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ANCIENT GREEK GODS AND GODDDESSES
Altar with twelve gods at the Louvre As described by Homer and Hesiod, the ancient Greek gods and goddesses who ruled from Olympus possessed human traits such as jealousy, lust, pride, love, petulance and dishonesty but they were also immortal and very powerful. The deities often left Mount Olympus to become involved in the affairs of mortals. Interacting with men and women as patrons, enemies, and sometimes lovers, they were not adverse to using tricks and disguises to influence events, and their schemes and plots often involved people.
The ancient Greeks believed that their gods and goddesses would protect them and guide them if they were treated properly. A key element of this was worshipping the the gods by carrying out ceremonies and sacrifices. The Greeks worshiped their gods affect their fate while living and secure a relatively good place in the afterlife. Heroes and ordinary humans in Greek myths often discovered that where the gods were concerned things were not what they appeared to be. The underlying moral principle, though, was that the gods rewarded honorable behavior and obedience, and people who dishonored themselves or defied the gods usually suffered for it.
According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “The ancient Greeks worshipped many gods, each with a distinct personality and domain. Greek myths explained the origins of the gods and their individual relations with mankind. The art of Archaic and Classical Greece illustrates many mythological episodes, including an established iconography of attributes that identify each god.” [Source: Collete Hemingway, Independent Scholar, Seán Hemingway, Department of Greek and Roman Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2003, metmuseum.org \^/]
Harold Koda of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote: “The Roman poet Ovid recounted an ancient myth in which Pygmalion, a sculptor disenchanted by mortal women, creates an image of feminine perfection. When he becomes enthralled with his own sculpted ideal, Venus—the Greek Aphrodite—responds to his prayers and brings the statue to life as Galatea.” [Source: Harold Koda, The Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2003, metmuseum.org \^/]
Websites on Ancient Greece: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Greece sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Hellenistic World sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; BBC Ancient Greeks bbc.co.uk/history/; Perseus Project - Tufts University; perseus.tufts.edu ; ; Gutenberg.org gutenberg.org; British Museum ancientgreece.co.uk; Illustrated Greek History, Dr. Janice Siegel, Hampden–Sydney College hsc.edu/drjclassics ; Internet Classics Archive kchanson.com ; Cambridge Classics External Gateway to Humanities Resources web.archive.org/web; Ancient Greek Sites on the Web from Medea showgate.com/medea ; Greek History Course from Reed web.archive.org; Classics FAQ MIT classics.mit.edu
Polytheism in Ancient Greece
Mary Leftowitz, a classics professor at Wellesley College wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “The Greek gods weren’t mere representations of forces in nature but independent beings with transcendent powers who controlled the world and everything in it. Some of the gods were strictly local, such as the deities of rivers and forests. Others were universal as Zeus, his sibling and his children.”
“Zeus do not communicate directly with humankind. But his children — Athena, Apollo and Dionysus — played active roles in human life. Athena was the closest to Zeus of all the gods; without her aid, none of the great heros could accomplish anything extraordinary. Apollo cold tell mortals what the future had in store for them. Dionysus could alter human perception to make people see what’s not really there. He was worshipped in antiquity as the god of theater and of wine. Today, he would be the god of psychology.” [Ibid]
“The Greeks and Romans did not share the narrow view of the ancient Hebrews that a divinity could only be masculine. Like many other peoples in the eastern Mediterranean , the Greeks recognized female divinities and they attributed to goddess almost all the powers held by male gods.” [Ibid]
Fertility cults and goddesses were often associated with the moon because its phases coincided the menstruation cycles of women and it was thought the moon had power over women. Male gods were more likely to associated with things like suns and bulls.
