The Gods of Mount Olympus Family Tree Anwers

The Primordial Greek Gods

Greek mythology starts at the beginning of the world! The Greek Gods that existed then were the Primordial Gods. The famous work of Hesiod, called Theogony (meaning "birth of the Gods" in Greek), presents a complete cosmogony. Natural forces are personified and the almost basic components of the creation are Gods.

According to Hesiod, in the beginning there was Chaos. Chaos was the personification of the accented nothingness - an immerse, dark void from which all of the existence sprang. Out of Chaos came Eros, the god of love and procreation. Nosotros can meet that ancient Greeks considered love every bit ane of the most primal powers in the world. And so Tartarus was built-in, a dark place like the abyss and the original god of the Underworld. Goddess Gaia then followed, the personification of Earth. Erebus, the god of darkness, and Nyx, the goddess of the night, were also born from Chaos. From Gaia came Ourea, the god of the mountains, Pontus, the god of the sea, and Uranus, the god of the heavens.

The full list of the Primordial Greek Gods:

• • Achlys: the goddess of the eternal night. The beginning creature that some say existed even before Chaos himself. According to Hesiod, she is the demon of death.
  • Αether: the god of lite. The spark of life for every creature. Etymologically, Aether means the highest and purest layer of air.
  • Αion: the god of eternity. He was a ghostly primordial deity who personified the meaning of time (sometimes he is confused with god Chronos). In Greek, Aion means "century". Although incorporeal, he was besides portrayed as a monster with a snake trunk and three heads: one human (male person), i bull and i lion. Co-ordinate to a myth, Aion and his companion, Ananke (besides with a snake body), wrapped themselves around the catholic egg and broke it to form the "sorted" Universe (earth - sky - sea).
  • Ananke: the goddess of inevitability, compulsion, and necessity. She was an inevitable divine force.
  • Chaos: the god of the void. He was the outset of all life. According to most versions of Greek myths, Chaos pre-existed all.
  • Chronos: the god of time. Not to be dislocated with Aion (god of eternity) or Cronus (the Titan that nosotros will meet later).
  • Erebus: the god of darkness and shadow. He symbolizes the silence and the depth of the nighttime together with his sister, the goddess Nyx. He is usually represented as a winged, dark and huge beingness, a duo with Nyx.
  • Eros: the god of honey and procreation. Not to be dislocated with Eros, the winged god of want that nosotros will meet later.
  • Gaia: the goddess of the earth (Female parent Earth). She is the female parent of all - the primeval mother. At a cosmogenic level, she symbolizes the material side of the Universe whereas Anarchy symbolizes the space of the Universe. Eros symbolizes the driving strength that unites everything, giving birth to the residuum.
  • Hemera: the goddess of day.
  • Hypnos: the god of sleep and father of Morpheus.
  • Nemesis: the goddess of retribution.
  • Nesoi: the goddesses of islands.
  • Nyx: the goddess of dark. She was a sovereign, primordial and cosmogenic entity, respected and feared by most gods. She is the sister of Erebus, the god of darkness and shadow.
  • Ourea: the gods of mountains.
  • Pontus: the god of the bounding main and male parent of the sea creatures.
  • Tartarus: the god of the darkest and deepest part of the Underworld - the original god of the Underworld. The Underworld was the identify where the wicked are imprisoned and tortured eternally after their expiry.
  • Thalassa: the goddess of the sea and consort of god Pontus.
  • Thanatos: the god of decease. He is the twin brother of Hypnos (god of sleep) and lives in the dark Tartarus.
  • Uranus: the god of the heavens. He shortly became ruler of the world and father of the Titans.

The Titan Gods

According to Greek mythology and the ancient Greek religion, the Titans were the pre-Olympian gods. Their parents were Gaia (Mother Earth) and Uranus (god of heavens). They had two other species as siblings, born also from the marriage betwixt Gaia and Uranus: the Hecatoncheires (meaning "hundred-handed ones") and the Cyclops (meaning "circle-eyed").

