Ancient Greek
Demigods and Goddesses

The title Greek demigods and goddesses, means that one parent was a god or goddess, and Zeus, the god of the heavens had many children as a result of his romantic involvement with mortals.



There have been other Greek gods and other non-Greek gods who have been named as demigods, but we will concentrate on the ancient Greek demigods and goddesses for this essay.

Achilles

Achilles Greek demigod of war was a demigod and Greek hero of the Trojan war, and an extremely handsome of all the Greek heroes. It is said that his mother bathed him in the Styx river to make him invulnerable to all harm, but she held him by his heel to do so, and that is where his principal weakness was considered.

Greek demigod Achilles and his mother at the River Styx

Achilles was the son of Thetis, a lesser sea nymph and his father was Peleus, the king of Myrmidons, an ancient tribe of Greece.

The centaur Chiron was said to have educated Achilles and watched over him as a child.

Greek demigod Achilles was the commander of the ancient Greek Myrmidons.

Greek god Zeus and Poseidon both admired Thesis and were rivals for her love, but, Prometheus the fire bringer warned Zeus that there was a prophecy that Thetis would bear a son, greater that his father, so both gods thought better of being romantically involved with her.

When Achilles troops stopped in Mysia, they had war with the king, Telephus, who Achilles wounded. Achilles later healed that wound at Argos and Telephus become the troops guide on their voyage to Troy.

Upset at the death of his friend Patroclus, Achilles fought in the Trojan war and killed Hector the brave prince of Troy. This was known in ancient Greek mythology as the Rage of Achilles.

Achilles attempts to repair Patroclus, pottery art

Aeacus

The ancient Greek demigod Aeacus was the son of Zeus and Aegina, daughter of a river god and was the Ancient Mythological king of the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf.

Aeacus was born on the island of Oenopia, where Zeus had hidden Aegina away from her angry parents. The islands name was then changed to Aegina.

He is said to be the father of Telamon and Peleus, and grandfather of Ajax, Achilles, and Neoptolemus.

He ruled the Myrmidons, whom Zeus had created for him out of ants, and helped to erect the walls of Troy.

He was loved because of his piety and justice; and was worshiped as a demigod at Aegina and Athens, and after his death was made a judge in the underworld.

Aeneas

Aeneas was a Greek demigod and a defender of Troy. Aeneas lead the survivors of the Trojan war to apart of the world, we now know as Italy.

According to Roman mythology, Aeneas became hero of the land and legendary father of the land we now call Italy.

Aeneas was also a nobleman as his father was Anchises a member of he Royal family of Troy. He met Aphrodite and she fell in love with him and Aeneas was born.

It also referenced that she asked that Anchises did not admit to this. Aeneas was raised by the mountain nymphs until he was five then returned to his father Anchises.

When Anchises revealed that the boy’s mother was Aphrodite he was struck by lightening. Some legends say that he was killed, other say that Aeneas carried him away and he survived.

When the Greeks invaded Troy, Aeneas did not join the conflict immediately. Some versions of the myth say that he entered the war on the side of his fellow Trojans only after the Greek hero Achilles had stolen his cattle.

Apparently, Aeneas did not like King Priam of Troy.

For his part, Priam disliked Aeneas because the sea god Poseidon had predicted that the descendants of Aeneas, not those of Priam, would rule the Trojans in the future.

Nevertheless, during the Trojan War, Aeneas married Creusa, one of Priam's daughters, and they had a son named Ascanius.

Alexander the Great

Alexander with Aristotle

After unifying Greece, Alexander defeated the Persian Empire, His conquests included Anatolia, the Levant, Egypt, Bactria and Mesopotamia, and he extended the boundaries of his own empire as far as India.

Alexander wanted to go to the ends of the earth and conquer all the lands. He was accredited for policy of fusion, which meant he allowed foreigners into his army.

He lived in what was deemed as the Hellenistic period, and died after 12 years of constant battle of disease and some say alcoholism.

In both Greek and non-Greek history and mythology he is the most Greek legendary hero, of the time.

Amphion

Greek demigod Amphion and his twin brother Zethos, built Thebes. Their father was Zeus and their mother was Antiope, who was the daughter of the river god Asopus, but according to ‘Homer’ is the daughter of the nocturnal king Nycteus of Thebes.

Her beauty made Zeus take the form of a satyr, a bearded horse tailed companion of Pan, who roamed the woods and mountains, and who were associated with vase painters with permanent erections.

Amphion and Twin Zethus built the wall of Thebes

Amphion was the husband of Niobe. His great skill was music, taught to him by Hermes, and it is said that the stones used to build the walls of Thebes moved themselves into position at the sound of his lyre.

