GREEK MYTHOLOGY

MYTHOLOGY is generally supposed to show

us the way the human race thought and felt
untold ages ago.
Through it, according to this view, we can
retrace the path from civilized man who
lives so far from nature, to man who lived in
close companionship with nature; and the
real interest of the myths is that they lead us
back to a time when the world was young
and people had a connection with the earth,
with trees and seas and flowers and hills,
unlike anything we ourselves can feel.
When the stories were being shaped, we are
given to understand, little distinction had as
yet been made between the real and the
unreal. The imagination was vividly alive
and not checked by the reason, so that
anyone in the woods might see through the
trees a fleeing nymph, or bending over a
clear pool to drink behold in the depths a
naiad’s face.
Mythology
of the
G The Greeks had their roots in the primeval
slime. Of course they too once lived a savage life,
R ugly and brutal.

E The myths show how high they had risen above

E the ancient filth and fierceness by the time we
have any knowledge of them.

K
S The Greeks made their gods in their own image
with the inspiration that “the invisible must be
understood by the visible.”
THE 12 OLYMPIANS
 ZEUS
Roman Name: Jupiter

• The Supreme Ruler, Lord of the Sky, Rain-god,

the Cloud-gatherer.

• He wields the awful thunderbolt.

•His breastplate was the aegis.

• His bird the eagle.

•His tree the oak.

•His oracle Dodona in the land of oak trees.

• The harpies are considered “the hounds of

Zeus.”
 HERA
Roman Name: Juno

• Zeus’ wife and sister.

•Queen of the gods and goddesses.

•Protector of marriage and married women.

•The cow and the peacock are her sacred

animals.

•Argos is her favorite city.

 POSEIDON
Roman Name: Neptune

•Ruler of the sea. Commonly called

“earth-shaker.

•Giver of horses to men.

•As god of horses, Poseidon often

adopted the shape of a steed.

•He is also associated with bulls.

 HADES
Roman Name: Pluto

• The God of the Underworld and the

Dead.

• Also the God of Wealth and precious

metals hidden in the earth.

• Abductor of Persephone.

• Referred to also by his Latin name Dis

meaning “rich.”
PALLAS ATHENA
Roman Name: Minerva

• The goddess of wisdom and

protectress of cities/state.

•No mother bore her, she sprang full-

grown from the head of Zeus.

• Zeus favorite child, bearer of his

breastplate, the aegis.

•Her favorite city is Athens.

•Her bird is the owl.

•She created the olive tree.

 PHOEBUS APOLLO
• Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto.

•God of the sun, arts and poetry and music.

• God of Truth from whose lips only the truth is

ever uttered.

•An Archer-god possessing the brazen arrows. A

symbol of youth.

•Artemis’ twin brother.

• The dolphin and the crow are his sacred

creatures.

•The laurel is his tree.

• His oracle is found in Delphi.

 ARTEMIS
Roman Name: Diana

• Goddess of the moon, wilderness and of

wild creatures.

•Protectress of dewy youth.

•Huntsman-in-chief to the gods.

•A virgin goddess.

•The deer is especially sacred to her.

•The cypress is her tree.

 APHRODITE
Roman Name: Venus

• The goddess of love and beauty said to

have been raised from sea foams in the
island of Cyprus.

•In most stories, she is the wife of

Hephaestus.

•Eros (Cupid) is her son.

•The myrtle is her tree.

•The dove her bird.

 HERMES
Roman Name: Mercury

• The Messenger of the Gods.

• God of Commerce, Medicine and also god

of the thieves.

•He possess a winged sandals, winged low-

crowned hat and the magic wand Caduceus.

•The Divine Herald who led souls down to

their last home.

•Inventor of lyre.
 ARES
Roman Name: Mars

• The (cowardly) God of War.

• Son of Zeus and Hera.

• He is oftenest describe as ruthless,

murderous and bloodstained.

•The vulture is his bird.

•The dog his animal.

 HEPHAESTUS
Roman Name: Vulcan

•The Blacksmith of the Gods, the God of

Fire.

•The cripple patron of handicrafts.

• He was often dejected by Hera for his

lameness.

•Hephaestus accomplished numerous

prodigies of craftsmanship, such as the
marvelous palaces that he built for the gods
atop Mount Olympus.
 HESTIA
Roman Name: Vesta

• Goddess of the Hearth. The symbol of

home.

• Zeus’ sister.