How did the Titans get rulers of the earth

The first Titans were twelve; 6 male and six female. The youngest one was Cronus. At some betoken, Uranus decided that he did not like the Cyclops and the Hecatoncheires at all. He considered them also ugly and too powerful, so he imprisoned them in Tartarus, the depths of the Underworld. Gaia, the mother of the Cyclops and Hecatoncheires, did not like how Uranus treated her children. She became furious with Uranus and decided to accept revenge. She asked her other children, the Titans, to cut Uranus's genitals and overthrow him… The Titans were too afraid to practise that, except ane: the youngest of the twelve, Cronus. When Uranus approached Gaia, Cronus surprised Uranus and cut his genitals with a scythe. Cronus with his activeness had separated Uranus (the heavens) and Gaia (the Earth).

From the drops of Uranus' blood that roughshod on Gaia, the Erinyes (Furies), the Meliai and the Giants were built-in. The Erinyes were deities of vengeance. If yous broke an adjuration or wronged someone, they would chase you lot forever. The Meliai were nymphs of the trees, beautiful and gentle deities. The Giants were creatures of immerse strength and very aggressive.

With Uranus defeated, Cronus freed his siblings from the night Tartarus and the Titans became the new Greek gods. They immediately recognized Cronus as their leader and ruler of the cosmos and helped him consolidate his ability. After becoming the undisputed ruler of the globe, Cronus, fearing the power of the Hecatoncheires and the Cyclops like his father did before him, imprisoned them once again in Tartarus.

The total list of the Titans:

The first Titans, children of Uranus and Gaia, were twelve; six males and six females.

• • Cronus: the Titan god of the harvest. Cronus, although the youngest of the commencement twelve Titans, became the ruler of the world later overthrowing his begetter, Uranus. He and so married his older sis, Rhea.
  • Rhea: the Titan goddess of fertility and generation. She determines the flow of things and her name literally means "the one that flows" in Greek.
  • Oceanus: the Titan god of the oceans. He was the eldest son of Uranus and Gaia. His rule extended in every corner of the Globe and all parts of the horizon. Oceanus was the personification of water and he paired with his sister, the Titaness Tethys.
  • Tethys: the Titan goddess of the rivers and fresh water. She was the wife of Oceanus and the mother of more than 3000 River gods (rivers personified by the Aboriginal Greeks), the Oceanids (nymphs of springs, streams and fountains) and the Nephelai (nymphs of clouds).
  • Hyperion: the Titan god of light. His dazzling light shone in all directions. His proper name ways "the i who goes in a higher place the earth" in Greek. He symbolized eternal splendor. He fell in love with his sister, the Titan goddess Theia.
  • Theia: the Titan goddess of the aether. Theia bore the Titan Hyperion 3 shining children: Helios (the Sunday), Eos (the Dawn), and Selene (the Moon).
  • Iapetus: the Titan god of mortal life. He was symbolizing mortality and the mortal life-bridge. He fathered the Titans Atlas (who was responsible for bearing the weight of the heavens on his shoulders), Prometheus (who gifted burn down to men) and Epimetheus (who married Pandora, the offset mortal woman). Iapetus was also considered the personification of 1 of the four pillars that agree the heavens and the earth autonomously. He represented the pillar of the west, the other iii being represented by his brothers Crius, Coeus and Hyperion. The iv brothers actively played a function in the dethroning of their begetter Uranus; as they were all in the iv corners of the earth, they held Uranus firmly in place while their brother Cronus castrated him with a sickle.
  • Crius: the Titan god of constellations. His name in Greek means "ram" and information technology shows his connexion with the constellation Aries.
  • Coeus: the Titan god of intellect. He was too considered the apotheosis of the celestial axis around which the heavens circumduct. He married his sis, Phoebe.
  • Phoebe: the Titan goddess of prophecy and oracular intellect. Phoebe bore the Titan Coeus two children, Leto and Asteria. The Titaness Leto later copulated with the Olympian god Zeus and bore the Olympians Artemis and Apollo. Given that Phoebe symbolized prophetic wisdom only as Coeus represented rational intelligence, the couple may take possibly functioned together every bit the cardinal font of all knowledge in the cosmos.
  • Themis: the Titan goddess of divine constabulary and lodge. She besides had the ability to predict the time to come and thus, she afterwards became one of the Oracles in Delphi.
  • Mnemosyne: the Titan goddess of memory. Mnemosyne was more often than not regarded equally the personification of retentiveness and remembrance. Later, Zeus slept with Mnemosyne for nine sequent days, somewhen leading to the nascency of the nine Muses. In Hesiod's Theogony, the kings and poets were inspired past Mnemosyne and the Muses, thus getting their boggling abilities in speech and using powerful words. All the ancient writers appeal to the Muses at the beginning of their work. Homer asks the Muses both in the Iliad and Odyssey to assistance him tell the story in the most proper way, and even until today the Muses are symbols of inspiration and creative creation.

