The Twelve Olympians

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the twelve Olympians are the major deities of the Greek
pantheon, commonly considered to be Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena,
Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus. They were called
Olympians because, according to tradition, they resided on Mount Olympus. Besides the twelve
Olympians, there were many other cultic groupings of twelve gods.

The Olympians were a race of deities, primarily consisting of a third and fourth generation of
immortal beings, worshipped as the principal gods of the Greek pantheon and so named because
of their residency atop Mount Olympus. They gained their supremacy in a ten-year-long war of
gods, in which Zeus led his siblings to victory over the previous generation of ruling immortal
beings, the Titans, children of the primordial deities Uranus and Gaia. They were a family of gods,
the most important consisting of the first generation of Olympians, offspring of the Titans Cronus
and Rhea: Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter and Hestia, along with the principal offspring of Zeus:
Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes and Dionysus. Although Hades was
a major deity in the Greek pantheon and was the brother of Zeus and the other first generation of
Olympians, his realm was far away from Olympus in the underworld, and thus he was not usually
considered to be one of the Olympians. Olympic gods can be contrasted to chthonic gods
including Hades and his wife Persephone, by mode of sacrifice, the latter receiving sacrifices in a
bothros (βόθρος, "pit") or megaron (μέγαρον, "sunken chamber") rather than at an altar.

The canonical number of Olympian gods was twelve, but besides the (thirteen) principal
Olympians listed above, there were many other residents of Olympus, who thus might be
considered to be Olympians. Heracles became a resident of Olympus after his apotheosis and
married another Olympian resident Hebe. According to Diodorus Siculus, some said that Heracles
was offered a place among the twelve, but refused as it would mean one of the original twelve
being "cast out". In the Iliad, the goddess Themis, who is listed among the twelve Titans, dwells
on Olympus alongside the other gods, making her a Titan and an Olympian at the same time.
According to Hesiod, the children of Styx—Zelus (Envy), Nike (Victory), Kratos (Strength), and Bia
(Force)—"have no house apart from Zeus, nor any dwelling nor path except that wherein God
leads them, but they dwell always with Zeus". Some others who might be considered Olympians
include the Horae, the Graces, the Muses, Eileithyia, Iris, Dione, and Ganymede.

Zeus (Jupiter)
King of the gods and ruler of Mount Olympus; god of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order and
justice.
The youngest child of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. Brother and husband of Hera and brother of
Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, and Hestia. He had many affairs with goddesses and mortals, such as
his sister Demeter and Leto, mortals Leda and Alcmene, and more. His symbols include the
thunderbolt, eagle, oak tree, bull, scepter, and scales.

Hera (Juno)
Queen of the gods and the goddess of marriage, women, childbirth and family.
The youngest daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Sister and wife of Zeus. Being the goddess of
marriage, she frequently tried to get revenge on Zeus' lovers and their children.
Her symbols include the peacock, cuckoo, and cow.

Poseidon (Neptune)
God of the seas, water, storms, hurricanes, earthquakes and horses.
The middle son of Cronus and Rhea. Brother of Zeus and Hades. Married to the Nereid Amphitrite;
although, as with many of the male Greek gods, he had many lovers.
His symbols include the trident, horse, bull, and dolphin.
Demeter (Ceres)
Goddess of the harvest, fertility, agriculture, nature and the seasons. She presided
over grains and the fertility of the earth.
The middle daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Also, the lover of Zeus and Poseidon, and the mother
of Persephone, Despoine, Arion.
Her symbols include the poppy, wheat, torch, cornucopia, and pig.

Apollo (Apollo)
God of Sun, light, prophecy, philosophy, archery, truth, inspiration, poetry, music, arts, manly
beauty, medicine, healing, and plague.
The son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis.
His symbols include bow and arrow, lyre, raven, swan and wolf.

Artemis (Diana)
Goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, virginity, the Moon, archery, childbirth, protection and
plague.
The daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo.
Her symbols include the Moon, horse, deer, hound, she-bear, snake, cypress tree, and bow and
arrow.