Evolution of Gods in Ancient Greece
The Furies
To the people of ancient Greece (as well as to earlier and neighboring civilizations) the universe they knew was filled with terrible forces not fully understood. Occasionally they saw dramatic demonstrations of power and might - violent thunderstorms, raging seas, gale force winds, eclipses, plagues, drought, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc. It was not unreasonable to suspect that powerful and unpredictable entities were the cause of these events and that the originators might be appeased through prayer and sacrifice. In ancient times and in truly grave circumstances the ultimate gift of human sacrifice was made to placate those supernatural beings. [Source: Canadian Museum of History ]
“In time the number of these entities blossomed to represent or personify the virtues and vices of humankind, their wants, urges and fears. Eventually a complex realm was created, inhabited by greater and lesser gods and goddesses, heroes, titans, muses, graces, furies, fates, sirens and so on- each addition intended to account for another aspect of the human experience. Some of these deities and semi-deities were perceived as being benevolent; others were more likely to bring misery and distress. Petitions and sacrifices were made for two reasons: to make good things happen for the petitioner and to prevent bad things from coming to pass.The major deities lived on Mount Olympus and numbered twelve. Naturally, they were called “the Olympians”. |
Important Points About Ancient Greek Gods, Creation, Men and Women
On some important points to remember about ancient Greek gods, John Adams, California State University, Northridge listed: “1) Greek gods are not 'good'. As Xenophanes complains they are like humans, only worse. 2) Zeus is King of the Gods (after he deposed his father, Kronos) but he is not the Creator. 3) Man is not created by a Creator-god, or by the oldest generation of the gods. He is a cosmic after-thought. (See Hesiod, Five Ages of Man, in Powell, Classical Myth, p. 131-134.) 4) In the Hesiodic creation story, the primary struggle is between Zeus and Prometheus (a metter of cleverness, or ego). Human involvement is a secondary matter. [Source: John Adams, California State University, Northridge (CSUN), “Classics 315: Greek and Roman Mythology class]
“5) Man is created by Prometheus. Woman is invented on orders from Zeus (Jupiter) as a committee effort (Hesiod). 6) Woman is not a helpmate, but a curse sent by Zeus upon mankind. 7) Zeus is the father of Justice (Dike) by way of Themis ('Order'), but he is not 'just' in all his actions; his basic attribute and concern is his power. His behavior is that of a tyrant. 8) Prometheus is the Benefactor of Humanity, not Zeus. Prometheus gives mankind cleverness, intelligence, technology, religious practices, culture (writing, mathematics, astronomy, seafaring, etc. (See excerpt from Aeschylus Prometheus Bound in Powell, 7th edition, p. 120-122.) 9) In general, as Herodotus the 'Father of History' puts it (ca. 450/430 B.C.), "...all deity is jealous and fond of causing troubles.....god gives a glimpse of happiness to many, and then casts them down headlong."”
Lawrence Alma-Tadema's Pandore
The Ancient Greek creation myth we recognize today was written by Hesiod, a poet that lived in the 8th century B.C. about the same time as Homer. Some of the main principles of “Hesiod's View of History ('The Five Ages of Humanity') are: “A) The gods (Zeus, in particular) create and dispose of humankind (Bronze Age people, Heroes, Iron Age people). B) History is on a downward path, in terms of ethics. C) Technology is not a good thing in itself (fire, metals, war). D) Mankind tends to be self-destructive. The ultimate state (Age of Iron) shows mankind as the self-centered egotistical individual without social restraints. E) Justice (Dike) and Shame (Aoidos) are the last divinities to abandon the earth to wicked mankind. They represent a society which is 'tradition directed' and 'other directed', rather than a society in which people are 'self-directed' ethically. 'What people think' strongly influences the idea of good or 'correct' actions. Actions are what are emphasized, not motives.
The Pandora Story comes from Hesiod. The main points to take away from it are: 1) Zeus is vengeful and fearful. Humanity with intelligence and technology is dangerous. 2) Woman is invented to distract, harass and confuse men. She is 'the beautiful evil in recompense for the blessing of fire.' 3) If a man marries, he suffers with women. If he does not, he suffers the loneliness of old age, the greed of distant relations, and the danger of being forgotten when dead. 4) "It is not possible to go beyond the Will of Zeus nor to deceive him." 5) The children of Epimetheus and Pandora, Deucalion and Pyrrha (Mr & Mrs Noah) are saved from the great catastrophic Flood because: a) Deucalion was the man most devoted to justice. b) Pyrrha was the woman most reverent toward the gods. Their son, Hellen, is the ancestor of all of the Greeks (the first "Hellene"). His sons are Doros, Aeolos, and Xuthus (father of Ion). 6) The human race is repropagated according to the prophetic advice of THEMIS, Prometheus' mother (an earth goddess, a Titan).
