione | A consort of Zeus in some sources.Template:Sfn In the Bibliotheca of Apollodorus, she is one of the Titans.Template:Sfn Homer places her as the mother of Aphrodite (presumably by Zeus), and in the Theogony she is listed as one of the Oceanids.Template:Sfn She was possibly the wife of Zeus prior to the Mycenaean era, by which point Hera existed in this role.Template:Sfn Dione was venerated as his consort at the oracle of Dodona, and the name "Dione" is a feminine version of "Zeus".Template:Sfn |
| Eos | Goddess of the dawn.Template:Sfnm She is the daughter of Hyperion and Theia.Template:Sfn WIth Astraeus, she produces the winds – Boreas, Zephyrus, and Notus – as well as the stars, including Eosphorus.Template:Sfn She is said to drive a chariot up from the horizon at the beginning of each day.Template:Sfn In myth, she steals away a number of young mortal men with amarous intent, as in the stories of Tithonus, Orion, and Cleitus; she lived with Tithonus, who Zeus granted immortality (but not eternal youth), and the couple produced two children – Emathion and Memnon – before Tithonus slowly began to deteriorate.Template:Sfn She is found in art from the 6th century BC, and is typically portrayed as a winged figure.Template:Sfn |
| Epimetheus | Son of Iapetus and Clymene or Asia.Template:Sfn His brother, Prometheus, cautions him to refuse all gifts from Zeus, but when the gods create Pandora, the first woman, and Zeus has her sent to Epimetheus, Prometheus's foolhardy brother accepts her; the two are married, and as a result she is brought among mortals, allowing her to unleash upon them the evils from her jar.Template:Sfn |
| Helios | See Template:Section link. |
| Hyperion | One of the Titans, the offspring of Uranus and Gaia.Template:Sfn His consort is Theia, by whom he becomes the father of Helios, Selene, and Eos.Template:Sfnm He was frequently equated with Helios, and Homer uses "Hyperion" as an epithet of the god.Template:Sfn |
| Iapetus | One of the Titan offspring of Uranus and Gaia.Template:Sfn In the Iliad, he is mentioned as a Titan who Zeus banishes to Tartarus.Template:Sfn In Hesiod's Theogony, he is the father Prometheus, Epimetheus, Atlas, and Menoetius, and the husband of Clymene, though other sources give his consort as Asia.Template:Sfn |
| Leto | See Template:Section link. |
| Menoetius | Son of Iapetus and either Clyemene or Asia.Template:Sfn Due to his hubris, he is struck with lightning by Zeus, and hurled down to Tartarus.Template:Sfn |
| Metis | One of the Oceanids, offspring of Oceanus and Tethys.Template:Sfn In the Theogony, she is the first goddess Zeus marries;Template:Sfn when he hears that she is destined to bear a child who will overthrow him, he swallows her.Template:Sfn Metis, pregnant with Athena, births her daughter inside Zeus, with her emerging from his head; Metis exists within him permanently, a position from which she provides him counsel.Template:Sfn In Apollodorus's account, she aids Zeus against his father, Cronus, by delivering the latter an emetic, which frees Zeus's siblings from his father's stomach.Template:Sfn |
| Mnemosyne | Personification of memory.Template:Sfnm She is the one of the Titan daughters of Uranus and Gaia.Template:Sfn In the Theogony, she lies with Zeus for nine consecutive nights, resulting in the birth of the nine Muses.Template:Sfn She had some existence in cult, and is known to have been venerated in conjunction with the Muses in particular.Template:Sfnm |
| Oceanids | Ocean nymphs, the 3000 female offspring of Oceanus and Tethys.Template:Sfnm The forty-one oldest Oceanids are enumerated in the Theogony, and other lists are given in later works.Template:Sfnm They are said to be protectors of the young,Template:Sfn and a group of them features in the retinue of Artemis, while others are mentioned as companions of Persephone before her abduction.Template:Sfn Individual Oceanids include Styx, Doris, Metis, and Peitho.Template:Sfnm |
| Oceanus | God of the river believed to encompass the earth and give rise to all other water bodies.Template:Sfn He is one of the Titans, the offspring of Gaia and Uranus.Template:Sfnm His wife is Tethys, by whom he is the father of the 3000 Oceanids and the 3000 river gods.Template:Sfn Homer appears to call him the forefather of the gods.Template:Sfnm A number of peoples and monsters were said to exist next to Oceanus, at the far extent of the world.Template:Sfn Artistic depictions portray him as being part human and part marine creature.Template:Sfn |
| Phoebe | A female Titan, one of the offspring of Uranus and Gaia.Template:Sfn Her husband is her brother Coeus, by whom she becomes the mother of Leto and Asteria,Template:Sfn and thereby the grandparent of Apollo and Artemis.Template:Sfn In some accounts, she is credited as the founder of the Delphic oracle, who passes it on to Apollo.Template:Sfn |
| Prometheus | See Template:Section link. |
| Rhea | One of the female Titans, daughters of Uranus and Gaia.Template:Sfn She was the wife of Cronus, and the mother of Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus.Template:Sfn Her husband swallows each child upon their birth, until Rhea hides away their final child, Zeus, instead delivering Cronus a stone to consume; once grown, Zeus wages war against Cronus, during which Rhea has Oceanus and Tethys look after Hera.Template:Sfn As early as the 5th century BC, Rhea was identified with Cybele.Template:Sfn |
| River gods | See Template:Section link. |
| Selene | Goddess and personification of the moon.Template:Sfnm In the Theogony, she is the offspring of Hyperion and Theia.Template:Sfn She is said to have fallen for the beautiful Endymion, who slept permanently, and the two produced fifty daughters.Template:Sfn She also has an affair with Pan, and births Pandia and Ersa to Zeus.Template:Sfn She is found in art from the early 5th century BC, and is depicted flying her horse-pulled (or oxen-pulled) chariot through the sky, though she can also be found on horseback.Template:Sfn |
| Styx | The goddess of the river Styx, the primary river of the underworld.Template:Sfn She is the oldest of the Oceanids, the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys,Template:Sfn and is the wife of Pallas, with whom she produces Zelus, Nike, Kratos, and Bia.Template:Sfn She aids Zeus and the younger gods in the Titanomachy, for which Zeus makes swearing upon her waters the highest oath of the gods.Template:Sfn She was said to reside in the underworld,Template:Sfn and the river said to encircle that realm.Template:Sfn |
| Tethys | One of the Titans, offspring of Uranus and Gaia.Template:Sfn She is the wife of her brother Oceanus, by whom she becomes the mother of the 3000 river gods and 3000 Oceanids.Template:Sfn In the Iliad, she and her husband are mentioned as progenitors of the gods.Template:Sfn During Zeus's battle against the Titans, Hera is sent to stay in the abode of Oceanus and Tethys at the far extremes of the earth; the couple, who had become alienated, were brought together again by Hera.Template:Sfnm |
| Theia | One of the female Titans, offspring of Uranus and Gaia.Template:Sfn She is the wife of Hyperion, by whom she becomes the mother of Helios, Selene, and Eos.Template:Sfn |
| Themis | One of the Titans, a daughter of Uranus and Gaia.Template:Sfn Hesiod names her as the second goddess married by Zeus, with their union producing the three Horae and three Moirai.Template:Sfn She is the goddess who presides over "sacred ancient law",Template:Sfn and is the figure who provides counsel to Zeus.Template:Sfn Aeschylus names her as the mother of Prometheus, and equates her with Gaia.Template:Sfn She possessed the power of prophecy, and delivers oracles (including that which stops Zeus from wedding Thetis); she is also said to been an owner of the Delphic oracle prior to Apollo.Template:Sfn She was worshipped in a number of locations, including at Rhamnous, where she was venerated in conjunction with Nemesis.Template:Sfn |
