Gods and Goddesses of Greek Mythology

There was a greek god for everything once upon a time; the god of war, the god of wine, the god of income taxes (I made one of those up).

The gods were part of these active, living stories dreamed up by the ancient people. Yes, the people worshipped these gods and honored them but they still laughed at their foibles and failings. To a modern Western civilization that is used to revering one very well-behaved, very mysterious God, it seems strange that anyone would worship a deity who was continually caught with his pants down, but that’s kinda how it was.

Zeus was the leader of the gods. He controlled the weather and punished mortals for their wrongs. He was symbolized by the lightning bolt, the eagle, the bull and the oak. He was married to his sister Hera, but that did not stop him from running around with other goddesses. And mortals. And nymphs. And driads.

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Poseidon was the god of the sea. The Latin-speaking Romans called him Neptune. He is known for creating horses out of sea foam. The people called him “Earth Shaker” and “Storm Bringer” since he also was believed to cause earthquakes. He was symbolized by the trident. 

Hestia was the goddess of hearth and home. The Romans called her Martha Stewart. Her symbol was the hearth and she was married to that raving drunk, Dionysus. Wonder how that worked for her…

Speak of the devil! Dionysus (Bacchus) was the god of wine, merriment and parties. If he were around today, he’d be the patron saint of frat boys. But he wasn’t all about drunkeness. He also stood for the beneficial aspects of wine…like antioxidants, I guess.

He was symbolized by the grape vine and something called a thyrsus.

Hermes is the winged god, also known as Mercury. He was the god of flight and messengers. His job was to lead dead souls to the Underworld. He appeared in more myths than any other god. He also liked playing tricks on people ( hey, I would, too, if I had wings…).

Hera (Juno)was the long-suffering wife of Zeus, goddess of women, childbirth and the hunt. While her husband ran around, it seems that Hera spent most of her time throwing tantruns (one can hardly blame her) and plotting against her husband’s many girfriends.

Hephaestus (Vulcan) was the god of fire and the forge. He had weak legs was married to Aphrodite, the most beautiful goddess. He makes the armor for the gods.

Hades (Pluto) was god of the underworld. He, Zeus, Hera and Neptune were siblings. He was symbolized by his massive, three headed dog, Cerberus. And I complained about my neighbor’s pitbull…

Demeter is also Zeus’ sister and the goddess of grain and harvest. Her Latin name was Ceres, from which we get the word cereal. So, thank her for your Rice Krispies.

Athena (Pallas) was Zeus’ daughter- in some versions of Greek myth she sprang from his forehead fully formed. As if that wasn’t cool enough, Athena was also the goddess of wisdom, war, handicraft and reason. She is the sister of Ares, the god of war. She was symbolized by the owl, because she was the wisest of all gods.

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Artemis (Diana) was the sister of Apollo, god of the sun. She was the goddess of the hunt, wild things and the moon. She was a virgin goddesss, symbolized by the bow or by deer.

Ares (Mars) was Athena’s brother, god of war, bloodshed and murder. Nice guy. His symbols were vultures, dogs and boars.

Apollo (Phoebus) was associated with the sun, although he was officially the god of music and poetry. They also called him the god of truth and light. He was the most beautiful of the gods, symbolized by the lyre and laurel.

Aphrodite (Venus) was the goddess of love, fertility and sex (!). As before mentioned, she was married to Hephaestus, whom she didn’t love because he was crippled. She was fooling around with Ares, god of war. Floozy. Anyway, her son was Eros (Cupid) and she, the most beautiful goddess was symbolized by the scepter, the myrtle and the dove.

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