Ares (Mars)
God of war, violence, bloodshed and manly virtues.
The son of Zeus and Hera, all the other gods despised him except Aphrodite. His Latin name,
Mars, gave us the word "martial."
His symbols include the boar, serpent, dog, vulture, spear, and shield

Athena (Minerva)
Goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and warfare.[29]
The daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid Metis, she rose from her father's head fully grown and in
full battle armor.
Her symbols include the owl and the olive tree.

Hephaestus (Vulcan)
Master blacksmith and craftsman of the gods; god of the forge, craftsmanship, invention, fire and
volcanoes.
The son of Hera, either by Zeus or through parthenogenesis. Married to Aphrodite. His Latin
name, Vulcan, gave us the word "volcano."
His symbols include fire, anvil, axe, donkey, hammer, tongs, and quail.

Aphrodite (Venus)
Goddess of love, pleasure, passion, procreation, fertility, beauty and desire. The daughter of Zeus
and the Oceanid or Titaness Dione, or perhaps born from the sea foam after Uranus' blood
dripped into the sea after being castrated by his youngest son, Cronus, who then threw his
father's genitals into the sea. Married to Hephaestus, although she had many adulterous affairs,
most notably with Ares. Her name gave us the word "aphrodisiac", while her Latin name, Venus,
gave us the word "venereal". Her symbols include the dove, bird, apple, bee, swan, myrtle, and
rose.

Hermes (Mercury)
Messenger of the gods; god of travel, commerce, communication, borders, eloquence, diplomacy,
thieves, and games. He was also the guide of dead souls.
The son of Zeus and the nymph Maia. The second-youngest Olympian, just older than Dionysus.
His symbols include the caduceus (staff entwined with two snakes), winged sandals and cap,
stork, and tortoise (whose shell he used to invent the lyre).

Hestia (Vesta)
Goddess of the hearth, fire and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family; she was born
into the first Olympian generation and was one of the original twelve Olympians.
She is the first child of Cronus and Rhea, the elder sister of Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, and
Zeus.
Some lists of the Twelve Olympians omit her in favor of Dionysus, but the speculation that she
gave her throne to him in order to keep the peace seems to be a modern invention.

Dionysus (Bachus)
God of wine, the grapevine, fertility, festivity, ecstasy, madness and resurrection. Patron god of
the art of theatre.
The son of Zeus and the mortal Theban princess Semele. Married to the Cretan princess Ariadne.
The youngest Olympian god, as well as the only one to have a mortal parent.
His symbols include the grapevine, ivy, cup, tiger, panther, leopard, dolphin, goat, and pinecone.

The Abduction of Persephone by Hades (Summary)

Hades, the son of Cronos, was the brother of Zeus (king of the gods in Greek myth) and
Poseidon (god of the sea). Hades rules over the underworld, or Hell. This came about
because the three brothers divided up the world between them: Zeus took the heavens,
Poseidon the sea, and Hades, the underworld.

Hades ruled over the dead, with the help of a whole crew of demons who worked for him.
When Orpheus descended into the underworld to beg Hades for his wife, Eurydice, he
charmed Hades’ demon minions with his beautiful song. (We discuss the Orpheus and
Eurydice myth in a separate post.)
Persephone, meanwhile, was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter (or, in some versions,
the daughter of Zeus and Styx, the female embodiment of the river in the underworld).
She was Hades’ niece; this didn’t stop him from falling in love with her and abducting her
from the land of the living, taking her down into the underworld.

According to tradition, Persephone was picking flowers on the plain around Mount Etna,
on Sicily, when Hades appeared from out of the ground, and she was carried off by her
uncle. (Other versions have Persephone’s abduction taking place on Crete, or along the
River Cephussis at Eleusis.) She is said to have been pulling a narcissus flower out of the
earth when Hades appeared from the small hole underneath where the flower had been.

Zeus aided his brother Hades in this abduction. Demeter, Persephone’s mother, heard her
daughter’s screams as she was carried off by Hades, but she was unable to find her.
Demeter effectively went on strike, abstaining from her role as earth goddess and
disguising herself as an old woman at the court of King Celeus at Eleusis. As a result, the
earth became sterile and no crops would grow.

When he saw what Persephone’s abduction had caused, Zeus decided that Hades should
return Persephone. However, it was too late by this point, as Persephone had eaten the
pomegranate seed, and this meant that she had to remain in the underworld.