Groups of divinities and nature spirits
[edit]The following section is based upon the chapter "6. Lesser deities and nature-spirits" in Robin Hard's Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology, and the section "Minor Divinities" in Timothy Gantz's Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources.Template:Refn
Among the various minor deities are divine groups such as the Muses or Horae.Template:Sfn These sorts of divinities are referred to under a collective name, and appear in one another's company.Template:Sfn The members of these groups, who are sometimes individually named, are consistently of one sex, and are around the same age as one another,Template:Sfn though their number often differs by source, as do their names.Template:Sfn These divinities often feature in the retinue of major deities, or they are otherwise said to accompany such deities; the satyrs and maenads, for example, are among the companions of Dionysus, and the dancing Kouretes surround the infant Zeus.Template:Sfn In some cases, these divine groups reflect the existence of real-world religious associations.Template:Sfn
The various nature spirits, such as the nymphs and satyrs, are inhabitants of different parts of the landscape, and fall somewhere between gods and humans.Template:Sfn There was, for example, disagreement in antiquity as to the mortality of nymphs (who were sometimes described as goddesses), though it was seen as evident that they lived long enough to be virtually immortal by human standards.Template:Sfn Similarly, whether or not satyrs were immortal seems to have been uncertain in ancient times.Template:Sfn
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| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Cabeiri | See Template:Section link. |
| Charites | See Template:Section link. |
| Dactyls | Figures described as companions of Rhea (or at times Cybele) whose name translates as 'fingers'.Template:Sfn In the Phoronis, they are three in number, and are companions of Adrasteia who originate from Ida.Template:Sfn Elsewhere they are more numerous, with other souces describing them as ten or 100 in number.Template:Sfnm They are variously described as metal-workers or magicians,Template:Sfn and are at times equated with the Kouretes and considered protectors of the young Zeus.Template:Sfn |
| Horae | The Seasons,Template:Sfn daughters of Zeus and Themis.Template:Sfn They are three or four in number,Template:Sfn with Hesiod naming them as Eunomia, Dike, and Eirene;Template:Sfn in Athens, they instead called Thallo, Auxo, and Carpo.Template:Sfnm They are connected with plant life, and with order,Template:Sfn and Homer states that they stand guard outside the entrance to Olympus.Template:Sfn There is attestion of a cult belonging to the Horae, including a sanctuary in Attica; in art, it is often impossible to tell them apart from the nymphs and Charites.Template:Sfn |
| Korybantes | Figures who accompany Cybele.Template:Sfn They were commonly equated with the Kouretes, and are similarly described as dancers who clang their spears upon their shields.Template:Sfn They are ascribed numerous parentages in different sources, with Apollo or Rhea frequently being named as one of their parents.Template:Sfn |
| Kouretes | Figures who protect the young Zeus, by producing a din with their spears and shields, so that the child's crying cannot be heard by his father, Cronus.Template:Sfn When their number is specified, it is at times given as two or nine.Template:Sfn The location in which they protect Zeus is usually said to be Mount Dicte in Crete, though sometimes it is given as Mount Ida.Template:Sfn A fragment of Hesiod calls them offspring of the daughters of Dorus,Template:Sfn and they were often conflated with the Korybantes.Template:Sfn Their cult was spread across Crete, and existed in locations such as Olympia, Ephesus, and Messenia, with the island of Thera being an early location of worship.Template:Sfn |
| Maenads | Female figures in the retinue of Dionysus, who followed him in his travels.Template:Sfn Artistic depictions portray them as nude or scantily clad women, shown holding thyrsi or kantharoi, or musical instruments such as flutes or tambourines.Template:Sfn The nymphs who nursed the young Dionsyus were said to have become the first Maenads.Template:Sfn The term is also used to refer to the historical women who took inspiration from the mythical Maenads.Template:Sfn |
| Muses | See Template:Section link. |
| Nymphs | Female divinities connected with nature, and conceived of as human women.Template:Sfn There are a number of types of nymphs, some of which are connected to certain habitats – such as the dryads (tree nymphs), Oreads (mountain nymphs), or Meliae (ash tree nymphs) – while others are of a specific parentage, such as with the Nereids (daughters of Nereus) or Oceanids (daughters of Oceanus).Template:Sfn They are mortal, and are typically found in groups, with nymphs frequently being included as part of a nature-dwelling god's retinue.Template:Sfn Their cult is attested by the time of Homer, and their worship was connected with caves in particular, and with the veneration of the river gods.Template:Sfn The term was sometimes used more generally to refer to young women.Template:Sfn |
| Satyrs | Male figures who live in the wilderness.Template:Sfn They are first found around the start of the 6th century BC, and are among the figures in Dionysus's retinue.Template:Sfn They are depicted as part-human and part-animal, ithyphallic, and tailed;Template:Sfn while early representations show them with horse-like features, they gradually become closer to humans, before becoming more goat-like during the Hellenistic era.Template:Sfn They are generally shown as nude, bald, and snub-nosed, with their equine features extending to their ears and tail, as well (less often) their feet.Template:Sfnm They are first mentioned in literature in a fragment of Hesiod, which calls them offspring of daughters of Dorus, as well as "worthless" and "good-for-nothing".Template:Sfn In myth, they are often found lusting after nymphs.Template:Sfn Their Roman counterparts are the fauns.Template:Sfnm |
| Silenoi | Companions of Dionysus, who live in the wild.Template:Sfn They are first mentioned in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, where they are said to be sexual partners of the mountain nymphs.Template:Sfn In art, they seem to be identical in appearance to the satyrs;Template:Sfn they are perhaps the same figures as the satyrs, though they may have initially been separate.Template:Sfn |
| Telchines | Magical figures from the island of Rhodes.Template:Sfn They were believed to be the original inhabitants of a number of islands in the Aegean Sea, especially Rhodes.Template:Sfn They are said to be magicians and shapeshifters, and in art are portrayed as amphibious creatures who are part-fish or part-snake.Template:Sfn They were sometimes said to have invented metal-working, and different authors credit them with the creation of objects such as the Trident of Poseidon, or the sickle of Cronus.Template:Sfnm |
| Thriae | Prophetesses who are be offspring of Zeus.Template:Sfn They are nymphs belonging to Mount Parnassus, and are three in number; they are said to among the first to practice divination, doing so through the use of pebbles.Template:Sfn |
Abstract personifications
[edit]Note that abstract personifications listed in previous sections are excluded here.
