2. GREEK MYTHOLOGY
• Greek mythology is the body of myths and teachings that
belong to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and
heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and
significance of their own cult and ritual practices.
• It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece.
• Modern scholars refer to and study the myths in an attempt to
shed light on the religious and political institutions of ancient
Greece and its civilization, and to gain understanding of the
nature of myth-making itself.
3. TWELVE OLYMPIANS
• He twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon (Greek: "twelve"
and Theoi, "gods"), were the principal deities of the Greek pantheon, said
to reside atop mount Olympus.
• The Olympians gained their supremacy in a ten-year-long war of gods in
which Zeus led his siblings to victory over their predecessor gods, the
titans.
• The concept of the "twelve gods" is older than any extant Greek or roman
source.
• The gods meet in council in the Homeric epics, but the first ancient
reference to religious ceremonies for the Olympians collectively is found
in the Homeric hymn to Hermes. The Greek cult of the twelve Olympians
can be traced to 6th-century BC Athens and probably has no precedent in
5. ZEUS ”JUPITER”
• King of the Gods and ruler of Mount
Olympus;
• God of the sky, lightning, thunder, law,
order, justice.
• Youngest child of the titans Cronus
and Rhea.
• Symbols include the thunderbolt,
eagle, oak tree, scepter, and scales.
• Brother and husband of Hera, although
he had many lovers,
• Also brother of Poseidon, Hades,
Demeter, and Hestia.
6. HERA “JUNO”
• Queen of the gods and the goddess of
marriage and family.
• Symbols include the peacock, cuckoo,
and cow.
• Youngest daughter of Cronus and rhea.
• Wife and sister of Zeus.
• Being the goddess of marriage, she
frequently tried to get revenge on Zeus'
lovers and their children.
7. POSEIDON
“NEPTUNE”
• God of the seas, earthquakes, and tidal
wave.
• Symbols include the horse, bull, dolphin,
and trident.
• Middle son of Cronus and Rhea.
• Brother of Zeus and Hades.
• Married to the nereid Amphitrite,
although, like most male Greek gods, he
had many lovers.
8. DEMETER
“CERES”
• Goddess of fertility, agriculture,
nature, and the seasons.
• Symbols include the poppy,
wheat, torch, cornucopia, and pig.
• Middle daughter of Cronus and
Rhea.
9. ATHENA
“MINERVA”
• Goddess of wisdom, reason, intelligent
activity, literature, handicrafts and
science, defense and strategic warfare.
• Symbols include the owl and the olive
tree.
• Daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid
Metis, she rose from her father's head
fully grown and in full battle armor.
10. APOLLO
“APOLLO”
• God of light, prophecy, inspiration, poetry,
music and arts, medicine and healing.
• Son of Zeus and Leto.
• Symbols include the sun, lyre, swan, and
mouse.
• Twin brother of Artemis.
11. ARTEMIS
“DIANA”
• Goddess of the hunt, virginity, archery,
the moon, and all animals.
• Symbols include the moon, deer, hound,
she-bear, snake, cypress tree, and bow
and arrow.
• Daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin
sister of Apollo.
12. ARES “MARS”
• God of war, violence, and bloodshed.
• Symbols include the boar, serpent, dog,
vulture, spear, and shield. Son of Zeus
and Hera, all the other gods despised
him.
• His latin name, mars, gave us the word
"martial."
13. APHRODITE
“VENUS”
• Goddess of love, beauty, and desire.
• Symbols include the dove, bird, apple, bee,
swan, myrtle, and rose.
• Daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid Dione, or
perhaps born from the sea foam after Uranus'
semen dripped into the sea after being
castrated by his youngest son, Cronus, who
then threw his father's genitals into the sea.
• Married to Hephaestus, although she had many
adulterous affairs, most notably with Ares.
• Her name gave us the word "aphrodisiac", while
her Latin name, Venus, gave us the word
14. HEPHAESTUS
“VULCAN”
• Master blacksmith and craftsman of the
gods; god of fire and the forge.
• Symbols include fire, anvil, axe, donkey,
hammer, tongs, and quail.
• Son of Hera, either by Zeus or alone.
• Married to Aphrodite, though unlike most
divine husbands, he was rarely ever
licentious.
• His Latin name, Vulcan, gave us the word
"volcano."
15. HERMES
“MERCURY”
• Messenger of the gods; god of commerce,
communication, borders, eloquence,
diplomacy, thieves and games.
• Symbols include the caduceus (staff
entwined with two snakes), winged
sandals and cap, stork, and tortoise
(whose shell he used to invent the lyre).
• Son of Zeus and the nymph Maia.
• The second-youngest Olympian, just older
than Dionysus.
16. DIONYSUS
“BACCHUS”
• God of wine, celebrations, and ecstasy.
• Patron god of the art of theatre.
• Symbols include the grapevine, ivy, cup,
tiger, panther, leopard, dolphin, goat, and
pinecone.
• Son of Zeus and the mortal Theban
princess Semele.
• Married to the Cretan princess Ariadne.
• The youngest Olympian god, as well as
the only one to have a mortal mother.
17. TWELVE TITANS
• In Greek mythology, the titans were a primeval race of powerful deities,
descendants of Gaia (earth) and Uranus (heaven), that ruled during the
legendary golden age. They were immortal giants of incredible strength
and stamina and were also the first pantheon of Greco-Roman gods and
goddesses.
• The titans were overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Olympians, in
a ten-year war called the Titanomachy ("war of the titans") - a series of
battles which were fought in Thessaly between the two camps of deities
long before the existence of mankind.