Prayers and Power of the Ancient Greek Gods
The Greeks believed that the gods could see everything that humans did and could, if they choose, fulfill such needs as food, shelter and clothing as well as wants like love, wealth and victory. They sought the protection of the gods from their enemies, disease and the forces of nature. Prayers often begin “by identifying the god/goddess being petitioned, and the realm for which he or she was responsible. Former requests are mentioned, the results and the offerings made. Then the new request is presented for consideration. [Source: Canadian Museum of History]
Pantheon and the Gods of Mount Olympus
The Greek Pantheon consisted of the Olympian gods and other major deities, along with many minor deities and demigods. The word pantheon, which refers to all the gods of a particular culture, comes from the Greek pan (all) and theoi (gods). The principal deities, six gods and six goddesses, lived on Mount Olympus, the highest peak in Greece. [Source: Encyclopedia.com]
Marianne Bonz wrote for PBS’s Frontline: “According to Greek mythology, when the sons of Cronus divided the universe among themselves, Zeus received the regions above the world, Poseidon claimed the vast regions of ocean as his domain, and Hades was given the regions beneath the earth. But, except for Hades, who preferred his underworld domain, it was agreed that the clouds above Mt. Olympus should be the common dwelling place of all the gods.[Source: Marianne Bonz, Frontline, PBS, April 1998. Bonz was managing editor of Harvard Theological Review. She received a doctorate from Harvard Divinity School, with a dissertation on Luke-Acts as a literary challenge to the propaganda of imperial Rome.]
Ancient inscriptions and surviving writings show that the prayer usually sounded something like this: ‘Oh Great Poseidon, brother of Zeus, Lord and Ruler of the Seas, I call on you to help me once again. Last year I asked you to protect my ship and its crew during that violent storm. You made the waters tranquil almost immediately and I honored your name with offerings in your temple. This time, on the day of the month sacred to you, I am beginning a long voyage to a distant land and I seek your blessings for fair weather and calm seas. At dawn today I ask you to accept this offering.’
“According to an ancient Greek myth it was the titan Prometheus who was instrumental in determining the nature of the offerings to be made to the gods. He made up two bundles from the body of a sacrificed animal. In the smaller bundle he put all the choice cuts of meat. In the larger, he put the bones of the animal and covered it with fat. Zeus was asked to select the portion that should always be offered to the gods. Zeus quickly, and rashly, selected the larger bundle finding out later that he had passed up on the better portion.” |
Mount Olympus gods
“Assembled on Mt. Olympus, the gods formed a kind of extended family, an exclusive society, with its own laws and hierarchy. First came the twelve great gods and goddesses: Zeus, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Hermes, Ares, and Apollo; Hera, Athene, Artemis, Hestia, Aphrodite, and Demeter. Not part of this original twelve but placed with them were several other deities, the most important of whom are Helios and Selene (the sun and the moon) and Dionysus.
“As the first among equals, the mighty Zeus ruled over this frequently contentious and somewhat dysfunctional Olympian family. These gods were thought of as resembling people, except they were much bigger, more powerful, and usually more beautiful. Like mortals, they experienced emotions, such as love, hate, anger, and jealousy. But unlike mortals, their bodies always healed from the wounds of war or the ravages of disease, and they never aged. The gods also possessed the ability to change themselves into all manner of disguises, including those of animals and inanimate objects.
The king of the gods and father of many of them was Zeus. He was originally a weather god or sky-god controlling thunder, lightening and rain but as time went on he took on more responsibilities such as upholding justice and the law. Endowed with supreme strength and wisdom he was far more powerful than the other gods but, even so, he was subject to the limitations imposed by the three Fates, who controlled the destinies of humankind and, some said, of the gods themselves. [Source: Canadian Museum of History]
“The god Poseidon, a brother of Zeus, not only looked after the seas; he was also in charge of earthquakes and horses. Quarrelsome, surly, petulant and greedy were some of the adjectives used to describe him and he was reputed to hold a grudge for a long time. His symbol was the trident or fish spear which could cause earthquakes or create springs when struck on the ground. Hera was the sister and wife of Zeus, which automatically made her Queen of the gods. She was also considered to be the goddess of marriage, a particularly daunting task given the roving eye of the King of the gods- little wonder she was accused of being jealous. |
“Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and the daughter of Zeus and the goddess Metis, believed to be the wisest deity. Athena also looked after arts and crafts (technology) and was regarded as the guardian of the working woman. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and concerned with beauty and procreation. She held a special place in the hearts of sailors. Apollo was the god of music, of health, healing and human enlightenment. His twin sister Artemis was the goddess of hunting and, oddly enough,guardian of wildlife. Ares was the god of war and essentially a troublemaker. Other major deities include Demeter, goddess of agriculture, Hermes, messenger of the gods as well as Dionysus and Hephaistos.” |
Major Greek Gods
Zeus 1) Zeus (Jupiter to Romans) was the supreme god.