The Greeks often personified abstract concepts and represented them as deities; these concepts could range from emotions such as love or fear, to forces such as persuasion, luck or longing, and to states such as night, victory, or death.Template:Sfn The sex of the resulting deity was dictated by the gender of the personified noun.Template:Sfn Such personifications are first attested in Greece in the 8th century BC, with the emergence of epic poetry.Template:Sfn In this genre, they are portrayed as anthropomorphic, and feature in roles which connect them to other deities of the pantheon, and to other personifications.Template:Sfn They sometimes appear in the retinues of major gods – for example, Eros and Himeros are companions of Aphrodite – and they commonly appear, genealogically linked to one another, in cosmogonies – for example, in the Theogony, the descendants of Nyx (Night) include Thanatos (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), Eris (Strife), and various others.Template:Sfn
Although personifications originated in poetry,Template:Sfn some of those who were more developed in literature were also represented in ancient art.Template:Sfn The earliest known depiction of personifications in art is the Chest of Cypselus (Template:Circa600 BC), which was followed by representations in 6th-century BC vase painting.Template:Sfn Various personified figures from epic poetry later developed cults, the earliest of which are attested by the 6th century BC; by the 4th century BC, there was worship of personifications who had no connection to the epic tradition.Template:Sfn Two goddesses, Nemesis and Themis, were even the dedicatees of a sanctuary in Rhamnous.Template:Sfn
| Name | Personified concept | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Achlys | Misery, sadnessTemplate:Sfn | In the Shield of Heracles, she is one of the figures pictured on Heracles' shield. Her Latin counterpart, Caligo, is a said to be the parent of Chaos and Nox in the Fabulae.Template:Sfn |
| Adephagia | SatietyTemplate:Sfn | Demeter Adephagia was the subject of a temple in Sicily.Template:Sfn |
| Adikia | InjusticeTemplate:Sfn | Her earliest attestation is a representation on the Chest of Cypselus, mentioned by Pausanias, showing her being pummeled by Dike.Template:Sfn The pair are also depicted on two Attic vases from the 6th century BC; Adikia is portrayed as an ugly figure in art, and is shown with spots in one depiction.Template:Sfn |
| Agon | Athletic contestsTemplate:Sfn | There existed a statue of him at Olympia.Template:Sfn |
| Aidos | Shame or modestyTemplate:Sfn | She is mentioned in the Works and Days, and Sophocles states she is able to see all actions that are taken.Template:Sfn In Plato's story of Protagoras, Aidos approaches humankind alongisde Dike, who is sent by Zeus.Template:Sfn |
| Aion | Eternal time.Template:Sfn | Euripides calls Chronos his father, and he is mentioned in the proem of the Orphic Hymns, though he is otherwise absent from Orphic literature. In Nonnus's Dionysiaca, he is an old man who advises Zeus.Template:Sfn |
| Alala | The war cryTemplate:Sfn | According to Pindar, she is the daughter of Polemos.Template:Sfn |
| Alastor | The curse of generational guiltTemplate:Sfn | He features in tragedy, and is described as the figure who enacts vengeance for wicked actions, though for Aeschylus he is a daimon who is pernicious in nature, but unassociated with vengeance.Template:Sfn |
| Aletheia | TruthTemplate:Sfn | She was said to the offspring of Zeus, and to have nurtured Apollo during his childhood.Template:Sfn |
| Algea | PainsTemplate:Sfn | They are daughters of Eris.Template:Sfn |
| Alke | Battle strengthTemplate:Sfn | In the Iliad, she is depicted on the aegis.Template:Sfn |
| Amechania | ImpossibilityTemplate:Sfn | One of the gods belonging to the people of Andros according to Herodotus.Template:Sfn |
| Amphilogiai | Verbal exchangesTemplate:Sfn | They are offspring of Eris.Template:Sfn |
| Anaideia | ShamelessnesTemplate:Sfn | Different authors mention an altar or sanctuary dedicated to Anaideia in Athens.Template:Sfn |
| Ananke | Necessity or compulsionTemplate:Sfn | She is first attested as a cosmic goddess in the 5th century BC, appearing in the works of Parmenides, Simonides, and Empedocles.Template:Sfn In the Hieronyman Theogony, attributed to Orpheus, she produces Aether, Chaos, and Erebus by Chronos.Template:Sfn In the Hellenistic period, she is identified with Adrasteia.Template:Sfn In Plato's Republic, she is the mother of the Moirai.Template:Sfn |
| Androktasiai | Slaughter of men during warTemplate:Sfn | They are offspring of Eris in the Theogony.Template:Sfn |
| Angelia | ReportTemplate:Sfn | According to Pindar, she is the daughter of Hermes.Template:Sfn |
| Anteros | Requited loveTemplate:Sfn | He was said to punish those who do not reciprocate love.Template:Sfn He possessed an altar in Athens nearby to the Acropolis, and was depicted alongside Eros in a relief that existed in Elis.Template:Sfn |
| Apate | DeceitTemplate:Sfn | In Hesiod's Theogony, she is of the offspring of Nyx.Template:Sfn In an Orphic fragment, she and Zelus receive Aphrodite after her birth from the sea, and in the Dionysiaca she possesses a girdle that contains all forms of deceit.Template:Sfn |
| Apheleia | Simplicity, "the good old days"Template:Sfn | Eustathius calls her the nurse of Athena.Template:Sfn |
| Ara | The curseTemplate:Sfn | Aeschylus identifies her with Erinys.Template:Sfn |
| Arete | GoodnessTemplate:Sfn | She appears in a 5th-century BC allegory by Prodicus, in which Heracles must choose either Arete or Kakia (the personification of vice).Template:Sfn There existed a giant statue of her by Euphranor, and in a late genealogy she is the offspring of Praxidike and Zeus Soter.Template:Sfn |
| Astrape | The lightning boltTemplate:Sfn | She was present on several lost works of art, including a painting by Apelles and a depiction of Semele's death; in representations, he is connected with Bronte.Template:Sfn |
| Ate | DelusionTemplate:Sfn | She is said to have deceived Zeus, and then been hurled down from Olympus by him as punishment; she landed on a hill in Phrygia, in the location in which Troy would later be founded.Template:Sfn In the Iliad she is the daughter of Zeus, while in the Theogony she is one of the offspring of Eris.Template:Sfn |
| Bia | ViolenceTemplate:Sfn | She is the offspring of Pallas and Styx, and alongside her siblings – Kratos, Nike, and Zelus – she is said to live on Mount Olympus, where she serves Zeus.Template:Sfn According to Aeschylus, she helps Hephaestus attach Prometheus to a rock after his deception of Zeus.Template:Sfn |
| Bronte | ThunderTemplate:Sfn | She appears in the proem of the Orphic Hymns, and is at times found alongside Sterope and Astrape.Template:Sfn She was represented in several works of Greek and Roman art, including a painting by Apelles.Template:Sfn |
