POSEIDON
The older brother of Zeus and Hades is the god of the sea. With a flick of his trident, he causes storms and earthquakes – and his rage is famous among the gods! Poseidon lives looking to increase his domains in different areas of Greece
HADES
Even though he is the brother of Zeus and Poseidon, he does not live on Mount Olympus. Hades, as god of the dead, dominates his own territory (see The World of the Dead). Despite giving a bad image for his “function”, he is not a god associated with evil.
IVY
Third wife of Zeus and queen of Olympus, Hera is the goddess of marriage and childbirth. She is vengeful of her husband’s mistresses and the children of Zeus they bear. For the Greeks, Hera and Zeus symbolized the male-female union.
ZEUS
The youngest son of Kronos and Rhea (see Titanic Beginnings) is the leader of the gods who live on Mount Olympus. He enforces justice and order by hurling lightning bolts built by the Cyclopes. Zeus had several wives and affairs with goddesses, nymphs and humans
APHRODITE
The name of the goddess of love means «born of foam», because she was said to have emerged from the sea. Aphrodite is the most beautiful of the goddesses. Despite being the wife of Hephaestus, she had several affairs – with gods such as Ares and Hermes as well as with mortals.
HEPHESTUS
Son of Zeus and Hera, Hephaestus was born so weak and ugly that his mother threw him into the ocean. Rescued by nymphs, he became a famous craftsman. Impressed by his talent, the gods took Hephaestus to Olympus and named him god of fire and forge.
APOLLO
The god of light (represented by the Sun), arts, medicine and music is the son of Zeus and a titan, Leto. In his youth, he was vengeful, but later became a calmer god, using his powers for healing, music, and predicting the future.
ARES
The terrible god of war is another son of Zeus and Hera. On the battlefield he can kill a mortal with just his battle cry! Father of several heroes – humans who are protected or children of gods -, Ares still became one of Aphrodite’s lovers
ARTEMIS
Twin sister of Apollo, she is the goddess of hunting, represented by a woman with a bow – contradictorily, she is also the protector of animals… Artemis is a chaste goddess (virgin), who gets furious when she feels threatened
HERMES
Son of Zeus with the goddess Maia, the messenger of the gods and the protector of travelers and merchants. Represented as a man in sandals with wings, Hermes had a dark side: sometimes he brought lies and false stories.
ATHENA
She is the goddess of wisdom and the daughter of Zeus and his first wife, Metis. Her symbol is the wisest of birds, the owl. Skilled and expert in the arts and war, Athena carries a spear and shield called the Aegis.
TITANIC BEGINNING
The world arose thanks to the titan Cronus, later defeated by Zeus
The Greek mythological world begins with the couple Uranus and Gaia. Uranus (the sky) remained united with Gaia (the earth) in an act of constant reproduction. From this union, the titans were born, who could not leave the womb of Gaia. Unhappy with her imprisoned children, Gaia helped one of them, Cronus, castrate his father. With that, Uranus separated from Gaia, a metaphor that symbolizes the emergence of the world after the separation of heaven and earth.
Cronus began to reign, but, afraid of losing power, he swallowed the children he had with the titan Rhea. One of them, Zeus, escaped this fate and rescued the brothers. Zeus defeated Cronus in a great battle, which began the age of the gods.
THE WORLD OF THE DEAD
Territory of Hades has Heavenly and Hellish regions
In mythology, the soul of the dead goes to the underworld, ruled by Hades. To enter, you have to pay the boatman Charon, who crosses the River Styx. That’s why the Greeks buried the dead with a coin. In the underworld of Hades, the dead are judged by three judges. Those who lived a correct life are awarded and go to a region called Campos Elíseos, a kind of paradise, full of green and flowery landscapes.
But the subterranean world also has dark regions… The Greeks who “got it right” in life as mortals have Tartarus as their destination. Equivalent to the Christian hell, it is a deep pit, almost endless, dark, damp and cold.
GREEK MEZZA, ROMAN MEZZA
Check out the Roman names of these same gods
Zeus = Jupiter
Hera = Juno
Hades = Pluto
Poseidon = Neptune
Athena = Minerva
Hermes = Mercury
Apollo = Apollo
Artemis = Diana
Hephaestus = Vulcan
Aphrodite = Venus
Ares = Mars
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