2) Poseidon (Neptune to Romans) was the god of the sea and brother of Zeus.
3) Hades (Pluto to the Romans) was god of the Underworld and brother of Zeus.
4) Hestia was the goddess of hearth and home and sister of Zeus
5) Hera (Juno to Romans) was the god of marriage and the wife of Zeus.
6) Hephaestus (Vulcan to Romans) was the god of fire and blacksmiths. He was the son of Hera
7) Ares (Mars to Romans) was the god of war and the son of Zeus.
8) Athena (Minerva and Pallas Athene to Romans) was the god of wisdom and skills, and the favorite daughter of Zeus.
9) Apollo (Apollo to Romans) was the god of the sun, light and music and the son of Zeus.
10) Aphrodite (Venus to Romans) was the goddess of love and daughter of Zeus.
11) Hermes (Mercury to Romans) was the god of traveling, merchants and thieves, an escort of the dead, and a messenger of the gods. He was also a son of Zeus.
12) Artemis (Diana to Romans) was the goddess of hunting, wild nature and newborn children. She was the twin sister of Apollo.
13) Eros (Cupid) was Aphrodite's son.
14) Demeter (Ceres to Romans) was the goddess of fertility and harvest.
15) Dionysus (Bacchus to Romans) was the god of drama, dance, music, fertility and wine.
Iconography of the Twelve Main Greek Gods
According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “There were twelve principal deities in the Greek pantheon. Foremost was Zeus, the sky god and father of the gods, to whom the ox and the oak tree were sacred; his two brothers, Hades and Poseidon, reigned over the Underworld and the sea, respectively. Hera, Zeus's sister and wife, was queen of the gods; she is frequently depicted wearing a tall crown or polos. Wise Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, who typically appears in full armor with her aegis (a goat skin with a snaky fringe), helmet, and spear, was also the patroness of weaving and carpentry. The owl and the olive tree were sacred to her. [Source: Collete Hemingway, Independent Scholar, Seán Hemingway, Department of Greek and Roman Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2003, metmuseum.org \^/]
“Youthful Apollo, who is often represented with the kithara, was the god of music and prophecy. Judging from his many cult sites, he was one of the most important gods in Greek religion. His main sanctuary at Delphi, where Greeks came to ask questions of the oracle, was considered to be the center of the universe. Apollo's twin sister Artemis, patroness of hunting, often carried a bow and quiver. Hermes, with his winged sandals and elaborate herald's staff, the kerykeion, was the messenger god. Other important deities were Aphrodite, the goddess of love; Dionysos, the god of wine and theater; Ares, the god of war; and the lame Hephaistos, the god of metalworking. The ancient Greeks believed that Mount Olympos, the highest mountain in mainland Greece, was the home of the gods. \^/
Behavior of Greek Gods
The Titans in Dante's Inferno
The earliest gods worshiped by people are believed to have been closely connected to things of importance in their immediate natural world: the weather, the foods they ate, water, dangerous animals, animals that provided foods, disease, mothers. As time went on gods also became connected with human activities and affairs — hunting, harvests, war, love, morality, cities — and rituals and methods of worship were developed to honor them.
The Greek gods were very real to the ancient Greeks and their behavior was dictated was much by passion and weakness as their human subjects. Many Greek gods were originally local gods that wove their way into general Greek scheme. Some gods were highly regarded in some city-states and ignored in other.
Unlike Egyptian gods, the Greek gods were very much like human men and women. There were no animal gods or gods with animal heads (some like Pan had a few animal parts, and some monsters were animal-like). And although they were powerful and heroic they possessed many human shortcomings, such as jealousy, lust and envy. The schemed and plotted and were more like self-indulgent teenagers than all-knowing dispensers of life and justice.