The Titans represented for the Ancients the forces of nature as well as natural phenomena. These forces ruled the world from the earliest times of creation. Only Themis and Mnemosyne represented more than mental states, justice and retention. During the boxing of the gods that followed (the and so-chosen "Titanomachy"), Themis and Mnemosyne were the merely two of the get-go Titans that did not side with their siblings in their war against the Olympians, and continued their form alongside the Olympian gods.

When Rhea became pregnant with the 1st child of Cronus, Uranus prophesized that Cronus' children will overthrow him as he overthrew Uranus. When Rhea gave nascency to their first child, Hestia, Cronus could not go Uranus' prophecy out of his mind. Overcome with fear and madness, and trying to avoid the fate his father had, he swallowed the newborn! The same happened to their next 4 children; Cronus devoured all v of his newborns! The but one who survived was the 6th and youngest child, Zeus. Rhea tricked Cronus into eating a rock instead of the baby and left Zeus to the island of Crete, to exist raised away from his mad male parent. Zeus grew older and stronger and eventually sought to free his siblings, leading to the ballsy battle between the Titans and the Olympians who the latter eventually won thus, overthrowing the previous generation of Greek gods.

It is worth noting that in that location were many more Titans than the same, descendants of the first twelve.

The Olympian Gods

The Gods of Olympus were the main Greek gods who lived on the elevation of mountain Olympus. The Olympian gods rose to power by defeating the Titans in the State of war of the Titans (too chosen the Titanomachy). They were the children of Cronus and Rhea. Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia and Demeter, Hades, and afterward on Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Athena, Hephaestus, Aphrodite and Ares. Over the years, the Demi-god Dionysus became part of their group on Olympus.

It is very common to refer to the Greek pantheon as "the 12 Olympian Gods". However, the ancient Greeks did not worship specific twelve gods. Instead, there were many more, major and lesser - but nonetheless important - gods and others that were worshiped locally.

The dominion of Zeus was not absolute. To obtain it, Zeus and his kind had to wrestle with the Titans and and then with the Giants. The Battle of the Giants was more than formidable and lasted more than years. The greatest Olympians took part in the battle. The Giants were non as immortal as the Titans. But they had tremendous power and a monstrous class. Subsequently a long and ferocious war, the Greek gods managed to defeat all Giants with the help of Zeus' demi-god son, the hero Hercules.

The Olympian gods had the same inclinations and the same desires, the same flaws and strengths as the mortals, even sometimes living in like conditions. They looked like humans, but they were, almost ever, prettier and stronger than humans. The gods could be transformed equally they wished or teleported to whatsoever place they wished to. This was also a motivation for the famous Greek hospitality, which was a very important institution in ancient Hellenic republic. The Greeks would always welcome with special joy any foreigner, who could, later all, be a god in disguise!