Arcas

The son of Zeus and Callisto, who was a nymph of the goddess Artemis. Hera was incensed and changed Callisto into a bear and would have done worse to Arcas, but Zeus hid him in a place, now called Arcadia.

At a feast, the King Lycaon, placed Arcas on a burning alter as a test to Zeus, and dared him to rescue Arcas, his son. Zeus was so angry; he saved his son and turned Lycaon into the very first werewolf.

Arcas then became the new king of Arcadia.

He became a great hunter. He was in the forest one day and came across a bear, who was his mother. She went towards him to hug him.

He did not know the bear was his mother and he aimed an arrow at her. Zeus intervened and sent both of them to the heavens and their constellations are now known as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (big and little bears, also known as the big and little dipper).

Britomartis

Was a Greek demigoddess from the Crete Minoan era that is linked to the Mycenaean culture of Greek mythology.

Britomartis was a Minoan nymph goddess of mountains and of hunting, she was also called Diktynna (shortened to ‘Dicte’) ‘lady of nets’ and was the daughter of Zeus and Karme, and grand daughter of Demeter.

It was said that she spent lots of time with Artemis, and some ancient historians say that they were one and the same.

They also say that she was called the lady of nets, because as she fled from the clutches of Minos, into some fishermen’s nets. Other historians say that this is no so.

Britomartis is depicted on Minoan art such as coins, seals and rings, throughout Greece.

Clymene

Although there are a number of myths that can match this goddess, the most plausible is that it is Clymene, the nymph, one of 3,000 daughters of Oceanus, the Titan.

Clymene was the wife of Iapetus, and mother of Atlas. Clymene was one of the Oceanids from the aquatic deity. She is also the mother of Epimetheus and Prometheus.

Cycnus

Cucnus was reared by a swan

Achilles eventually tried to kill this formidable foe but could not wound him with his sword because Poseidon had made him invincible to the sword.

Achilles than tried to bury him under many rocks to smother him, but Poseidon saved him and changed him into a swan so that he could live. This is why all swans born since, have the name cygnet.

Dardanus

Dardanus the ancient Greek demigod, and founder of Troy, was the son of Zeus and Electra. He became the first king of Troy.

Dardanus also had a brother called Lasus, also called Lasion. Dardanus married Chryse and they had two sons, Idaeus and Dymas.

They all lived on a mountain and there was a great flood. The mountains disappeared and where they lived became islands.

Dardanus sailed away and eventually came to Samothrace. His brother Lasus was slain by Zeus for impregnating Demeter. According to ancient mythology, Dardanus later set sail for Asia.

His wife Chryse died and he took another wife called Batea and he had more children Zacynthus(island) and Idaeus (Mount Ida).

Dioskouroi or Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux

Dioskouroi is the name of ‘Sons of Zeus’ Castor and Pollux, where the twin sons of Zeus and also known as Gemini, (twins).

In ancient mythology, Tyndareus was the father of one twin Castor and Zeus, the father of Pollux.

The twins were sometimes known as Tyndaridae which is a reference to alternative fatherhood. Because of their fatherhood, Pollox was immortal and Castor was mortal.

When Castor died, Pollux wanted him to share in his immortality, so he asked Zeus to keep them together.

Zeus sent them into the heavens as the Gemini constellation. They are the patron saints of sailors. They are also referenced as St Elmo’s fire.

Helen

The Greek demigoddess was Helen of Troy and also known as Helen of Sparta. She was the Daughter of Zeus and Leda and was the wife of Menelaus of Sparta and sister to Castor.

Paris abducted her and it caused the Trojan war. She was called, the Face that launched a thousand ships by Christopher Marlowe, the English dramatist.

Heracles (also known by the Roman spelling, Hercules Greek mythology)

Of all the ancient Greek demigods and goddesses, Heracles has got to be a favourite.

Greek god of war, Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene and was the greatest of Greek Heroes. Because of Zeus’s love for Alcmena, Hera, Zeus’s wife hated Heracles.

He had extraordinary strength and power and sexual prowess with both male and female lovers.

He was driven mad by Hera and killed his own children in a mental frenzy. His punishment was to carry out 10 labours, set by his arch enemy Eurystheus.

It ended by him having to do 12 labours, and he was successful.

• To kill the Nemean lion.
• To destroy the Lernaean Hydra.
• To capture the Ceryneian Hind.
• To capture the Erymanthian Boar.
• To clean the Augean Stables.
• To kill the Stymphalian Birds.
• To capture the Cretan Bull.
• To round up the Mares of Diomedes.
• To steal the Girdle of Hippolyte.
• To herd the Cattle of Geryon.
• To fetch the Apples of Hesperides.
• To capture Cerberus.

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