Hesiod and Theogony
The story of creation and other stories comes from “Theogeny” by the Greek poet Hesiod who claims the Muses told him the story while he was tending sheep. The poet Hesiod lived in the same timeframe as Homer, perhaps around 700 B.C. Most scholars agree that he was born in Boeotia and Hesiod himself in one of his major poems - Works and Days - characterizes his homeland as “a cursed place, cruel in winter, hard in summer, never pleasant”. (According to legend he became involved in a bitter land dispute with his brother which, if true, might have coloured his perspective on the matter.) [Source: Canadian Museum of History |]
“Hesiod’s birthplace was at the foot of Mount Helicon and tradition has it that the nine muses lived on the mountain. Hesiod credits them with inspiring his words, of breathing into him “a divine voice to celebrate things that shall be and things that were aforetime.” (Theogeny, lines 31-32) |
“Hesiod is remembered for two poems in particular: “Works and Days” and “Theogeny.” The former is an 800 verse poem that extols the virtue of honest labour, a sentiment echoed in later Christian writing that “by the sweat of thy brow thou shalt earn thy bread”. The latter work tells the story of the origins of the world and of the Greek pantheon. Hesiod is credited with a number of other poems but of these only fragments have survived. He is considered to be the first Greek didactic poet.” |
See Separate Article: HESIOD, THEOGONY AND CREATION OF ANCIENT GREEK GODS AND THEIR UNIVERSE europe.factsanddetails.com
Mt. Olympus
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Mount Olympus The Greeks believed their gods dwelled on Mt. Olympus, which the Greeks believed was the highest mountain in the world. Zeus and his community of nine gods occupied it because he won a lottery against Poseidon and Hades soon after creation The ten residents of Mt. Olympus were: 1) Zeus, 2) Hestia, 3), Hera, 4) Ares, 5) Athena, 6) Apollo, 7) Aphrodite, 8) Hermes, 9) Artemis, and 10) Hephaestus
The God kept their privacy because Mt. Olympus was often shrouded in clouds. But they could also look down on human kind and interact with them.
There are a lot of mountains that claim to be Olympus, I know of three in Turkey alone. The one that is generally accepted to the home of the Gods is a great massif of limestone that rises up from the Aegean Sea in east-central Greece and extends for 25 miles between Macedonia and Thessaly. See Greece.
In the “Odyssey” , Homer described Olympus in this way:
” Olympos, where the abode of the gods stands firm
and unmoving
forever, they say, and is not shaken with winds nor
spattered
with rains, nor does snow pile ever there, by the
shining bright air
stretches cloudless away, and the white light
glances upon it”
Mt. Olympus is a real mountain in Greece. Located 73 miles south of Salonika, it is 9,570 feet high, making it the highest mountain in Greece. Extending for 25 miles between Macedonia and Thessaly, it is a great massif of limestone that rises up from the Aegean Sea in east-central Greece. There are a lot of mountains that claim to be Olympus, I know of three in Turkey alone, but this is one that is generally accepted to the home of the Gods.
Mount Olympus was first climbed in 1913 by two Swiss mountaineers and a Greek, Christos Kakalos. Since them thousands of climbers and hikers have made it to the top. A plan to develop the mountain with a ski resort, hotels and a cheesy amusement park with a Greek God theme was scuttled after a group of hikers led by the legendary Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner hiked to the summit and held a demonstration there in 1989.
Greek Gods Today
Hardly anyone worships the Greek and Roman gods anymore. A small but passionate group of around 1,000 devotees of the Olympian gods remain active in Athens. They find it disturbing that Christians enter Greek temples and Christmas music has been played there. Nikolaos Tziotis, secretary of the Committee of for the Recognition of the Greek Religion of the 12 Gods, told AP, "The Parthenon, temple of Athena, is a sacred place of the Greek religion. It is the greatest blasphemy for songs of another religion to be heard there and we will not allow it."
Most Greeks do not take the group seriously and the Orthodox church regards them as a "New Age" cult. The Greek government hasn’t accepted their application to be recognized as an official religion because they don't have a formal place of worship.
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Greece sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Hellenistic World sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; BBC Ancient Greeks bbc.co.uk/history/; Canadian Museum of History, Perseus Project - Tufts University; perseus.tufts.edu ; MIT Classics Online classics.mit.edu ; Gutenberg.org, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Live Science, Discover magazine, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, Encyclopædia Britannica, "The Discoverers" and "The Creators" by Daniel Boorstin. "Greek and Roman Life" by Ian Jenkins from the British Museum, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP and various books and other publications.
Last updated September 2024