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Ancient Greek / Rome Mythology
Gods & Goddess - Who is Who?
| Image | Greek Name | Roman Name | Occupation |
| Zeus | Jupiter | Captain of Gods |
| Poseidon | Neptune | God of the Sea |
| Haides (Hades) | Pluto | God of the Underworld |
| Hera | Juno | Goddess of Marriage/Queen of Gods. The wife of Zeus. |
| Hestia | Vesta | Goddess of the Hearth/Home |
| Ares | Mars | God of War. The lover of Venus. |
| Athena | Minerva | Goddess of Wisdom/Education/Science |
| Apollo | Apollo/Sol/Pheobus | God of Sun/music. The ideal male beauty in art. |
| Artemis | Diana | Goddess of the Hunt/The moon |
| Aphrodite | Venus | Goddess of Love/Beauty |
| Hermes | Mercury | God of Travel/Commerce/Speed |
| Hephaestus | Vulcan | God of the Forge/Fire. The husband of Venus. |
| Eros | Cupid | God of love |
| Persephone | Proserpina | the Queen of the Underworld. Goddess of spring |
| Dionysos | Bacchus | God of wine/ecstacy |
| Demeter | Ceres | Goddess of fruits on Earth and Harvest |
| Asklepios | --- | God of medicine |
| Pan | Inuus/Faunus | Son of Hermes 1/2 goat Trickster | |
| Kastor & Polydeukes | Castor & Pollux | The Heavenly Twins | |
| Aeolus | --- | King of Winds | |
| Boreas | --- | North Wind | |
| Zephir | --- | West Wind | |
| Notus | --- | South Wind | |
| Eurus | --- | East Wind | |
| Iris | --- | The Rainbow Goddess | |
| Aether | --- | Greek God of Light | |
| Hygeia | --- | God of health | |
| Hebe | --- | Goddess of Youth | |
| Hecate | Trivia | Goddess of the dark/magic | |
| Eris | Discordia | Goddess of discord | |
| Nike | Victory | Goddess of victory | |
| Erinyes | Furies | -Delivered Justice | |
| Eos | Aurora | Goddess or the Dawn | |
| Hespera | --- | Goddess of Dusk | |
| Hypnos | --- | God of sleep | |
| Nemesis | --- | Goddess of Revenge | |
| Mors | --- | God of Death | |
| Morpheus | --- | God of Dreams | |
| Hercules | --- | God of strength |
The Beginning - Chaos
Chaos exists before anything, before the sky or earth.
Chaos is defined by infinite darkness, eternal disorder. It is not a god but a great abyss of nothing.
Out from the great nothing Chaos, Nyx (the Night) and Erebus (Darkness) arise.
The offspring of the union of Nyx and Erebus is Ether (Light). Nyx also gives birth to sleep, dreams, death, Nemesis (the goddess of vengeance), Eris (dispute), gossip and fraud.
Gaea (Earth), the first goddess, emerges from Chaos
Gaea is infinitely fertile and has given birth to a great many things - her children range from the divine; gods and goddesses, to the abominable; disgusting, horrible creatures.
The First Gods
Gaea is the mother of the whole world. Her firstborn is Uranus (the god of the sky), and by him she has many children: the first twelve Titans, the Hundred-handed (Hecatomcheires), and the Cyclops.
When the Titans grow older, Uranus casts them down into Tartarus as well because he begins to fear their mighty strength.
The Titans are the laborers. They make the world go round, they each personify an element in the world, e.g. the ocean, sun etc
With their mother's help, the Titans, lead by the youngest Cronus, overthrow their father, Uranus, and kill him. The Cyclops make the Titans a murder weapon - a sickle. The Titans attack their father, Cronus castrates Uranus with the sickle and throws the cut-off member into the sea.
From the blood that falls onto the earth (Gaea), the Giants and the Erinyes, the goddesses of fate, arise. Aphrodite (Venus) has arisen from the semen that is cast in the ocean.
Uranus was died as the first ruler of the world but as god of the sky, he is eternal.
The Titans are now the rulers of the world and Cronus their leader but it will not last for long.
The Ruling of the Titans
Cronus rules no better than his predecessor
The children Cronus has with Rhea - Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon - are all eaten when born. However, the last child, Zeus, Rhea manages to save.
She gives Cronus a stone wrapped in a blanket making him believe it is the child. The gullible Cronus believes his deceitful wife, eats the stone and has quite a stomach ache that night.
When Zeus becomes a grown man, he seeks his father, gives Cronus an emetic and Cronus throws up Zeus' five siblings. Then begins the fight between the old generation, mainly the first twelve Titans, and the new generation, the Cronids.
The Cyclops make Zeus lightning bolts, and the Hundred-handed supply Zeus with nectar and ambrosia for strength and immortality.
Most of the Titans are then imprisoned in Tartarus apart from those needed for eternal labor and the Titans' allies receive fair punishment.