To eat the fruit of one’s captor, in Greek custom, was to agree to remain with them; until
this point, Persephone had been fasting, but when she gave in and ate the pomegranate
seeds, her fate was sealed. (Ascalaphus was in the garden of Hades when she ate the
seed, and saw her do it; because this meant she had broken her fast, she was
condemned to remain with Hades, especially after Ascalaphus went and grassed her up.)
But Demeter was adamant: she wanted her daughter back with her. Zeus hit upon a
compromise: Persephone would spend half the year with Hades in the underworld, and
half the year in the land of the living, with Demeter. Specifically, Persephone would spend
the winter with Hades and the summer with Demeter. This would be repeated every year,
thus explaining the origins of the seasons of the year.

Prometheus and the Theft of Fire Summary

The story of Prometheus stealing fire from the gods is, like the story of Pandora’s Box, an
important ‘origin-story’ from Greek myth. But there’s much more to Prometheus than the
‘stealing fire’ story. Let’s delve into the world of Greek mythology, from over two
thousand years ago, to see why Prometheus is such a central, and fascinating, figure in
ancient myth.

Prometheus was the son of Iapetus and Clymene. Iapetus was a Titan, the Titans being
the group of gods who preceded the Olympian gods, so-named because they resided on
Mount Olympus.

Prometheus, then, was one of the first gods, a cousin of Zeus and a brother of Atlas, as
well as two other Titans, Moneotius and Epimetheus. But Prometheus is also credited with
creating the very first humans from clay, so he has a central place in the Greek pantheon.
And he would continue to be a friend to mankind.

Curiously, Prometheus’ name is said to mean ‘forethought’, with his brother Epimetheus’
name literally meaning ‘afterthought’. However, an alternative theory states that the
name Prometheus is cognate with the Vedic pra math, which literally means ‘to steal’,
which would obviously make sense given the story of Prometheus stealing fire and giving
it to humans (of which more below). So, although Prometheus may mean ‘forethought’,
we cannot be sure – even though it’s often repeated as though it’s incontrovertible fact.

And the Vedic connection points up Prometheus’ links with other trickster gods in other
civilizations. Most pantheons have one: Norse legends have Loki, while the Sumerians
had Enki, and the Vedic texts had Mātariśvan, who even brought fire to humankind.

As with the tale of Pandora’s Box, the story of Prometheus stealing fire from the gods first
turns up in the work of Hesiod, in his Theogony. (We’ve written about Hesiod’s other great
poem, the Works and Days, here.) And as with the story of Pandora’s Box, which wasn’t
actually a box at all, there is plenty that we get wrong, misremember, or simply do not
know about the actual myth, as it was first outlined in Hesiod.

The tale of Prometheus is well-known because it explains how mankind came into
possession of fire, thus enabling man to form civilizations. Or rather, it does and it
doesn’t.
You see, Prometheus didn’t so much steal fire from his fellow gods and give it to
humankind as steal fire back from the gods and give it back to humankind. In Hesiod’s
telling of the story – and his is the earliest full account of the story of Prometheus – man
already had possession of fire, but Zeus withdrew it. And it’s all because Prometheus
tricked him. Or rather, tried to trick him.

Why did Prometheus steal divine fire from his fellow gods and give it to man (or rather,
give it back to man) in the first place, though?
Once again, Hesiod lays out the backstory. It all goes back to a tasty bit of ox, which
Prometheus served up for his cousin and the other gods, as well as for the first men.
Prometheus, known for his cunning, served up the ox in two ways: to Zeus and the other
gods, he offered up the ox’s stomach, which didn’t look very appealing as you can
imagine. Inside the stomach, he had concealed the meat and entrails rich in fat, as well
as the fleshy skin of the ox.

Meanwhile, to the men, Prometheus served up the ox’s bones, which he had concealed
beneath a tasty-looking layer of the animal’s fat.

Zeus was annoyed. Why had Prometheus given the juicy-looking portions to the mere
mortals, while he and the other deities were being served up nothing but the ox’s
stomach? He called out Prometheus on this.
Prometheus – being cunning, remember – invited Zeus to choose whichever of the two
servings he would prefer, in that case. But Zeus was too canny to be tricked, and
promptly inspected the fatty bones and stomach full of juicy meat. Realizing Prometheus
had meant to trick him, he grew angry with his cousin for trying to give the juicy portions
of the ox to mere men, and as retribution, Zeus denied man the power of fire.