As tin can be seen from many myths, the gods of the Greeks were non indifferent to humans. On the reverse, they often came in contact with them, traveling secretly, transforming themselves into ordinary people, rewarding the skillful and punishing the unjust. The gods did non find a better manner to exist happy than to live as humans. But they were freed from two great sufferings of mankind: the fearfulness of deprivation and the fright of death. Indeed, the privilege of the gods is carefree. They never think virtually illness, old age, death. The nectar, the vino of the gods, and the ambrosia, the divine nutrient of Olympus, ensure beauty, health and happiness for the immortals.

The immortal Greek gods settled on the peak of Olympus. In that location, they congenital their divine palaces and from there they looked upon the whole world. The ancient Greek religion is based on wisdom. People admired the gods immensely, without envying them. Famous temples were built for them and famous works of art were inspired by them. The gods reflected the ideals of the ancient Greek people.

The full listing of the Olympian Greek Gods:

Zeus

Zeus was recognized equally the father of gods and humans. He regulated the celestial phenomena and divers the laws that govern people. He held the lightning bolt with ane hand and the scepter with the other, which had an eagle at the top. He was known equally the 'Lord of Justice'. People respected and feared him at the same fourth dimension. He was taking care of the families, keeping vigil in the domicile of every mortal and protecting strangers and passers-by from evil. Zeus' wife was the goddess Hera, to whom he was not e'er faithful. Greek mythology is full of love stories most Zeus, who liked to transform himself into anything he could think of and mingle with other goddesses or mortals.

Demeter

Demeter was the Greek goddess of agronomics and protected the trees, plants and grains. She was the get-go to brand the earth fruitful and taught people how to grow wheat, barley and other plants. Demeter is somewhat isolated from the twelve gods in ancient myths and this is considering she is an even more ancient goddess herself. The Greeks received her cult from the Pelasgians, who originally lived in Hellenic republic. According to Greek mythology, Demeter'due south daughter is mentioned as Persephone, who was in one case abducted past God Hades and became his married woman. The most sacred and hugger-mugger religious rites of aboriginal Greece, the Eleusinian Mysteries, were held in honor of Demeter.

Poseidon

Poseidon was one of the half-dozen children of Cronus and Rhea and brother of Zeus. He was allotted the kingdom of the body of water but he was also considered the god of horses and earthquakes. This is why he was called "the earth-shaker". He rarely lived on Olympus, preferring the depths of the ocean. He was sitting on a famous chariot drawn past immortal horses and property in his paw the famous trident, forged by the Cyclops. When Poseidon was angry, he plunged the trident into the sea and shook it whole from end to end. The sailors prayed to Poseidon and then that he spares them from his wrath.

Hades

Hades was the brother of Zeus and Poseidon and the god of the Underworld. He was allotted this kingdom when the three brothers took a draw to decide who will take each of three (heavens, sea and the Underworld). He liked to alive in the dark and shadowed globe of the dead and was rarely seen on Olympus. This is why, although he is one of the nigh of import gods, some lists practice not include him in the 12 Olympians. He was as well known as Pluto. "Plutos" in Greek means wealth. The Earth is giving us a lot of treasures and since Hades' kingdom is underneath it, the aboriginal Greeks believed that he was the one delivering the wealth to them. They really preferred to call him Pluto because the proper name Hades was another name for the Underworld and they did not like the idea of decease. The entrance to the Underworld is guarded by a monstrous dog, Hades' favorite pet, the three-headed Cerberus. In society for your soul to cross the silent river, you need to pay the ferryman, Charon, to carry y'all to the other side on his boat.

Hera

Goddess Hera was the sister of Zeus, girl of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and at the same time Zeus' wife. Hera symbolized and protected the sacred institution of marriage. She blessed and helped the women in labor. Greek mythology presents Hera every bit a modest, measured and faithful woman, but at the same time very jealous. There are virtually no myths that refer exclusively to Hera. Her proper name is nearly always associated with the myths well-nigh Zeus. However, Hera does not present herself every bit a goddess submissive to her sovereign husband. She had a strong female personality and she was the just one that dared to object to him.

