Greek Gods

HERMES Hermes is an Olympian god in Greek religion and mythology , the son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia , and the second youngest of the Olympian gods ( Dionysus being the youngest). Hermes is considered a god of transitions and boundaries. He is described as quick and cunning, moving freely between the worlds of the mortal and divine. He is also portrayed as an emissary and messenger of the gods;an intercessor between mortals and the divine, and conductor of souls into the afterlife. He has been viewed as the protector and patron of herdsmen , thieves, oratory and wit, literature and poetry, athletics and sports, invention and trade, roads, boundaries and travelers. In some myths, he is a trickster and outwits other gods for his own satisfaction or for the sake of humankind. His attributes and symbols include the herma , the rooster , the tortoise , satchel or pouch, winged sandals , and winged cap . His main symbol is the Greek kerykeion or Latin caduceus , whic...

DIONYSUS Dionysus is the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy in ancient Greek religion and myth . Wine played an important role in Greek culture, and the cult of Dionysus was the main religious focus for its unrestrained consumption. He may have been worshipped as early as c. 1500–1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks ; traces of Dionysian-type cult have also been found in ancient Minoan Crete . His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms; some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, others as Greek. In some cults, he arrives from the east, as an Asiatic foreigner; in others, from Ethiopia in the South. He is a god of epiphany , "the god that comes", and his "foreignness" as an arriving outsider-god may be inherent and essential to his cults. He is a major, popular figure of Greek mythology and religion , becoming increasingly important over time, and included in some lists of...

HEPHAESTUS Hephaestus is the Greek god of blacksmiths , craftsmen , artisans , sculptors , metals , metallurgy , fire and volcanoes .  Hephaestus' Roman equivalent is Vulcan . In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera , the king and queen of the gods. In another version, he was Hera's parthenogenous child, rejected by his mother because of his deformity and thrown off Mount Olympus and down to earth. As a smithing god, Hephaestus made all the weapons of the gods in Olympus. He served as the blacksmith of the gods, and was worshipped in the manufacturing and industrial centers of Greece, particularly Athens . The cult of Hephaestus was based in Lemnos .  Hephaestus' symbols are a smith's hammer , anvil , and a pair of tongs .

APHRODITE Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love , beauty , pleasure , and procreation . She is identified with the planet Venus ; her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus . Myrtle , roses, doves , sparrows and swans were sacred to her. In Hesiod 's Theogony , Aphrodite was created from the sea foam ( aphros ) produced by Uranus 's genitals, which had been severed by Cronus . In Homer 's Iliad , however, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione . In Plato ( Symposium , 180e), these two origins are said to be of hitherto separate entities: Aphrodite Ourania (a transcendent, "Heavenly" Aphrodite) and Aphrodite Pandemos (Aphrodite common to "all the people"). She had many other names, each emphasising a different aspect of the same goddess, or used by a different local cult. Thus she was also known as Cytherea ( Lady of Cythera ) and Cypris ( Lady of Cyprus ), both of which claimed to be her place of birth. In Greek myth, the other gods fear...

ARTEMIS Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana . Some scholars believe that the name, and indeed the goddess herself, was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron : "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals". The Arcadians believed she was the daughter of Demeter . In the classical period of Greek mythology , Artemis was often described as the daughter of Zeus and Leto , and the twin sister of Apollo . She was the Hellenic goddess of the hunt , wild animals , wilderness , childbirth , virginity and protector of young girls, bringing and relieving disease in women; she often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows. The deer and the cypress were sacred to her. In later Hellenistic times, she even assumed the ancient role of Eileithyia in aiding childbirth.

APOLLO Apollo  is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology . The ideal of the kouros (a beardless, athletic youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry, and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto , and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis . Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu. As the patron of Delphi (Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle . Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius , yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague . Amongst the god's custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over colonists , and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. As the leader of the Muses (Apo...