Transcript 12 Great Olympians lecture notes

Zeus (Jupiter)

Zeus, Poseidon, Hades drew lots
to determine realms of power
Hades – underworld
Poseidon – sea
Zeus – “supreme ruler” & lord of
the sky
Zeus (Jupiter)

Zeus – most powerful of the gods
More powerful than rest combined
Not omnipotent / omniscient
Could be opposed/deceived
Constantly seducing mortal
women
Angers Hera (wife)
Zeus (Jupiter)

Demanded more than sacrifice
“right action”
Remember, Zeus is Justice for ALL,
not just the wealthy/”beautiful
people”
Symbol – eagle (bird), oak (tree)
Hera (Juno)

Zeus’ wife / sister
“protector of marriage”
Punishes women who Zeus seduces, and
sometimes their offspring
Even if Zeus tricked/deceived the
mortal woman
Venerated (revered) in all homes
(particularly married homes)
Symbol – peacock (bird), cow
Poseidon (Neptune)

Ruler of the sea
Zeus’ brother, 2nd only to him in
eminence
Gave 1st horse to man
As revered for this as for being god of
the sea (Greeks were seafarers)
Symbol – horse
Hades (Pluto)

Ruler of the underworld (Zeus’ third brother)
 Lord of the dead
 Power over “precious metals” hidden in the
earth
 Rarely left Hades (also name for the realm he
ruled over)
 Not as welcome in Olympus
 Just, not evil
 Had to rule over & “judge” spirits of the dead
 NOT “death” itself (Thanatos / Orcus)
Pallas Athena (Minerva)

Daughter of Zeus ALONE (not Hera
as well)
Sprang “fully grown, in full armor”
from Zeus’ head
Goddess of the City
handicrafts
agriculture
Zeus’ favorite child
Pallas Athena (Minerva)

Embodiment of wisdom, reason,
purity
City – Athens
Olive – tree
Owl - bird
Phoebus Apollo

Son of Zeus
God of Light
God of Truth
Master musician (greatest musician in
Olympus)
Archer (bow)
Healer (god of healing/medicine)
Phoebus Apollo

Delphi
Foot of Mt. Parnassus
Oracle
Vital to mythology
“center of the world”
Priestess answers questions of pilgrims
while in “trance”
Direct link between gods & men @ Delphi
Phoebus Apollo

“Sun-god”
Actually Helios, not Apollo
Laurel – tree
Dolphin & crow – animal
Artemis (Diana)

Apollo’s twin sister
Huntsman-in-chief to the gods
Protector of youth
Moon (Phoebe/Selene & Luna) to
Apollo’s sun (Helios)
Artemis (Diana)

Three forms?
Selene in the sky
Artemis on earth
Hecate (goddess of magic) in the
lower world
Cypress – tree
Deer – animal
Aphrodite (Venus)

Goddess of Love & Beauty
Daughter of Zeus (?)
“sprung from the foam of the sea”(?)
Depicted as soft, “weak” (battle stories)
Treacherous/malicious
Wife of Hephaestus
Myrtle – tree
Dove – bird (sparrow & swan too?)
Hermes (Mercury)

Messenger God
Master Thief
God of Commerce & the Market
Protector of trade
Son of Zeus & Atlas’ daughter
Winged sandals, Cadeuceus (wand,
now symbol of medicine)
Ares (Mars)

 God of War
 Son of Zeus & Hera (appropriate, given their
“combative” marriage)
 BOTH parents “detested” him
 “Mars” more loved/honored than “Ares”
 cultural
 Little more than a “symbol of war” in mythology
 No cities / temples to worship him
 Vulture – bird
 Dog - animal
Hephaestus (Vulcan and
Mulciber)

 God of Fire
 Son of Zeus & Hera (Hera alone?)
 Some accounts have H. as the “Athena” of Hera’s
creation (fully formed from her)
 Alone among the gods as “ugly” / deformed
 “honored by the gods
 “workman of the immortals”
 Armorer & smith
 Often his “forge” is under a volcano (science
explanation)
 Patron of “handicrafts” w/Athena honored in cities
Hestia (Vesta)

Zeus’ sister
Virgin goddess (Artemis & Athena)
Goddess of the Hearth
Symbol of the home
No real “personality”
Each city had a hearth sacred to Hestia