Zeus is smart and does not repeat the mistake of his ancestors, he rewards the Cyclops and the Hundred-handed and they are promoted to guardians of Tartarus. Zeus, the rest of the Cronids and their followers settle down on the mountain Olympia to rule from there.
The Olympian Gods Take Over
when Zeus and the Cronids obtain the power, they change everything. To protect the remaining part of the old world, Gaea gives birth to a great many monsters to help her in her battle against the new rulers.
Typhon is an enormous monster, actually the biggest Gaea has ever given birth to, with hundreds of snakes that grow out of his body. Typhon has wings so that can fly and spit fire. Typhon is taller than most mountains and his head touches the stars.
As soon as he is born he attacks Zeus and the Olympian gods. Zeus shoots a single bolt of lightning at the monster and thinks that he can finish Typhon off in close combat but he is wrong. Typhon cuts off Zeus' kneecaps and hides them in a cave.
Zeus then gets the Moires to help him. They give Typhon a strength-giving herb to eat, or so he gullibly thinks. The herb is named "only one day".
Zeus chases him around the world one whole day until Typhon falls down into the volcano Etna in Sicily where Zeus finishes him off completely and buries him. It is said that the volcano still spits the fire of the decaying Typhon.
Gaea gives birth to the Giants - enormous, human-like creatures.... almost human-like, except they have hundreds of snakes for legs
Besides from bombing Olympia with flying objects, they also seek the herb of life so they can become immortal
Finally the Olympian gods have to admit that they can not get rid of the Giants on their own. A prophecy says that they will need help from a mortal. Zeus' mortal son, the almighty Hercules, turns out to be their man. Single-handedly he kills Alcyoneus by throwing the enormous Giant in the Aegean Sea.
Prometheus' Fight for Mankind
The name Prometheus means the forethinker or the clever one. Prometheus' counterpart is his brother, Epimetheus - the hindsighted. They are the sons of the Titan Iapetus.
When Zeus finds out that he has been tricked, he punishes man by taking away the humans’ fire so they can not cook food or keep warm
Prometheus then steals a spark from the sacred fire in Olympia and gives man back the fire
When Zeus sees the thousands of fires on earth, he decides to punish man by creating the first woman, Pandora (Also in Greek mythology the first woman is the cause of mankind's downfall).
Hermes then introduces this gorgeous, but deceptive woman to Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus.
Prometheus warns his brother of this woman's danger and deception but Epimetheus will not listen. Epimetheus marries Pandora.
When they come home, Pandora opens her box of dowry and then at that very moment mankind is hit with starvation, illness and all kinds of hazards - disasters unknown to man until this moment. This is the humans’ punishment for accepting the sacred fire from Prometheus.
Prometheus is chained to the mountain top of Caucasus by Zeus' two tormentors, Violence and Power, (a couple of jolly fellows), and the chains are made by the great god of smiths, Hephaestus, so one can be sure of that Prometheus can not escape.
Zeus drives a stake through Prometheus' body and every day an eagle flies down and slowly devours Prometheus' liver. Because Prometheus is a god and therefore immortal, each evening his liver grows back and the painful process starts again the next day.
Apollo and his Women
Like other gods, Apollo has a weakness for the female sex
Apollo falls in love wit the Nymph Daphne and in his pursuit of her she runs away and begs Zeus to change her into bay tree
In order to obtain the affections of Cassandra, the daughter of King Priam of Troy, Apollo promises Cassandra the gift of divination. Cassandra receives the gift but then she refuses to have relations with him. Apollo gets angry and cannot retract the gift but curses her instead
Apollo falls in love with the youth Hyacinthus. One day Hyacinthus and Apollo are out throwing discos and Apollo accidentally kills his beloved youth. Apollo transforms Hyacinthus into the flower hyacinth that reappears every spring thus making him immortal.
Chained Goddess
Hephaestus is famous for his inventions. He is the son of Zeus and Hera. When Hephaestus is born, Hera throws him from Olympus since he is crippled. Hephaestus gets revenge as an adult.
He creates a beautiful throne and sends it to Hera under false pretenses. Hera sits down on the throne and when she tries to get up, she cannot. No matter what the gods try to do to get Hera free, nothing can be done. Finally they call Hephaestus but he is stubborn and will not reveal how to release Hera.
The Olympian gods send for the god of wine Dionysus and ask him for help. He demands a permanent seat at Olympus. At first Hera sends him away since he is the son of Zeus, her husband, and one of his mistresses Semele. But the chains tighten around Hera’s wrists and she consents.
Dionysus seeks Hephaestus and gets him so drunk that the latter consents to everything. Hera is released and Dionysus is granted a place in Olympus as is Hephaestus.
Zeus' Love Affairs
The almighty god of gods Zeus is extremely fond of women and has had many love affairs despite the fact that he is married to the jealous goddess Hera.