| Caerus | The "opportune moment"Template:Sfn | He is attested from the 5th century BC, with him being called the son of Zeus, and he was worshipped at Olympia. In art, he is depicted as a winged figure with a tuffet of hair on the front of his head.Template:Sfn |
| Chronos | TimeTemplate:Sfn | In the cosmogony of Pherecydes of Syros he is a primeval figure, and he is a significant figure in Orphic theogonies.Template:Sfn In the Hieronyman Theogony, attributed to Orpheus, he is a winged, serpentine figure with the heads of a lion and bull;Template:Sfn in the same work he produces Aether, Chaos, and Erebus with Ananke.Template:Sfn Later sources sometimes conflate him with the Titan Cronus.Template:Sfn |
| Corus | SurfeitTemplate:Sfn | He is the offspring of Hybris.Template:Sfn |
| Deimos | FearTemplate:Sfn | Hesiod calls him the son of Ares and Aphrodite, and in the Iliad he is a companion of Ares alongside his brother, Phobos.Template:Sfn According to the Aspis, the two are his charioteers.Template:Sfn |
| Dike | JusticeTemplate:Sfnm | In the Theogony, she is one of the three Horae, offspring of Zeus and Themis.Template:Sfn She is intimately connected with Zeus, and is sometimes said to sit next to his throne, acting as his delegate and keeping a record of sinful actions for him.Template:Sfn She was depicted on the Chest of Cypselus as a beautiful figure, who strangles the ugly Adikia.Template:Sfn Hesychia is said to be her daughter, and Poena her assistant.Template:Sfn |
| Dysnomia | LawlessnessTemplate:Sfn | In the Theogony, she is one of the offspring of Eris.Template:Sfn |
| Eirene | PeaceTemplate:Sfnm | Hesiod lists her among the three Horae, offspring of Zeus and Themis.Template:Sfn There existed a cult to her in Athens from the 4th century BC, and she is depicted on vases from Attica; several of her cults are attested during the Hellenistic period.Template:Sfn |
| Eleos | CompassionTemplate:Sfn | There existed an altar honouring him in Athens.Template:Sfn |
| Eleutheria | FreedomTemplate:Sfn | She is said to be the daughter of Zeus, and is also called an attendant of Aletheia. She appears on a number of coins.Template:Sfn |
| Elpis | HopeTemplate:Sfn | In Hesiod's Works and Days, she is the only personification who stays inside in Pandora's jar when she opens, releasing the evils contained therein upon humanity.Template:Sfn |
| Eris | StrifeTemplate:Sfnm | In the Theogony she is among the gloomy offspring of Nyx, while in the Iliad she is Ares' sister.Template:Sfn In the Works and Days, there are two figures named Eris, one the daughter of Nyx and another less negative in nature.Template:Sfn She is said to have indirectly led to the start of the Trojan War by tossing a golden apple into the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, causing the Judgement of Paris.Template:Sfn |
| Ersa | DewTemplate:Sfn | According to Alcman, she is the daughter of Zeus and Selene.Template:Sfn |
| Eucleia | Glory from a day of fightingTemplate:Sfn | There existed a sanctuary in Athens in honour of both her and Eunomia.Template:Sfn According to Plutarch, her parents were sometimes considered to be Heracles and Myrto, though she was also conflated with Artemis by some.Template:Sfn She is found alongside Eunomia on vases from the 5th century BC.Template:Sfn |
| Eulabeia | CautionTemplate:Sfnm | In Euripides' Phoenician Women, Eteocles asks her to save Thebes.Template:Sfn |
| Eunomia | Good orderTemplate:Sfnm | In Hesiod's Theogony, she is one of the three Horae, daughters of Zeus and Themis.Template:Sfn She was considered a protector of peace, and during the 5th century BC her name was used in politics.Template:Sfn She is represented in 5th-century BC vase paintings alongside Eucleia, and she possessed a cult in Athens.Template:Sfn |
| Eupraxia | SuccessTemplate:Sfn | According to Aeschylus's Seven Against Thebes, she is the daughter of Peitharchia.Template:Sfn |
| Eusebeia | PietyTemplate:Sfn | She is the mother of Dike in Orphic literature, and is mentioned in the proem of the Orphic Hymns. A figure with this name is depicted on a number of Alexandrian coins.Template:Sfn |
| Gelos | LaughterTemplate:Sfn | Plutarch mentions a Spartan sanctuary in his honour, and Apuleius states that he was worshipped in the city of Hypata.Template:Sfn |
| Geras | Old ageTemplate:Sfnm | In the Theogony, he is among the offspring of Nyx, and in a late tale he helps Sisyphus escape the underworld.Template:Sfn He is said to have fought Heracles, and to live on Olympus.Template:Sfn |
| Hedone | Desire, joy, pleasureTemplate:Sfn | She appears as an allegorical personification in words of Greek philosophy. Apuleius names her parents as Cupid and Psyche.Template:Sfn |
| Heimarmene | FateTemplate:Sfn | She is depicted on a 5th-century BC vase by the Heimarmene Painter.Template:Sfn |
| Himeros | Affectionate longingTemplate:Sfn | In the Theogony, he, alongisde Eros, accompanies Aphrodite after she is born from the sea, and he resides on Olympus.Template:Sfn In art, Himeros is identical in appearance to Eros.Template:Sfnm |
| Homados | TumultTemplate:Sfn | In Hesiod's Shield of Heracles, he is depicted on Heracles' shield.Template:Sfn |
| Homonoia | Concord, unanimity, oneness of mindTemplate:Sfn | She is known from the 4th century BC onwards, with there being early evidence of her cult in Olympia, Athens, and elsewhere.Template:Sfn According to Mnaseas, her parents are Zeus Soter and Praxidike.Template:Sfn She is represented on several Greek coins and a vase.Template:Sfn |
| Horkos | Curse resulting from swearing a false oathTemplate:Sfn | In the Theogony, Hesiod places her among the offspring of Eris, and in the Works and Days he writes that the Erinyes helped with his birth.Template:Sfn According to Sophocles, he is Zeus's son.Template:Sfn |
| Horme | Energetic activityTemplate:Sfn | Pausanias mentions an altar to her in the agora of Athens.Template:Sfn |
| Hybris | Lack of restrain, insolenceTemplate:Sfn | In one version of Pan's parentage, she is his mother by Zeus.Template:Sfn |
| Hygieia | HealthTemplate:Sfn | She was considered the child of Asclepius.Template:Sfn From the beginning of the 4th century BC, she became the most prominent family member in her father's cult, and was present in sanctuaries dedicated to him. Sometimes, she was instead considered his wife.Template:Sfn |
| Hypnos | SleepTemplate:Sfn | According to Hesiod, he is among the offspring of Nyx, and lives beside his brother Thanatos at the furthest reaches of the earth.Template:Sfn In the Iliad, he and Thanatos carry the deceased Sarpedon to Lycia, an episode that appears on vase paintings.Template:Sfn Elsewhere in the work, Hera requests he lull Zeus to sleep, and Hypnos protests that after a previous attempt to do so he had to escape Zeus's wrath; she persuades him by offering Pasithea in marriage.Template:Sfnm In art, he is typically a young, winged figure, and alongside Thanatos he is depicted on the Chest of Cypselus.Template:Sfn |
| Hysminai | CombatTemplate:Sfnm | In the Theogony, they are offspring of Eris, and Quintus Smyrnaeus names them among the personifications found on Achilles' shield.Template:Sfn |