Denied man the power of fire. Which, of course, suggests that man had formerly had it.

Curiously, this story – known as the trick at Mecone, after the place where the sacrificial
meal took place – is also the origins of the ritual of burning the bones of an animal as an
offering to the gods, after a meal.

So, thanks to Prometheus’ wily ways, he’d managed to lose mankind their fiery powers.

But Prometheus, being cunning and rebellious, outwitted his cousin, and stole the flare of
eternal fire from Mount Olympus in, of all things, a tube of fennel. (The notes to Theogony
and Works and Days (Oxford World’s Classics) reveal that the stalk of the giant fennel
contains a dry pith which burns slowly, and this makes it a handy means of carrying fire
about the place.) He then took this flame to Earth, and gave it to men.

For this act he was punished by Zeus: chained to a rock and then subjected to the
agonizing ordeal of having his liver pecked out by an eagle. His liver would grow back
every night, so Prometheus would have to endure the same fate every day for eternity.

Except …

It wasn’t for eternity. Because, as Hesiod records, Heracles saved Prometheus from
further torture at the hands (or beak) of the eagle, and set him free. Prometheus was
released from his punishment. And Heracles did this with the permission of Zeus,
suggesting that the fearsome god had a forgiving nature … eventually.

Perseus and the Gorgon Medusa Summary

Perseus was the son of the Greek god Zeus and the woman Danae. He was
conceived when Zeus came to Danae disguised as a shower of gold. Danae’s
 father, Acrisius, discovered that his daughter had given birth to a son, and
threw both Danae and Perseus into the sea, in a wooden chest.

However, the chest washed up ashore on the island of Seriphos, where the
fisherman, Dictys, discovered it. He took them into his home and raised
Perseus as if he were his own son. Perseus grew up to be a brave and
handsome young man.

Dictys had a brother, Polydectes, who took a shine to Danae and wanted to
seduce her. Perseus, however, protected his mother from Polydectes. When
Polydectes invited his friends to dinner, he asked each of them for a gift. The
other guests all offered a horse, but Perseus said he could bring something far
more valuable: the head of the Gorgon, Medusa.

The next day, all of the other guests brought their horses as gifts to
Polydectes, but Perseus turned up with nothing. So Polydectes ordered him to
make good on his bold promise to bring him the head of Medusa. If Perseus
returned empty-handed, Polydectes said he would take Danae by force.

So Perseus set off on his mission. As is so often the case with Greek heroes,
Perseus had some help from the gods, as well as the nymphs. The latter gave
him several magic items which would help him in his quest: winged sandals
that enabled him to fly, a shoulder bag, and the helmet of Hades. This last
magic item was especially useful, as it made whoever wore it invisible.

Meanwhile, the god Hermes gave Perseus the harpe, a special sickle made of
adamant (an imaginary stone said to be of impenetrable hardness – not unlike
diamond).

Armed with these weapons and instruments of protection, Perseus set off to
find Medusa, one of the three Gorgons (the other two, Stheno and Euryale, are
far less famous; their extremely difficult and forgettable names probably didn’t
help). Medusa was the only one of the Gorgons who was mortal. They all had
snakes for hair.

However, looking directly at the Gorgons, it was said, turned the viewer to stone.
Thankfully, Perseus had help from the goddess Athena, who held a shield (made from
polished bronze) just over Medusa’s head, so that Perseus could use his winged sandals
to hover off the ground, look in the mirror provided by the bronze shield, and decapitate
Medusa.

From Medusa’s neck the famous winged horse, Pegasus, is said to have sprung
after she was decapitated. Less well-known is the story that a giant, named
Chrysaor, is also said to have been formed from the Gorgon’s severed body.

Satisfied that the Gorgon was dead, Perseus placed Medusa’s severed head
into his shoulder bag and returned home. Although Stheno and Euryale,
Medusa’s two immortal sisters, pursued Perseus on his journey home, he was
protected by the helmet of Hades, which prevented them from locating him.

Thus Perseus could return home, present Polydectes with the head of Medusa,
and protect his mother, Danae, from Polydectes’ unwanted attention.