Apollo

Apollo and Artemis were siblings, twins actually, children of Zeus and Leto, a Titan goddess. According to tradition, the two children were built-in on the island of Delos. Apollo is one of the near important and complex Greek gods. He is the god of lite, music and poetry, healing and prophecy. He was the ane that established the great Oracle of Delphi, which was considered the center of the ancient world. He was the instructor of the nine Muses and when they sang he accompanied them with his famous lyre.

Artemis

Artemis, Apollo's twin sister, was the goddess of hunting, wild animals and the wilderness. She spent her time in the forest, accompanied by the Nymphs, hunting, with her bow and arrows. She was a virgin goddess and protector of young girls. She was also worshipped equally i of the primary goddesses of childbirth and midwifery, relieving the women in labor from diseases. She was sometimes associated with the goddess of the moon.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite, the well-nigh beautiful among mortals and immortals, was built-in from the foam of the sea when Uranus' blood fell on it afterwards his defeat by Cronus. This fact makes her the eldest amid the Olympian Gods. Her proper noun literally means "risen from the cream". Aphrodite was worshipped as the goddess of beauty and passion. She could inspire love in the hearts of men and women. Near myths mostly present Aphrodite as a vengeful woman. Aphrodite was worshiped in all parts of Hellenic republic and many priestesses were serving her. According to Greek mythology, she married the god of fire and blacksmiths, Hephaestus, but she was in love with the god of war, Ares, with whom she bared many children amid which the winged god of beloved, Eros.

Ares

Ares, the god of war, was the son of the Greek gods Zeus and Hera. He was always followed by ii of his true-blue sons and followers, the gods Deimos and Phobos. Ares was handsome and strong, young and well-armed. He loved war and battles so he was hated by people and his worship was limited. Only in Sparta he was particularly worshipped and had a statue dedicated to him. Ares was tried, co-ordinate to tradition, for his many war crimes, in one of Athens' hills, the Areopagus Hill, which later became the seat of the criminal courtroom of ancient Athens.

Hephaestus

Hephaestus was the god of fire and blacksmiths. He was born ugly and that is why his mother, the goddess Hera, unable to attend him, threw him out of Olympus. Since then he has been limping. Hephaestus fell into the sea, where he was picked up past the Nereids and raised by them. Growing upward, he became a famous craftsman and set up his workshop on Mountain Etna in Sicily. With his various metals, he made works of art of incomparable beauty. He once made a golden throne and sent it to his mother Hera. As before long as Hera saturday downward, invisible chains bound her without anyone beingness able to untie them. They tried to persuade Hephaestus, only they only succeeded later they got him drunk outset. Hephaestus, the god of fire, gave his name to the volcanoes in the Greek linguistic communication. It was from him, that the Titan Prometheus took the fire and gave information technology to the people. Hephaestus was likewise the one who built the brass and gold palaces of Olympus.

Hermes

Hermes was the god of wealth, trade, thieves and travelers. He was also known equally the Messenger God, beingness the herald of the Olympians and carrying letters between them. He was the son of Zeus and Maia, daughter of Titan Atlas. He was a clever, inventive and big-headed god. As shortly as he was born, Hermes saw a turtle. He took her shell, placed vii strings in it and invented the lyre. He once stole the oxen guarded by god Apollo and locked them in a cave. He wouldn't acknowledge the theft, merely in the cease, he confessed. To avoid penalisation, he gifted the lyre to Apollo. Hermes wore winged sandals and held the caduceus, his wand which had two serpents twined around it. He was the one who accompanied the souls of the dead to Hades and for that, he was known as the "soul-bearer".