| Ioke | PursuitTemplate:Sfn | In the Iliad, she is among the personifications depicted on the aegis.Template:Sfn |
| Kakia | ViceTemplate:Sfn | In an allegory by the philosopher Prodicus, Heracles must choose either Arete (the personification of goodness) or Kakia, the latter of whom tells the hero she is also called Eudaimonia. She is also found in works by Athenian orators.Template:Sfn |
| Keres | Inevitability of deathTemplate:Sfn | Female figures who, according to Hesiod, are daughters of Nyx who wear blood-covered clothing. In the Iliad, they are said to cause disaster, and to steal human bodies and take them into the underworld, before consuming them.Template:Sfn In sources of the classical period, they can be conflated with similar figures such as the Moirai.Template:Sfn |
| Kratos | PowerTemplate:Sfn | In the Theogony, he is among the offspring of Pallas and Styx, and is the brother of Bia.Template:Sfn Alongside his siblings, he accompanies Zeus, and in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound he and Bia urge Hephaestus to fasten Prometheus to a rock.Template:Sfn |
| Kydoimos | Tumult of battleTemplate:Sfn | In the Iliad, he is found on the shield of Achilles.Template:Sfn |
| Lethe | OblivionTemplate:Sfn | She is among the offspring of Eris, and was sometimes said to be the mother of Dionysus or the Charites.Template:Sfn Lethe, the underworld river, received its name from her.Template:Sfn |
| Limos | HungerTemplate:Sfn | She one of the offspring of Eris.Template:Sfn |
| Litae | Prayers of contritionTemplate:Sfn | In the Iliad, they are daughters of Zeus and are said to answer prayers which display sufficient respect.Template:Sfn |
| Lyssa | Rage, frenzy, and madnessTemplate:Sfn | She is first attested in 5th-century BC tragedy, appearing in Euripides as a daughter of Nyx and drives Heracles to insanity, causing him to murder his family.Template:Sfn He also describes her as a huntress who drives a chariot, and has snakes surrounding her face. In Aeschylus, she brings madness upon the Minyades, who dismember someone as a result.Template:Sfn |
| Machai | WarsTemplate:Sfn | In the Theogony, they are daughters of Eris.Template:Sfnm |
| Maniae | MadnessTemplate:Sfn | They were worshipped in Maniae, close to Megalopolis. Mania (the singular form of Maniae) is depicted on an Italian vase.Template:Sfn |
| Methe | DrunkennessTemplate:Sfn | She is companion of Dionysus, and is represented in art. According to Nonnus, she is the mother of Botrys by Staphylus, the king of Assyria.Template:Sfn |
| Momus | Fault-findingTemplate:Sfn | In the Cypria, Zeus intends to eradicate humanity with flooding and lightning, until Momus suggests instead starting a devastating war, leading to the beginning of the Trojan War.Template:Sfn Hesiod includes him among the children of Nyx.Template:Sfn |
| Moros | DestinyTemplate:Sfn | In the Theogony, he is one of Nyx's offspring.Template:Sfn |
| Neikea | QuarrelsTemplate:Sfnm | According to Hesiod, Neikea is one of Nyx's children.Template:Sfnm |
| Nemesis | RetributionTemplate:Sfnm | She is said to have been the daughter of Nyx, and the mother of Helen by Zeus.Template:Sfn In the Cypria, this child is born from Zeus violating her while disguised as a swan, following a chase in which she attempts to escape by transforming herself multiple times.Template:Sfn She is said to punish those who display hubris or engage in misconduct, and is often equated with Adrasteia.Template:Sfn In the 5th century BC, there was a temple to her in Rhamnous, where her cult image is said to have been created.Template:Sfn |
| Nike | VictoryTemplate:Sfnm | In the Theogony, she is the child of Pallas and Styx, and is said to always accompany Zeus.Template:Sfn There is evidence of her worship in Magna Graecia, and in Elis from the 6th century BC; she also possessed an altar in Olympia.Template:Sfn In Athens, she was intimately linked with Athena, who was sometimes called Nike.Template:Sfn In art, she is depicted as a winged figure in mid-flight, wearing draped clothing; one of her best-known representations is the Winged Victory of Samothrace.Template:Sfn |
| Nomos | LawTemplate:Sfn | He is first mentioned by Pindar, and is found in works by philosphers. He appears in Orphic literature as the father of Dike or Dikaiosyne, and is addressed in the Orphic Hymns.Template:Sfn |
| Oizys | Pain or distressTemplate:Sfn | According to Hesiod, she is one of the offspring of Nyx.Template:Sfnm |
| Oneiroi | DreamsTemplate:Sfn | Hesiod lists them among the offspring of Nyx, while in the Odyssey they live at the western extremes of the earth. In the Iliad, an individual Oneiros is used by Zeus in his deception of Agamemnon.Template:Sfn |
| Palaestra | Wrestling.Template:Sfn | She is a lover of Hermes, and her father is sometimes named Choricus or Pandocus.Template:Sfn |
| Palioxis | RallyTemplate:Sfn | In Hesiod's Shield of Heracles, she is depicted on Heracles' shield.Template:Sfn |
| Peitharchia | ObedienceTemplate:Sfn | According to Aechylus, her daughter is Eupraxia and her husband Soter.Template:Sfn |
| Peitho | PersuasionTemplate:Sfnm | She is typically found as part of Aphrodite's retinue,Template:Sfn and she is sometimes called the daughter of that goddess.Template:Sfn In Hesiod's Works and Days, she outfits Pandora with gold jewellry. There is evidence of her cult in Athens, and on Thasos as early as the 5th century BC.Template:Sfn |
| Penia | PovertyTemplate:Sfnm | In Plato's Symposium, she is the wife of Porus, by whom she becomes the mother of Eros.Template:Sfn |
| Penthus | GriefTemplate:Sfn | According to Pseudo-Plutarch, he was not present when Zeus conferred spheres of influence upon the gods, so he was given dominion over honours for (and the mourning of) the dead, the only area which was untaken.Template:Sfn |
| Pheme | Rumour or reportTemplate:Sfn | According to Pausanias, there was an altar to her in Athens.Template:Sfn |
| Philotes | AffectionTemplate:Sfn | In the Theogony, she is one of Nyx's offspring.Template:Sfn |
| Phobos | FearTemplate:Sfn | According to Hesiod, he is the son of Ares and Aphrodite, and the brother of Deimos.Template:Sfn Alongside his brother, he is said to accompany his father, and to enter into battle in Ares' chariot.Template:Sfn He was worshipped in Sparta.Template:Sfn |
| Phonoi | KillingsTemplate:Sfn | In the Theogony, they are offspring of Eris.Template:Sfnm |
| Phthonus | EnvyTemplate:Sfn | According to Callimachus, he tries to cause envy within Apollo, and in Nonnus's Dionysiaca he concocts a plan to make Hera envious of Semele, leading eventually to the latter's deception. He also appears on a vase from the 4th-century BC.Template:Sfn |
| Plutus | WealthTemplate:Sfn | According to Hesiod, he is born to Demeter and Iasion (a mortal), who lay with one another in Crete.Template:Sfn He was of importance in the Eleusinian Mysteries, and he appears alongside Demeter and Persephone in works of art.Template:Sfn He initially personifies agricultural wealth, while in later times his domain broadens to wealth in general. Aristophanes portrays him as blind and elderly.Template:Sfn |