• Also a virgin goddess like Athena and

Artemis.
The Lesser Gods
of Olympus
 EROS

•He is the god of Love

identified by the Latin name
Cupid.
•He was accordingly
Aphrodite’s son.
•He is often depicted by poets
as a mischievous, naughty boy.
•In attendance upon him was
ANTEROS (avenger of slighted
love), HIMEROS (longing) and
HYMEN (the god of the
wedding feast.
 HEBE

•The goddess of youth.

•The daughter of Zeus

and Hera.

•Sometimes, she appear

as cupbearer to the gods.

•She was married to

Hercules.
 GANYMEDE

A beautiful young
Trojan prince who was
seized and carried up to
Olympus by Zeus’
eagle.
 IRIS

Goddess of the Rainbow and

messenger of the gods.

The ancient Greeks

personified the rainbow as
the goddess Iris, the favorite
handmaiden and messenger
of Hera, the queen of the
heavenly court of Olympus.
Carried by her shimmering
wings, Iris travels so swiftly
that mortals can see only the
trail of her rainbow-coloured
passage across the sky.
 THE GRACES

• Compose of Aglaia
(Splendor), Euphrosyne
(Mirth) and Thalia (Good
Cheer).

• They are the daughters

of Zeus and Eurynome.

• A triple incarnation of
beauty who give life its
bloom.
 THE MUSES
• The muses are nine in number.
• They are the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne.
• Compose of : Clio(history), Urania(astronomy),
Melpomne(tragedy), Thalia(comedy),
Terpsichore(dance), Calliope(epic poetry),
Erato(love poetry), Polyhymnia(songs to the gods)
and Euterpe(lyric poetry).
 THEMIS

The Right or Divine

Justice.

One of the two august

forms seated beside
Zeus in Olympus along
with DIKE which means
Human Justice.
The Gods of the
Waters
 OCEAN

A Titan and lord of the

river Ocean, a great
river encircling the
earth.
 TETHYS

The wife of Ocean and

the mother of the
Oceanids who are
nymphs of the great
river.
 AMPHITRITE

•Goddess Queen of the Sea.

•Her name means 'all encircling'
which is the sea that surrounds
the earth. 
•She has called 'The Embracer
That is the Sea'. When she is calm
and walks about, the waters are
calm; but, when She is angry, the
seas become angry. She was one
of the fifty daughters of Proteus
and Doris, known as the Nereids
(sea nymphs) who were known
to have bright happy natures
and the ability to foretell the
future. 
 NEREUS
•He is identified as the Old
Man of the Sea.

•A trusty and gentle god

who thinks just and kindly
thoughts and never lies.

•His wife was DORIS, a

daughter of Ocean.

•They had fifty lovely

daughters, the nymphs of
the sea called NEREIDS.
 TRITON

•The Trumpeter of the

sea.

•His trumpet was a

great shell.

•He was the son of

Poseidon and
Amphitrite.
 NAIAD/S

The naiads are water

nymphs.

They dwell in brooks

and springs and
fountains.
The Gods of the
Underworld
 HADES &
PERSEPHONE

Hades and Persephone

rule the Kingdom of the
Dead which lies
beneath the secret
places of the Earth.
 PERSEPHONE

She is the only daughter

of Demeter.

The maiden of the spring

and goddess of
innocence.

She was abducted by

Hades and made the
Queen of the
Underworld.
 CHARON

An aged boatman that

ferries the souls of the
dead to Hades.

He receives into his boat

only the souls of those
upon whose lips the
passage money was
paced.
 CERBERUS

The three-headed,
dragon tailed hound of
hell who permits all
spirits to enter, but none
to return.
 THE FURIES

Also identified with the

name Erinyes.

Compose of Tisiphone,
Megaera and Alecto.

They are the pursuers and

punishers of evildoers.
The Lesser Gods
of Earth
 GAEA

Is herself called the All-

Mother but she is not
really a divinity.

She is never separated

from the actual and
personified earth.
 DEMETER

•The Goddess of the

Corn.

•A daughter of Cronus
and Rhea.

•The mother of
Persephone.

•She brings bounty to

the Earth.
 DIONYSUS

The god of fertility and wine,

later considered a patron of the
arts.
He invented wine and spread
the art of tending grapes.