• The 12 titans gods, also known as the elder gods. Their ruler was Cronus
who was dethroned by his son Zeus. Most of the titans fought with
19. COEUS (KOIOS,
POLOS)
• Coeus was a titan god of intelligence
and farsighted, meaning that, due to his
inquisitive mind and desire to learn, he
was with gained knowledge and
understanding able to see beyond the
obvious.
• He was also identified as a god of
wisdom and heavenly oracles.
• Coeus was also known as a pillar of the
north pole from which constellations
revolved and therefore controlled the
20. CRIUS (KRIOS, THE RAM,
ARIES)
• Crius was a titan god of heavenly
constellations and was also known as a
pillar of the south pole.
• Crius, which means “ram”, was often
referred as a starting season of the
greek year, because his constellation
was called aries which nowadays
means the start of spring.
• Together with his other three brothers
coeus, hyperion and iapetus, they
presided as the pillars of holding heaven
21. CRONUS (KRONOS,
CHRONOS, SATURN)
• Cronus was a titan god of time and ages and
was, above all, associated with the destructive
force of time which sooner or later consumes
everything.
• Cronus was married to his sister rhea with
whom they represented “eternal flow”, as they
gave birth to a new generation gods, known as
the Olympian gods, who then took control of the
world, just like they had done in the past.
• According to a fragment found in a collection of
fragments from the Greek epic cycle, Cronus
also had another descendant. It is said that he
took a shape of a horse and impregnated
Philyra, a daughter of Oceanus, who then gave
22. HYPERION
• Hyperion was a titan god of light or
sunlight and was associated with
watching and observation from above.
• He was also known as a pillar of east.
Together with his other three brothers,
Crius, Coeus and Iapetus, they presided
as the pillars of holding heaven and
earth apart.
• He was one of six sons of Uranus and
Gaea and is mentioned by Apollodorus
as one of the five brothers, all but
Oceanus, who participated in rebellion
23. IAPETUS
(JAPETUS, THE
PIERCER)
• Iapetus was a titan god of mortal life
span or god of death.
• He presided over the timeline of all
mortals. His nickname, “the piercer”,
actually meant that he came for a life of
mortals in terms of violence.
• In other words, when Iapetus decided
that one`s time had passed, he brought
violent death upon him.
• He was also known as a pillar of west.
24. OCEANUS (OKEANOS,
OCEAN)
• Oceanus was a titan god of enormous river
called okeanos which was believed to be
encircling the world and was connecting this
world to other realms, such as heavenly realms
from which the gods came and underworld
where the souls of the dead lived.
• He was a personification of all salt water in the
world, more precisely mediterranean sea,
atlantic ocean and indian ocean which were
the most familiar to ancient greeks at the time,
and all the fresh water that includes rivers,
lakes, streams and rain.
25. MNEMOSYNE
(MNEMOSINE, JUNO
MONETA, MEMORY)
• Mnemosyne was a titan goddess of memory and
remembrance.
• She was believed to be the inventress of speech and
writings.
• In Hesiod's Theogony, her daughters, the muses, are
described as the spirits who possessed kings and
poets, whom the gods favored and gave them special
powers of authoritative speech and wisdom.
• Mnemosyne was also known to be the mother of
muses and represented the memorization of stories
and myths preserved in history before the discovery of
writing.
26. PHOEBE (PHOIBE)
• Phoebe was the titan goddess of brightness and
radiance, often associated with Selene (goddess
of the moon).
• Phoebe was rather associated with being
prophetic, like her sister Themis and her mother
Gaea.
• She was also one of the twelve titans who were
the descendants of Uranus and Gaea.
• She was, like all of her sisters, never involved in
the war between titans and Olympian gods, and
was spared from being imprisoned in Tartarus.
Instead, she took her place at the oracle of
Delphi.
27. RHEA (RHEIA, OPIS,
OPS)
• Rhea was a titan goddess of fertility and
motherhood.
• She was very gentle and comfortable.
• Her name actually means “ease” as “at ease” and
therefore this was probably the reason she was
interpreted and worshiped as a goddess of comfort
and ease.
• Cronos and Rhea represented “eternal flow” as they
gave birth to a new generation of gods who then
took control of the world, just like they and other
titans had done it in the past. Therefore she was
also identified as a goddess of generations.
28. TETHYS
• Tethys was a titan goddess of all the fresh water on
earth.
• She appropriately married oceanus (personification
of all the salt water on earth) and, according to
hesiod, they gave birth to three thousand potamoi
or river gods and oceanids, known as nymphs of
seas, rivers, lakes, streams, fountains, and
marshes.
• She was also believed to be nursing and feeding
her children by drawing water from oceanus
through subterranean channels and also taking
care for all creatures living in the waters such as
fish, seals and dolphins.
29. THEIA (THIA, THEA,
EURYPHAESSA)
• Theia or Thea was a titan goddess of shinning,
associated with shinning light, shinning metals or
jewels.
• Her other name Euryphaessa means “wide-
shinning” and therefore she was connected with
all that is shinning.
• In Pindar's isthmian odes, Theia is described as
the goddess of shining after whom men honored
gold as the most powerful shining object.
• She was also a goddess of sight, because
ancient greeks believed that eyes emitted beams
30. THEMIS
• Themis was a titan goddess of divine
law, order and costums.
• She was a daughter of Uranus and
Gaea and was the messenger of the
very first rules of conduct,
established by the elder gods.
• Her place was at oracle of Delphi
where she was one of the early
prophets, second more precisely
according to Aeschylus.