| Poine | Vengeance or punishmentTemplate:Sfn | She is found alongside the Erinyes, with whom she is assimilated at times.Template:Sfn |
| Polemos | WarTemplate:Sfn | Pindar calls him the father of Alala, while other sources make him the brother of Enyo or a companion of Ares. He also features in a story from Aristophanes' Peace, where he detains Eirene in a cave.Template:Sfn |
| Ponos | Toil and stressTemplate:Sfn | Hesiod lists him among the children of Eris, though elsewhere he is the son of Nyx and Erebus.Template:Sfn |
| Porus | ExpediencyTemplate:Sfn | He is said to be the father of Eros, the husband of Penia, and the son of Metis.Template:Sfn |
| Pothos | Erotic desireTemplate:Sfn | He is part of Aphrodite's retinue, and is sometimes said to be her son, or the son of Eros.Template:Sfn On vases, he is depicted as a young, winged boy, identical to other figures in Aphrodite's retinue such as Eros and Himeros.Template:Sfn |
| Proioxis | PursuitTemplate:Sfn | In Hesiod's Shield of Heracles, she is one of the figures represented on the shield of Heracles.Template:Sfn |
| Prophasis | ExcuseTemplate:Sfn | According to Pindar, she is the daughter of Epimetheus.Template:Sfn |
| Soteria | Physical well-beingTemplate:Sfn | There is evidence of her wosrhip in the Peloponnese.Template:Sfn |
| Sophrosyne | Prudence and moderationTemplate:Sfn | She is first mentioned by Theognis, and possessed a cult in Asia Minor.Template:Sfn |
| Telete | Dionysiac rites, especially choral dancesTemplate:Sfn | In Nonnus's Dionysiaca, she is the daughter of Dionsyus and Nicaea, a nymph.Template:Sfnm |
| Thalassa | SeaTemplate:Sfn | Ion of Chios calls her the mother of Briareus, one of the Hecatoncheires.Template:Sfn She is addressed in one of the Orphic Hymns, where she is identified with Tethys.Template:Sfn |
| Thanatos | DeathTemplate:Sfnm | The Iliad calls him the brother of Hypnos, and in the Theogony the two are children of Nyx.Template:Sfn He and his brother are said to carry Sarpedon's corpse to Lycia, a subject found in Attic vase painting as early as the 6th century BC. In early artistic representations he is a winged boy, while in later depictions he has a beard and a hooked nose.Template:Sfn In Euripides' Alcestis, there is a fight between him and Heracles.Template:Sfn |
| Tyche | Luck or fortuneTemplate:Sfn | In the Theogony she is one of the Oceanids, while for Pindar she is the child of Zeus.Template:Sfn She is absent from mythological stories, and is not a clearly definable figure.Template:Sfn Her cult is attested from the 4th century BC, and she was identified with other godesses such as Isis and Cybele.Template:Sfn Her iconographic attributes include the cornucopia and the rudder.Template:Sfn |
| Zelus | EnvyTemplate:Sfn | In Hesiod's Theogony, he is one of the children of Pallas and Styx.Template:Sfn |
Other deities
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| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Aceso | Daughter of Asclepius and Epione.Template:Sfn She was worshipped in certain locations.Template:Sfn |
| Acheron | Offspring of Gaia, and the father of Ascalaphus by Orphne or Gorgyra. Shades journey across the Acheron river when entering the underworld; it is said that Acheron was forced to live underground after permitting the Giants to drink from his stream.Template:Sfn |
| Agathos Daimon | Template:Gloss. He was the recipient of the first offering when wine was being drunk. He is absent from mythological stories,Template:Sfn and was the subject of worship, particularly in a private context. He was sometimes depicted in the guise of Zeus.Template:Sfn |
| Agdistis | A hermaphroditic deity.Template:Sfn In a tale from Pessinus, she is born from the earth where some of Zeus's seed falls. Her male genitals are severed, and a boy, Attis, is born to a woman named Nana who is made pregnant by an almond tree growing from where the genitals landed. Attis grows into a beautiful young man, and Agdistis (here equated with Cybele) becomes enamoured with him, and eventually causes Attis to castrate himself and die in the process.Template:Sfnm |
| Amphitrite | A sea goddess.Template:Sfn She is a Nereid, and the consort of Poseidon, with whom she lives in a palace under the sea.Template:Sfn Before their marriage, Poseidon is sometimes said to have kidnapped her, or searched for her after she rejects his advances and escapes.Template:Sfn The couple are the parents of Triton according to Hesiod, with later sources adding further children.Template:Sfn She was worshipped alongside her husband in Cyclades, and there was sanctuary to the pair on Tenos.Template:Sfn |
| Angelos | A daughter of Zeus and Hera. Sophron relates that she is raised by nymphs, and is later sanctified by the Cabeiri, before taking on a role relating to the underworld.Template:Sfn |
| Anytos | A Titan. It was thought that he raised the goddess Despoina.Template:Sfn |
| Aphaia | A goddess to whom a temple on the island of Aegina was dedicated. Evidence from the temple implies she was associated with pregnancy and newly born children.Template:Sfn |
| Aristaeus | A god associated with a number of rustic activities.Template:Sfn He is born to Apollo and the princess Cyrene, after the god kidnaps her and transports her to Libya.Template:Sfn Different sources attribute to him different teachers or nurturers, from whom he learns skills such as prophecy and healing, as well as agrarian pursuits such as beekeeping and olive-growing.Template:Sfn He marries Autonoe, by whom he fathers the hunter Actaeon.Template:Sfn In one story, he accidentally causes the death of Eurydice, and his bees are killed as punishment.Template:Sfn |
| Arke | Daughter of Thaumas, and sister of Iris. In the Titanomachy, she supports the Titans, and once the Olympian gods are victorious she is punished: she is imprisoned in Tartarus, and her wings are removed.Template:Sfn |
| Astraea | Child of Zeus and Themis.Template:Sfn She dwells among mortals during the Golden Age, though she leaves when this era comes to an end, as humanity grows more immoral.Template:Sfn |
| Auxesia | A goddess worshipped alongside Template:Ill. The pair were venerated at Epidaurus and Troezen, as well as on the island of Aegina (where Auxesia was known as Azesia).Template:Sfn |
| Britomartis | A Cretan goddess.Template:Sfnm She is born to Zeus and Carme, and is a maiden who accompanies Artemis.Template:Sfn She is usually said to attain immortality after jumping into the ocean while trying to escape the lustful advances of Minos; as a goddess, she is referred to as Dictynna.Template:Sfn In addition to Crete, the locations in which she was worshipped include Aegina, Sparta, Athens, and Gythium. In artistic depictions, her appearance is identical to that of Artemis.Template:Sfn |
