12 Greek Gods and Goddesses

Cruel and fickle, passionate and vindictive, jealous and insecure, petty
and insane: the inhabitants of Mount Olympus represent an attempt by
the ancient Greeks to explain the chaos of the universe through human
nature. Thus, like every deity invented before and since, these gods and
goddesses are embodiments of human solipsism. (Of course lightning is
caused by a giant, angry man in the sky…obvi. I mean, what else could it
be?) The stories of their battles, bickering, and sexual conquests have
indelibly influenced the course of Western language and narrative. Here
is a selection of some of the A-list names of the Greek pantheon.
 Aphrodite
 Titian: Venus and Adonis© Photos.com/Jupiterimages
Aphrodite was the goddess of love, sex, and beauty. Unsurprisingly
for a love goddess, she was said to have emerged from the foam
generated when the severed testicles of her father, Uranus, were
thrown into the sea by his son, the Titan Cronus. (Or is that
surprising?) Kind of makes Botticelli’s surreally lovely Birth of
Venus—which depicts Aphrodite’s Roman counterpart emerging
from the waves—a little more visceral, doesn’t it?
 Athena
 Athena© Sergey Rusakov/Shutterstock.com
Athena was the goddess of reason, wisdom, and war. She famously
sprung fully formed from the forehead of Zeus. A major figure in
the Odyssey, in which she instructed Odysseus, she also guided
Perseus and Heracles through their trials. The Parthenon was her
chief temple in Athens, which is named in her honor. Her Roman
equivalent was Minerva.
 Artemis
 ArtemisAlinari/Art Resource, New York
Artemis was the fleet-footed goddess of the hunt. Often depicted in
painting and sculpture with a deer or a hunting dog, she was both
huntress and protectress of the living world. Her Roman equivalent
was Diana.
 Ares
 AresAnderson—Alinari/Art Resource, New York
Ares was the god of bloodlust. (His half-sister Athena represented
the more "noble" aspects of combat and civil conduct during war.)
Though his fellow deities weren’t particularly fond of him, the
Spartans had no problems, er, donating some prisoners of war to
his worship. And sacrificing dogs…yeah, that’s right, Ares liked
dead puppies. Jerk. His Roman equivalent was Mars.
 Apollo
Alinari/Art Resource, New York
The twin brother of Artemis, Apollo was among the most important
(read: feared) of the gods. Son of Zeus, he disseminated the will of
his divine compatriots through various means, notably oracles. The
Oracle at Delphi was his mouthpiece; a 2001 study determined that
 the oracle was likely hallucinating due to ethylene gas rising from
the rocks beneath the temple.
 Demeter
 Demeter© Magryt/Dreamstime.com
Demeter, an agricultural goddess, was mother to Persephone, who
was abducted by the underworld god Hades to be his bride. While
searching for her stolen daughter, she accepted the hospitality of
the royal family of Eleusis. The Eleusinian Mysteries, perhaps the
most important religious rites in ancient Greece, are attributed to
her teachings. Her Roman equivalent was Ceres.
 Dionysus
Dionysus© Photos.com/Thinkstock
Dionysus was a son of Zeus born to a mortal mother. When Zeus
accidentally killed her, he sewed the young Dionysus into his thigh
and, when the young god emerged, passed him to the care of the
 maenads. The cult of Dionysus revolved around intoxication, sex,
and savage ritual sacrifice. He was often symbolized by a bull due
to his association with the sacrificial animal. Elements of his
character are seen in the Roman god of wine, Bacchus.
 Hades
 Gian Lorenzo Bernini: Pluto and ProserpinaAnderson—Alinari/Art
Resource, New York
Hades ruled the world of the dead, with which he was sometimes
synonymous. The chilly lord of the underworld was among the few
Greek gods to come across as dispassionate. He was not the
ultimate judge of the souls that wandered his domain nor did he
mete out their punishments for sins committed during their mortal
lives. He was, however, cunning; he tricked Persephone into eating
enchanted pomegranate seeds so that she would have to remain
with him for a portion of the year.
 Hera

the gods on OlympusAlinari/Art Resource, New York

The queen goddess of Olympus, Hera was both sister and wife to
Zeus. Though she is often depicted as reserved and austere, she
was mercilessly vindictive when it came to her husband’s [many]
extramarital adventures. Unfortunately for the objects of Zeus’s
godly affections, Hera tended to torment the "other women" (and
their offspring, including Heracles) rather than Zeus himself. Her
Roman equivalent was Juno.
 Hermes
 HermesCourtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
Like many gods in the Greek pantheon, Hermespresided over
multiple spheres. He was a pastoral figure, responsible for
protecting livestock, and was also associated with fertility, music,
luck, and deception. In the Odyssey, he is depicted as a messenger
god. His Roman equivalent was Mercury.
 Poseidon

PoseidonWGS Photofile
Poseidon is best known as the Greek sea god, but he was also the
god of horses and of earthquakes. (Thus, many of his temples were
inland.) And he had some seriously strange children. Though
humanoid, he fathered both the winged horse Pegasus (by Medusa,
no less) and the Cyclops Polyphemus, who is blinded by Odysseus
and his crew in the Odyssey. His Roman equivalent was Neptune.
 Zeus

Anderson—Alinari/Art Resource, New York

With the assistance of Hades and Poseidon, Zeus overthrew his
father, Cronus, king of the Titans, and became the chief deity in a
new pantheon comprising mostly his siblings and children. In
addition to controlling the weather, Zeus was noted for his chronic
infidelity to his sister-wife, Hera. Among the results of his
weakness for comely mortal women was Helen of Troy. His Roman
equivalent was Jupiter.
Alcestis and Admetus, ancient Roman fresco (45–79 CE) from the House of the Tragic
Poet, Pompeii, Italy(photo by Stefano Bolognini).
Alcestis (/ælˈsɛstɪs/; Ancient Greek: Ἄλκηστις, Álkēstis) or Alceste, was a princess in Greek
mythology, known for her love of her husband. Her life story was told by pseudo-Apollodorus in
his Bibliotheca,[1] and a version of her death and return from the dead was also popularized
in Euripides's tragedy Alcestis.

Family
Alcestis was the fairest among the daughters of Pelias, king of Iolcus, and
either Anaxibia or Phylomache. She was sister to Acastus, Pisidice, Pelopia and Hippothoe.
[2]
Alcestis was the wife of Admetus by whom she bore a son, Eumelus, a participant in the siege
of Troy, and a daughter, Perimele.[3]

Mythology
Herbert Thomas Dicksee, Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Soul of Alcestis, 1884, private collection.
Many suitors appeared before King Pelias and tried to woo Alcestis when she came of age to
marry. It was declared by her father that she would marry the first man to yoke a lion and a boar
(or a bear in some cases) to a chariot. King Admetus was able to do this because he was helped
by Apollo, who had been banished from Olympus for one year to serve as a shepherd to
Admetus. With Apollo's help, Admetus completed the challenge set by King Pelias, and was
allowed to marry Alcestis. But in a sacrifice after the wedding, Admetus forgot to make the
required offering to Artemis, therefore when he opened the marriage chamber he found his bed
full of coiled snakes.[4] Admetus interpreted it a portent of an early death.[5]
Apollo again helped the newlywed king, this time by making the Fates drunk, extracting from
them a promise that if anyone would want to die instead of Admetus, they would allow it. And
when the day of his death came near, no one volunteered, not even his elderly parents, but
Alcestis came forward to die in place of her husband.[6] As a token of his appreciation for
Admetus' hospitality.[7] Heracles rescued Alcestis from the underworld, shortly after fighting
with Thanatos.