Transcript Greek/Roman Gods and Goddesses

Greek/Roman Gods and Goddesses
Mrs. Hurd
English 9
John S. Battle High School
Origin of Mythology
• The Greeks did not believe that the gods
created the universe.
• The Greeks believed in the “first parents” who
gave birth to the Titans. The Titans gave birth
to the gods and goddesses of mythology.
The Titans
• Called the “Elder Gods”
• had enormous size and incredible strength
• Considered supreme in the universe
Titans
• Cronus (Saturn) – ruled over titans (father of
Zeus)
• Ocean (river that encircled the earth) and his wife
Themis (Justice)
• Hyperion – father of the sun, moon, and dawn
• Mnemosyne - Memory
• Iapetus
• Atlas (bore the weight of the world on his
shoulders)
• Prometheus (savior of mankind)
The Twelve Great Olympians
• Children of the Titans
• Grandchildren of the “First Parents”
• Cronus was “usurped”
(overpowered) his son Zeus
Olympia – home to the gods
*Lived in Olympia
*Mount Olympia the highest mountaintop in Thessaly, Greece
*Is not “heaven”
*The entrance to it was a great gate of clouds kept by the
Seasons
*Gods lived there and feasted on ambrosia (drinking brings
immortality) and nectar
*No snow, rain, or wind – considered a perfect place
The Olympians
Children of the Titans
Zeus (Jupiter) the “chief”
His two brothers
Poseidon (Neptune) god of the sea
Hades (Pluto) god of the dead
Their sister is Hestia (Vesta)
The Olympians
Hera (Juno), Zeus’s wife
Ares (Mars) god of war, son of Zeus and Hera
Children of Zeus
Athena (Minerva
Apollo
Aphrodite (Venus)
Hermes (Mercury)
Artemis (Diana)
Hephaestus (Vulcan), Hera’s son
Zeus
Zeus won supreme ruler by casting lots with
his brother
He was lord of the sky, the rain-god, and the
cloud gatherer (had a thunderbolt)
Was not omnipotent (all-powerful) or
omniscient (all-seeing)
He fell in love with one woman after another,
and used tricks to hide the affairs from his
wife
Took the throne from his father while his
father fled to Italy and started the Golden Age
(a time of happiness and peace)
Hera (Juno) – goddess of marriage
*Zeus’s wife and sister
*Raised by Ocean and Tethys
*She is the “protector of
marriage,” particularly married
women
*She spent most of her time
punishing the women that Zeus
fell in love with
Her injury followed the women
and their children
*Illithyia (her daughter) helped
women in childbirth
Poseidon (Neptune) – god of the sea
*Ruler of the sea
*Second in command to Zeus
*Wife was Amphitrite
(granddaughter of the Titan
Ocean)
*Gave the first horse to man
*Drove over the sea in a golden
cart
*Called the “Earth-shaker”
*Always carried a trident (threepronged spear)
Hades (Pluto) – god of the underworld
*Third brother among the
Olympians
*Ruled over the underworld
and the dead
*Also called Pluto – the god
of wealth for the precious
metals hidden in the earth
*Had a helmet which made
whoever wore it invisible
*Terrible, but not evil
*His wife is Persephone
(Porserpine) whom he carried
away from the earth and
made queen of the
underworld
Pallas Athena (Minera) –
battle-goddess
Daughter of Zeus with no mother (sprang
from his head)
Battle-goddess - defend state and protect
from enemies
Goddess of the City, protector of civilized
life, of handicrafts and agriculture
Invented the bridle that tamed the horse
Zeus’s favorite child – carried his war
weapons, including the thunderbolt
One of three Virgin goddesses – she was
chief goddess called the Maiden
Her temple was the Parthenon
She is the embodiment of wisdom, reason,
and purity
Phoebus Apollo – god of Light, truth,
healing, art, music, and poetry
*God of Light (sun) and
Truth
*Son of Zeus and Leto
*Born on the island of Delos
*He was beautiful, a master
musician who plays the lyre,
an archer god, and healer
*Called the Sminthian” or
mouse-god for protecting
mice in The Illiad
Artemis (Diana) – goddess
of Wild Things
*Huntsman-in-Chief
*Apollo’s twin sister
*Daughter of Zeus and Leto
*The second of three maiden
goddesses
*A good hunter – preserve
the young and protect youth
everywhere
*Goddess of the moon
Aphrodite (Venus) – goddess of love
and beauty
*Goddess of love and
beauty
*Loved laughter
*Daughter of Zeus and
Dione
*May have perhaps sprung
from the foam of the sea
(Aphros is foam in Greek)
*Wife of Hephaestus
(Vulcan) lame god of the
forge
Hermes (Mercury) – Zeus’s Messenger
*Son of Zeus and Maia
*Graceful and swift
*Wore winged sandals
*His wand was the Caduceus
*Was a master thief
*God of commerce and the
market and protector of
traders
*The Divine Herald – led
souls to their last home
Ares (Mars) – god of war
*Son of Zeus and Hera
*Often portrayed as hateful,
murderous, and bloodstained
*Travelled with Sister is Eris
(Discord) and Strife, her son,
as well as Enyo (the goddess
of war), Terror, Trembling,
and Panic
Hephaestus (Vulcan and Mulciber) –
the god of fire
*Son of Zeus and Hera
*May have been the son of Hera alone, born in
retaliation to the birth of Athena by another
woman
*Was “ugly” and lame
*Two possible theories for his handicap:
Was cast out for being deformed by Hera or Zeus
Or
Was maimed trying to protect his mother during an
argument between Hera and Zeus
*Highly honored – made dwellings, furnishings,
weapons
*Perhaps his forge was under a volcano, which
caused eruptions
*Kind, peace-loving
*Also seen as patron of handicrafts, and arts and
agriculture
*Protector of the smiths
Hestia (Vesta) – goddess of
the
hearth
(home)
*Zeus’s sister
*Was the final virgin
goddess
*Goddess of hearth
around which the
newborn child must be
carried before it could be
received into the family
*Meals began and end
with an offering to her
*City had public hearth in
which fires were never
allowed to go out
Demeter (Ceres) – Goddess of the
harvest/seasons
*Demeter – Goddess of the corn
*Had a daughter Persephone (maiden of the
spring)
*Hades steals her and takes her to the
underworld
*In her grief, she withheld the gifts of the
earth, making it cold and barren.
*Zeus realized that the earth was suffering in
Persephone’s absence so he bids Hermes to go
to the underworld and retrieve Persephone
*However, Hades was sad and bid her back
*She was the wife of Hades so she must spend
four months in the underworld with her
husband and the rest with her mother Demeter
*The seasons are the result of Demeter losing
her daughter to Hades