| Brizo | A goddess venerated by the women of Delos, who was honoured primarily as a protector of ships. It was also believed that she was capable of perceiving the prophetic meaning behind dreams.Template:Sfn |
| Charon | Ferryman of the underworld.Template:Sfn Though sources do not provide him with a divine parentage, he is treated as though he is a deity.Template:Sfn He transports shades across the Acheron river in a boat, taking payment in the form of an obol. He is portrayed as a hideous and dishevelled old man, dressed in tattered clothing.Template:Sfn In one story, he transports the alive Heracles across the river, and is chained for a year as punishment.Template:Sfn |
| Circe | An enchantress. She is the offspring of Helios and Perse, and is considered either a goddess or a nymph.Template:Sfn She is said to inhabit the mythical island of Aeaea, which is visited by Odysseus and his companions, half of whom she transforms into animals. She only returns them to their usual form when Odysseus is able to resist her spell using a herb, moly.Template:Sfn He extends his stay on the island, and the pair have two children, Telegonus and Cassiphone (though some sources add further offspring).Template:Sfn |
| Comus | A god mentioned by Philostratus. According to that author, an artwork depicted him as a young, winged boy, drunk and with his head sitting on his chest.Template:Sfn |
| Template:Ill | A goddess venerated in conjunction with Auxesia. The two were worshipped in Epidaurus and Troezen, and on the island of Aegina (where Damia was referred to as Mnia).Template:Sfn |
| Despoina | A goddess venerated in Arcadia. She is said to be born from a union of Poseidon and Demeter, both in the form of a horse, and to be raised by Anytus, a Titan.Template:Sfn She was honoured at a temple in Lycosura, where fragments of 2nd-century BC cult statues survive.Template:Sfn Despoina (Template:Gloss) was a cult title of the goddess, rather than her true name, which was only uttered during ritual performance, and does not survive today.Template:Sfn |
| Enodia | A goddess from Thessaly. She presides over roads, and has chthonic qualities, being associated with horses, dogs, and torches.Template:Sfn By the 5th century BC, she was identified with Hecate.Template:Sfn Her worship seemingly originated in Pherae, and spread to Macedonia; there is also evidence of her cult in Epidaurus, Oreus, and Lindos.Template:Sfn |
| Enyo | A war goddess.Template:Sfnm She is a companion of Ares, to whom she is often genealogically related,Template:Sfn and with Ares she produces a son, Enyalius.Template:Sfn She is among the deities honoured in a festival which took place in Thebes and Orchomenus.Template:Sfn She is equated with Bellona by Roman sources.Template:Sfn |
| Epione | The wife of Asclepius. Her children by her husband include Hygieia, Iaso, and Panacea,Template:Sfn and she was involved in his cult in Epidaurus, in Athens, and on Kos.Template:Sfn Merops is sometimes given as her father.Template:Sfn |
| Eubuleus | An important figure in the Eleusinian Mysteries. In the Eleusinian myth of Persephone's abduction, he returns her from the underworld. In artistic depictions, he carries a torch and is typically found beside Persephone. In another version of the myth, he tends to a group of pigs, who fall into the ground when she is kidnapped.Template:Sfn He is also mentioned in the Orphic gold tablets, and is sometimes assimilated with Zeus or Dionysus.Template:Sfn |
| Eunostus | A goddess associated with mills. An idol of her was placed in mills.Template:Sfn |
| Glaucus | A sea god.Template:Sfnm He is born a mortal, and lives as a fisherman in Anthedon before one day consuming grass which turns him into a deity, giving him a green body and the tail of a fish;Template:Sfn he also attains prophetic abilities. He amorously pursues Scylla, a beautiful maiden, to no avail, and rejects the advances of the enchantress Circe, prompting the latter to turn Scylla into a monstrous creature. In other myths, he is a deliverer of news to the Argonauts, or to Menelaus.Template:Sfn |
| Harmonia | Wife of Cadmus.Template:Sfnm Her parents are typically said to be Ares and Aphrodite, though in some sources they are Zeus and Electra,Template:Sfn and she is either divine or semi-divine.Template:Sfn The gods are present at her marriage to Cadmus, and offer the couple gifts, including a necklace and robe. By her husband, she becomes the mother of Polydorus, Ino, Autonoë, Semele, and Agave.Template:Sfn |
| Hebe | Goddess of youth.Template:Sfnm She is born to Zeus and Hera, and becomes the wife of Heracles after his apotheosis.Template:Sfn She carries out minor duties for the gods, including acting as their cupbearer, and in one story she restores the youth of Iolaus.Template:Sfn She was worshipped in Argos, in Mantinea, and on Kos.Template:Sfn |
| Hermaphroditus | A figure with both male and female genitalia. He is first attested in the 4th century BC, and in the 1st century BC Hermes and Aphrodite are assigned as his parents.Template:Sfn In Ovid's telling, he is born a boy, and during a youth he attracts the unappreciated advances of a nymph, Salmacis, who on one occasion clings to him and begs the gods to ensure they never part; they oblige, causing the pair to fuse into a dual-sexed being.Template:Sfn He is represented in art from the 4th century BC onwards.Template:Sfn |
| Hymen | God of marriage.Template:Sfn He is born to Apollo and one of the Muses, or to Dionysus and Aphrodite, among other parentages. There exist varying stories designed to explain his connection to marriage, and he is sometimes described as an Athenian, a musician, or a lover of Hesperus.Template:Sfn |
| Iacchus | A god of the Eleusinian Mysteries. He was connected with the procession in which initiates marched to Eleusis, and it is likely that he originally personified the exclamation Template:Translit, chanted during this procession. In later sources, he is sometimes called the child of Demeter, Dionysus, or Persephone.Template:Sfn As Persephone's son, he is Dionysus Zagreus in his reborn form, following that god's dismemberment as a child by the Titans.Template:Sfn |
| Iaso | Goddess associated with healing.Template:Sfn She is one of Asclepius's children, and was worshipped in Oropus.Template:Sfn |
| Lelantos | A Titan. He is the father of Aura by Periboea.Template:Sfn |
| Moirai | Goddesses, known in Latin as the Fates, who allot humans their destinies at the beginning of life.Template:Sfn Hesiod makes them three in number – naming them Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos – and calls them children of Nyx and of Zeus and Themis at different points.Template:Sfn In the Iliad, there is mention of both the collective term and the singular Moira, who is said to be spinning Hector's fate with thread.Template:Sfn They possessed a sanctuary in Sparta, and an altar in Sicyon, and were given wineless sacrifices.Template:Sfn Artistic depictions typically represent them as a trio of goddesses taking part in a mythological scene.Template:Sfn |