Athena

Athena, according to Greek mythology, was the goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare. Athena was the beloved daughter of Zeus. Her mother was the Titaness Metis, the kickoff married woman of Zeus. Zeus received a prophecy informing him that Metis would give nativity to the kid who would overthrow his father. To escape the prophecy, Zeus swallowed Metis while she was pregnant in Athena. Later, Zeus began to suffer from headaches and called on Hephaestus to aid him. Hephaestus hit the head of Zeus with his hammer and Athena sprang out in total armor. She is always pictured to be armed, never as a child, ever a virgin. She won the boxing for the patronage of Athens over Poseidon. The Parthenon in Athens is the most famous temple dedicated to her. Protector of heroes and wisest among the Gods, Athena was considered i of the most powerful and important Olympian Gods.

Dionysus

Although a demi-god, Dionysus managed to win the centre of the gods and his place on Mountain Olympus! As a god of wine, viticulture ritual madness and religious ecstasy, he was very beloved among the people and was considered a very of import god. He was the son of god Zeus and the mortal Semele. He was the patron god of theater and taught people how to make vino. The Athenians, to accolade Dionysus, held a famous celebration, characteristic of his merriment. Any use of strength was prohibited during such holidays.

Goddess Hestia

Hestia was the goddess of domestic life, habitation and hearth, the flame that kept a family unit's habitation warm. She was the eldest daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and the eldest sister of Zeus. In the middle of the ancient Greeks' home, there was an altar in her honor. The women of the house had every bit a responsibility to go on Hestia's flame burning. The worship of Hestia was continued with the worship of Zeus who protected the strangers-travelers. Goddess Hestia was the kickoff to invent the construction of houses, taught it to people and became the protector of family peace and happiness. She was always staying on Mount Olympus, keeping the sacred flame going.

Other Greek Gods

In improver to the above, at that place were other, lesser gods that people as well honored and respected. The Greeks often offered sacrifices to request their aid or proceeds their favor and congenital beautiful temples to award them. Some honorary mentions are:

• • Hecate: the goddess of magic and necromancy. She was the one that helped the goddess Demeter in search of her daughter. Dogs were closely associated with her. The ancient Greeks believed that when dogs suddenly barked at night, Hecate was passing by.
  • Aeolus: the god of the winds. He was supervising the viii Air current Gods (each wind direction was personified past ancient Greeks).
  • Asclepius: the god of medicine. He was the son of god Apollo who taught him the scientific discipline of medicine.
  • Eris: the goddess of jealousy and discord. She was the one that threw the gilt apple tree at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus because they did not invite her. Her action was the starting indicate that would later lead to the epic Trojan war.
  • Pan: the god of wild, shepherds and rustic music. He is considered to be one of the oldest Greek gods and was especially dearest among the people.

But at that place are so many other Greek gods! There are of grade deities who, although not bad, remained secondary or never exceeded their local character. Eileithyia, goddess of childbirth; the war god Enyalios and his companion Enyos; Lefkothea and Evrynomi, Mothers and Ladies of the Sea Animals, Lords of the Sea Animals past the names Glaucus, Proteus, Nireus, Forkis; and then many more.

Other deities are organized in groups according to their gender and age. The youthful forms are considered more important because they are always in move, dancing, singing. The Graces, the Muses, the Nereids, the Oceanids are some of the about popular groups of deities.

Many of these lesser Greek gods and goddesses are forces of nature. Cities accolade their rivers and springs with a special altar or temple, personifying them. The cult of the winds and the dominicus were likewise very popular. The Moon and Eos, the goddess of dawn, likewise appear in some myths, while the worship of the World in the traditional religion never stopped existing.

The existence of such deities has led to the idea that gods are personifications of natural phenomena and nature itself. The Greeks, for example, considered the rivers gods, children of the great gods. The Nymphs could exist found in springs and fountains that were considered sacred places; waters from sure springs were considered fertile, therefore they were related to the ritual bath of the groom before the wedding ceremony; newborns were thrown into the water of a specific sacred source to exist blessed and accept a proficient life.

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