The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece Greek mythology arose to explain events in nature. Modern science and technology was not yet available.

Titans: How it all began… Before there were Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Greece, there was the Earth (called Gaia) and the Sky (called Uranus), the first Titans. They had many children.

Background Continued Background Continued: Kronos was the Titan of Earth, the “ ruler of Earth”, and Rhea was his wife. They gave parented several children including: Demeter, Hades, Hera and Poseidon. Kronos was told in a prophesy that he would be overthrown by his children so, to prevent this from happening, he devoured them all. Kronos Rhea

Background Continued Background Continued: When their sixth son was born, Zeus, Rhea hid him from Kronos and swore to punish Kronos one day for what he had done. When he was an adult, Gaia gave him a magical talisman that would cause Kronos to regurgitate all the children he had devoured. With the help of his newly freed brothers, Poseidon and Hades, they imprisoned Kronos and some of the other Titans in the prison Tartarus (using Zeus’ Thunderbolts, Poseidon’s Trident, and Hades’ Helmet of Darkness). **As a side note: Zeus feared that Hades’ sea monster (called the Kraken) could destroy him, so he tricked Hades’ into becoming the king of the Underworld – a prison from which he cannot escape.

MOUNT OLYMPUS Home of the Gods Originally Thought to be a Real Mountain Finally Came to be Thought of as a Floating Mountain in the Sky

ZEUS (Brother of Hades and Poseidon) Supreme Ruler of the Gods His weapon was the mighty THUNDERBOLT© King of the Gods

HADES (Brother of Zeus and Poseiden) Lord of the Underworld Ruler of the Dead Pet: Cerberus

POSEIDON (Brother of Hades and Zeus) Ruler of the Seas and Oceans

HERA Zeus’ Wife Goddess of Marriage and Women

APHRODITE (Roman Name: Venus) Goddess of Love and Beauty Wife of Hephaestus

Aeolus God of the Wind

ZEUS’ CHILDREN

ARES God of War None of the Other Gods Like him much

ATHENA Battle Maiden and Goddess of Wisdom

APOLLO Twin Brother of Artemis God of Music and Poetry, Light and Truth No False Words (Never Told a Lie)

ARTEMIS Twin Sister of Apollo Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt Lady of the Wild Things

PERSEPHONE Goddess of Spring She was Kidnapped by Hades Later Made the Queen of the Underworld Spends Half the Year in Hades, Half on Earth

HERMES Messenger of the Gods Has Wings on Sandals and Cap Appears the Most Often of All the Gods

Demi Gods and other mythical creatures

CYCLOPES Name: Polyphemus Son of the Sea God POSEIDON Lives in a cave

The Sirens - Sometimes portrayed as “Mermaids” in modern cultures. Lead sailors to their deaths

The harpies Winged spirits best known for constantly stealing food.

The Lotus-Eaters A race of people. The lotus fruits and flowers were the primary food of the island and were narcotic, causing the people to sleep in peaceful apathy.

Laestrygonians Tribe of giant cannibals from ancient Greek mythology. “Flesh Eaters”

The Witch Circe Minor Goddess of Magic and Sorcery

Calypso A nymph in Greek mythology, who lived on the island of Ogygia.

Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis. Scylla Charybdis Charybdis Scylla was a six-headed sea monster that lived on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite its counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the channel were within an arrow's range of each other— so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis would pass too close to Scylla and vice versa.