| Opora | Goddess associated with harvests, particularly those of wine. She appears as a companion of Eirene in Aristophanes' Peace. In one myth, she attracts the amorous attention of Sirius, though he fails to win her hand, and Boreas tasks his sons with retrieving her.Template:Sfn |
| Template:Ill | A fertility god. He was a phallic god, and his cult existed in Attica and on Imbros, where there was a festival in his honour as late as the 2nd century BC.Template:Sfn |
| Paean | A healing god in Homeric epic.Template:Sfn He heals the wounds of Hades and Ares, and is said to live on Olympus.Template:Sfn |
| Palaemon | A sea deity, who is originally a human named Melicertes.Template:Sfn He is born to Athamas and Ino, and his mother one day jumps from a cliff with him in her arms, after which the pair are deified, becoming Palaemon and Leucothea.Template:Sfn He was worshipped at the sanctuary of Poseidon at Isthmia.Template:Sfn |
| Palici | A pair of Sicilian deities who are twins. They are sometimes called children of Zeus and Thalia, and their mother is said to sit underground during her pregnancy, with the newborn boys eventually climbing out of the earth's surface. They were worshipped at a site which exhibited unusual natural phenomena, and was near to Template:Ill.Template:Sfn |
| Panacea | A daughter of Asclepius in his cult, who was herself worshipped in certain locations.Template:Sfn |
| Pandia | A daughter of Selene and Zeus, according to the Homeric Hymn to Selene.Template:Sfnm |
| Paregoros | Goddess from Megara. A statue of her sat in the Megarian temple of Aphrodite.Template:Sfn |
| Pasikrate | A goddess with a sanctuary near Demetrias. She was honoured primarily by women, and she is attested by inscriptions from the end of the 4th century BC onwards.Template:Sfn |
| Phanes | A primeval deity in Orphic theogonies. In different Orphic sources, he is described as hermaphroditic, as part-animal, and as having golden wings, and he is sometimes called the offspring of Aether and the father of Nyx.Template:Sfn In the Orphic Rhapsodies, he emerges from an egg created by Chronos, and is later swallowed by Zeus.Template:Sfn He is sometimes called Protogonos, Pan, Priapus, or Antuages, and is at times the same as Eros, Dionysus, or Metis.Template:Sfn |
| Praxidike | An oath goddess. She is said to mate with Zeus Soter, producing Homonoia, Arete, and Ctesius. There was a sanctuary to the Praxidikai in Haliartus where oaths were sworn. In artistic depictions, she is represented by just by a head.Template:Sfn |
| Priapus | A fertility god. His mother is said to be Aphrodite, with his father sometimes given as Dionysus or Hermes.Template:Sfn He is depicted as having an erect, oversized phallus, and was thought to guard livestock or bees, and aid herdsmen and fishermen. His cult originated in the Hellespoint region, spreading abroad after the 4th century BC.Template:Sfn It is said that Hera gives him his physical deformity while he is in the womb, causing his mother to later abandon him. In another story, he attempts to rape Lotis, but is revealed by the braying of a donkey.Template:Sfn |
| Promylaia | A goddess of mills. Representations of her sat in mills.Template:Sfn |
| Proteus | A sea god.Template:Sfnm He is one of the deities referred to as the "Old Man of the Sea", and is said to possess prophetic and shapeshifting abilities. He looks after Poseidon's herd of seals and other marine animals, and resides on Pharos, an island near Egypt.Template:Sfn In the Odyssey, when Menelaus is marooned on Pharos, he binds Proteus, resisting the god's attempts to transform, and seeks advice from him. Virgil tells a similar story, in which it is Aristaeus who traps him.Template:Sfn |
| Rhapso | A goddess mentioned in an inscription from Athens. She is seemingly related to sewing.Template:Sfn |
| Silenus | An elderly satyr. He is described as a severely drunken figure, hideous and overweight in appearance, and with a donkey for a mount. He is sometimes called the child of Pan, or of Hermes by a nymph, and is said to father Pholus upon a Melie.Template:Sfn Some sources make him a teacher of Dionysus during that god's youth, and, in his most famous myth, he is captured for his sage advice by Midas, who detains him by adding wine to Silenus's favourite spring.Template:Sfn |
| Sosipolis | A divine child. At Olympia, he was worshipped alongside Eileithyia, who was seemingly considered his mother.Template:Sfn |
| Syceus | A Titan, according to Androtion. His mother, Gaia, is said to rescue him from Zeus by creating a lightning-resistant fig tree in which he can hide.Template:Sfn |
| Telesphorus | A healing god, considered a child. There is evidence of his cult from the 2nd century BC onwards, and Pausanias mentions a cult to him in Pergamon. He was often venerated alongside Asclepius and Hygieia.Template:Sfn |
| Thyone | The name of the mortal Semele, after her deification.Template:Sfnm Semele is a child of Cadmus and Harmonia, and attracts the attention of Zeus, becoming his lover.Template:Sfn Hera tricks the girl into asking Zeus to come to her in the form he comes to his wife; upon doing so, Zeus reduces her to ashes, though he manages to extract her unborn child, Dionysus. Semele is later deified when her son brings her up from the underworld, to live on Olympus.Template:Sfn |
| Triteia | Daughter of Triton. By Ares, she becomes the mother of Melanippus, who names the city of Tritaia after her.Template:Sfn |
| Triton | A sea god, and the child of Poseidon and Amphitrite.Template:Sfn In art, he is portrayed as having a human upper half and a fishtail, and he often appears sounding a conch-shell horn.Template:Sfn He is said to help guide the Argonauts back out to sea when they find themselves at Lake Tritonis in Libya.Template:Sfn In later sources, the plural form of his name, Tritons, is used to refer to a species of marine figures with fishtails, who are companions of Poseidon, and are common subjects in Hellenistic art.Template:Sfn |
| Tychon | A god of success. He is ithyphallic, and there is evidence of his worship in Boeotia around the beginning of the 3rd century BC.Template:Sfn |
| Zagreus | A deity sometimes equated with Dionysus.Template:Sfnm His original nature is unclear; Aeschylus represents him as a god of the underworld, and he may have been assimilated with Hades.Template:Sfn He is seemingly later fused with an Orphic Dionysus, the child of Zeus and Persephone, who is dismembered by the Titans and reincarnated.Template:Sfn This tale of dismemberment, sometimes called the "Zagreus myth", has been viewed as the principal myth of Orphism,Template:Sfn though the name "Zagreus" is not mentioned in any extant Orphic source.Template:Sfn |
See also
[edit]- Lists of deities
- Lists of Greek mythological figures
- List of mortals in Greek mythology
- List of Greek mythological creatures
Notes
[edit]References
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Template:Greek mythology (deities) Template:List of mythological figures by region