He has a dual nature. On the

one hand bringing joy and
divine ecstasy. On the other
brutal, unthinking, raging. Thus,
reflecting both sides of wines
nature. If he chooses, Dionysus
can drive a man mad. No
normal fetters can hold him or
his followers.
 PAN

The god of the wild, hunting

(partially), rustic music and folk
music. Usually known as the son
of Dryope and Hermes, although
in some cases Pan predates
Hermes and was perhaps raised
alongside Zeus himself. Pan
appears as an old satyr with
incredibly large horns.
His Roman counterpart
is Faunus. In Roman myths, he is
also a god of prophecy.
 CASTOR &
POLLUX

In Greek and Roman
mythology, Castor and

Pollux or Polydeuces were twin

brothers, together known as
the Dioscuri. Their mother was Leda,
but Castor was the mortal son
of Tyndareus king of Sparta, and
Pollux the divine son of Zeus who
visited Leda in the guise of a swan.
Though accounts of their birth are
varied, they are sometimes said to
have been born from an egg, along
with their twin sisters Helen of Troy
and Clytemnestra.
CASTOR &
POLLUX
 THE SILENI

Greek woodland gods or spirits, closely connected to

the satyrs. They were occasionally referred to as being
half-man half-horse, in stead of half-man half-goat. 
 THE SATYRS

One of the troop of male

companions of Pan
and Dionysus. They have
goat-like features. 
 AEOLUS

The king of the winds . He gave

Odysseus a tightly closed bag
full of the captured winds so he
could sail easily home
to Ithaca on the gentle West
Wind. But instead his men
thought it was filled with riches,
so they opened it which is why
the journey was extended. 
 CENTAUR

The Centaurs are half man,

and half horse. They have
the body of a horse but in
place of the horse's head
they have the torso, head
and arms of a man. Most
are wild and savage,
known for lustfulness and
drunkenness. The
exception is the wise
Centaur Chiron.
 THE GORGONS

Terrifying female creatures whose

name derive from the Greek
word gorgós, which means
"dreadful."

Three sisters who had hair of living,

venomous snakes, and a horrifying
visage that turned those who
beheld her to stone. Traditionally,
while two of the Gorgons were
immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their
sister Medusa was not, and she was
slain by the mythical demigod and
hero Perseus.
 MEDUSA

A monster or Gorgon, generally

described as having the face of a
hideous human female with
living venomous snakes in place
of hair. Gazing directly upon her
would turn onlookers to stone.
Most sources describe her as the
daughter of Phorcys and Ceto.
 THE GRAIAE

The Three Graiai  or the "Three Gray

Sisters"  were the daughters of Phorcys
(one aspect of the 'old man of the sea)
and Ceto.  They look like old ladies;
they were born old, with long gray
hair. They lived near the entrance to
the Underworld and were the
guardians of the Gorgons.
Their names were:
Deino or Dread. The Terrible.  She was
the dreadful anticipation of horror. 
 Enyo or Horror.The Warlike.  She was
always clothed in yellow. She was also
known as 'the waster of cities'.
 Pemphredo or Alarm.The Wasp. She
was always beautifully attired.
THE GRAIAE
 THE SIRENS

In Greek mythology,
the Sirens  were dangerous
and devious creatures,
portrayed as femmes
fatales who lured nearby
sailors with their enchanting
music and voices to
shipwreck on the rocky coast
of their island. 
 PEGASUS
Pegasus was a winged horse and
good flyer. The Pegasus was the
result of the ill fated mating
of Medusa and Poseidon. It was
born from Medusa when her head
was cut off by Perseus. Tamed by
Bellerophon it served as his mount
during his adventures including his
slaying of the Chimaera. When
Bellerophon attempted to fly
Pegasus to Mount Olympus he was
dismounted by Zeus. Pegasus
continued on and made it to Mount
Olympus. Here Pegasus spent his
days carrying lighting bolts for
Zeus.
 TYPHOON

Typhon was a monstrous creature and

the offspring of Gaea, the Mother
Earth, and Tartarus, a lower god of the
Underworld. Typhon mated with
Echidna, who was half woman and half
snake and they created creatures that
would bring terror and mischief to
mankind: Orthos, a two-headed
dog, Cerberus, a three-headed
dog, Lernaea Hydra, a chronic, serpent-
like creature with numerous heads
and Chimaira, an awful creature with
the body of a goat, the tail of a snake
or dragon and the head of a lion.
 THE CHIMAERA

A fire-breathing creature that has

the body of a goat, the head of a
lion and the tail of a serpent.  Some
sources have represented the
Chimera with three heads (the lion's
head as the main, then the goat's
head sprouted from its back, and
the serpent's or Dragon’s head on
its tail), but the popular myth tells of
the single, fire-vomiting head.
 THE FATES

The Fates have the subtle but

awesome power of deciding a
man's destiny. They assign a man to
good or evil. Their most obvious
choice is choosing how long a man
lives. There are three Fates. Clotho,
the spinner, who spins the thread of
life. Lachesis, the measurer, who
choses the lot in life one will have
and measures off how long it is to
be. Atropos, she who cannot be
turned, who at death with her
shears cuts the thread of life.