Zeus is famous for disguising himself in order to seduce Greek maidens. He takes the shape of a bull when he seduces the Phoenician princess Europa and takes her to Crete who then gives birth to Minos who becomes king of Crete as an adult. Hera turns the maiden Io into a cow and has her guarded by the hundred-eyed monster Argos. This does not stop Zeus either. He takes the shape of a bull once again and seduces her.
Zeus transforms himself into a swan in order to seduce Tyndareus’ wife Leda in Sparta. She gives birth to four children of which two are Zeus, Helen and Pollux, while Castor and Clytemnestra are the children of Tyndareus.
To be able to seduce Princess Danae, whose father locks her up for the same reason, Zeus changes himself into golden rain and slips into the prison that way. Perseus is the offspring of that encounter.
The nine Muses are the fruit of the relationship Zeus has with the Titan Mnemosyne. With the Nymph Maia Zeus fathers the god Hermes.
Cupid (Eros) and Psyche
Psyche is the daughter of a queen and king who have two other beautiful daughters but Psyche’s beauty is unsurpassed. People even dare to compare her beauty to that of Venus.
Psyche’s sisters are married but no one dares to ask for Psyche’s hand.
From Olympus, Venus looks upon the whole situation with disdain. Why should a mortal woman be the peer of a goddess?
The oracle told the parents that Psyche is to sacrificed to a horrible monster. One must follow the advice of an oracle. Psyche is clothed in a wedding gown and brought to the mountain where she is to be sacrificed. Psyche sat there and wept in her bridal veil all alone.
Suddenly Psyche felt a warm breeze that took her to a valley of flowers. She saw a magnificent castle, she went into it. A pleasant voice said: "All these are yours, sit down at the table and eat". And then a exquisite banquet appeared on the table.
When night came, Psyche settled in a ivory bed. The light was blown out. A warm breeze arrived and Psyche founds herself in the arms of her lover. She could not see him, only heard his loving voice and felt his warm embrace. This occured several time and Psyche was quite happy.
The word of Psyche’s happiness reached the ears of her sisters who become very jealous.
Psyche missed the company of her sisters and desired to see them. Her invisible lover warned her. But after crying and pleading, Psyche was allowed to see her sisters
The sisters arrived to the top of the cliff where the warm breeze took them swiftly the valley. The sisters convince Psyche that her husband must be a monster since she has not seen him and advised her to check that very night in the light of the oil lamp.
Nighttime came and her lover was in Psyche’s arms again.
Her lover fall asleep and Psyche lighted the oil lamp. She saw a young man with milky white skin and dark curly hair. She saw wings, arrows and a bow lied beside the bed. It is the love god Cupid (Eros) himself. Psyche dropped a drop of hot oil which wakened her lover. When he saw that she has broken her promise, he put on his wings and flied away.
Psyche sat on her bed and crying. She started to seek her beloved everywhere but he is nowhere to be found. She prayed at all the temples, asking, begging for the help of the gods. Everyone refuses her because they do not wish to awaken the wrath of Cupid’ mother Venus who is the one who frames Psyche.
Cupid has sought the consoling shelter of his mother and knows nothing about Psyche’s desperate search.
At last Psyche is forced to confront the goddess herself.
Venus receives her with an ice cold smile and puts her to the test. "Let us see if you are a suitable wife. Sort out these seeds and put them in to order".
Psyche receives a pile of poppy, wheat, peas, beans and many other seeds to separate from each other.
Psyche is devastated and starts crying. An ant and its friends come to hrlp, they sort the out the piles for her. When Venus returns that evening she is extremely vexed with the sight of the piles but hides her disappointment by demanding another task.
Psyche must collect the wool of the golden rams.
The next morning Psyche sets out to collect the wool. The reed-mace warns her of the danger and recommends her to come to the pond in the afternoon and take the wool in the rams' shed. Psyche does as advised and returns with the golden wool.
Venus is still not satisfied and demands water from the spring at the top of a cliff. Psyche starts a long climb and hears whispers that say: "Turn back, turn back" and the sound of a dragon spitting flames. She gets scared. An eagle fetches water from the spring on the cliff for her.
Venus is astonished and demands Psyche to go to the Underworld and fetch a box of beauty from the goddess Persephone.
Psyche realizes the impossible task as one can never return from the Underworld. And she decides to end her life. Psyche is ready to jump from a tall tower, but she heard the tower says "Don’t! I know of a way you can return alive! Descend to Hades at Tainaron in Southern Greece with a cookie in each hand and two coins in your mouth."
" No matter what you do, do not look into the box."
Psyche does as the tower told her, but when she reaches the light of the mortal world, she is tempted by curiosity to look in the box. The box is opened but nothing is to be seen. Out flies the Sleep of Death. Psyche falls asleep and her body stops breathing.
Zeus has watched the hardship of Psyche from Olympus and has had enough. Zeus orders Venus to leave poor Psyche alone, fetches Psyche and gives her ambrosia who then becomes immortal. Zeus says to Psyche:" From now on, you are never to leave Cupid’ side."
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