Many people have a great love of the ancient Greek Gods and mythology, and loved the ancient Greek names and what they mean, including me, and I have always wished it to be explained more, in detail so that we can all share in the love of Greek gods and goddesses. To discover the origin of the ancient Greek God names. This I will try to do here...so wish me luck!
Before the Olympians, (who are the ancient gods of Greece we hear about the most) were the Titans, who were known as the elder gods and were said to rule the world.
Titans
Gaea was the neolithic earth-mother goddess, who created Greek god Uranus alone, and mated with him to produce the Titans. Out of all the Greek gods and goddesses, she must have been some woman!
The eventual ruler of the Titans was called Cronus, who seems quite a formidable ancient Greek god. It was said that he took over the ruling power from his father Uranus, the sky god and first ruler, by castrating him, therefore Greek god Uranus, either died or left the earth in disgrace. It is said that Cronus was encouraged by his mother Gaea to do this terrible deed to his own father. Ancient Greek Gods it seemed, showed no conscience when taking over rulership.
Cronus married Rhea. Their children were the first of the Olympians, so called because the lived at the very top of Mount Olympus. It is said that Cronus feared his own overthrowing by his children so ate them as each of them were born.
Rhea was so unhappy for the loss of her children and cleverly tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock instead of her son Zeus, she then sent Zeus to Crete to be guarded by the Kouretes.
Some say they gave Cronus a potion to make him vomit up all the other siblings of Zeus, Poseidon,Hades, and his sister, goddess of the hearth, Hestia . Poseidon god of the sea, and Hades, the god of wealth and god of the underworld.
The Olympians
Olympians Family Tree
After Zeus overthrew his father Cronus, he and his brothers Poseidon and Hades drew lots to become overall ruler of all the gods.
Zeus became lord of the skies, Poseidon became lord of the sea and was worshipped by all the seafarers. Hades had the worst draw of lots, and became lord of the underworld, ruling over the dead.
1. Zeus, lord of the sky and the rain god, whose weapon was a thunderbolt, married Metis and then later, Greek goddess Hera. He was known to punish all those that lie and break their word.
Zeus had a love for other women and his power made it difficult for women to resist. Metis was a titaness of the forth day and the planet Mercury, who presided over great wisdom and knowledge.
When she became pregnant with their daughter Greek goddess Athena, Zeus became worried when a prophecy was written, of Metis' second child, would overthrow him. He decided to eat Metis.
2. Poseidon, the brother of Zeus and Hades and Greek god of the sea. He married Amphitrite, daughter of Nereus and was a nymph of the sea. Their son is Titon.
Poseidon once was in love with Demeter who was a lesser goddess of corn, grain and harvest. Demeter asked for the creation of a most beautiful animal.
It is said that he created a horse, but he eventually cooled his ardour for her, showing his fickle nature. His famous weapon is the Trident, which can shake the earth and shatter anything that gets in his way. He is second only to Zeus in his power amongst Greek gods and has an argumentative personality, and very greedy and wanted his own way, he was certainly a man who liked the sound of his own voice.
3. Hades was brother of Zeus and Poseidon and became Greek god of the underworld and does not like to leave the underworld.
Hades is also god of money and wealth, because a lot of our precious metals come from the earth or underworld. Hades was a greedy god. He abducted Persephone (who was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter) and took her as his wife and queen of the underworld.
He is god of the dead but death is another god called Thanatos.
4. Athena. It is said that Greek goddess Athena sprang fully grown from Zeus' forehead, in full armour; Thus her mother is not mentioned much in the tales. Athena, the ancient goddess of the city, and agriculture, and hand crafts. According to Ancient Greek mythology, she invented the horse bridle and chariots, the trumpet,flute and rake, the plough and the ship.
Out of all the Greek gods, she was endowed with purity, wisdom and reason and was Zeus favourite child and was allowed to have the gift of the thunderbolt, like her father. Her tree is the olive tree, used throughout the ages and her bird is represented as the owl, wise and watching as herself. They say she was the virgin goddess.
5. Aphrodite the Greek goddess of love and desire and had relationships with men and gods. To the war god Ares, she was irresistible. Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus who was supposed to be ugly and lame. Her tree was the myrtle and her bird was the dove, sparrow and swan.
6. Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and is the twin of Apollo and the lady of all wild things. Greek goddess Artemis is the huntsman of the gods and was afforded silver arrows, like Greek god Apollo.
The Greek goddess Artemis was protector of the young and was associated with the moon. She also is a virgin goddess and linked to chastity. She presides over childbirth which goes back to causing Leto no pain during her birth. The cypress is said to be her tree and all wild animal fear her.
7. Apollo, the son of Zeus, and Leto and twin to Artemis. The god of music, the archer who like Artemis shot silver bow. Apollo, the god of healing and taught mortals medicine. He was the god of light and truth and could not lie, wow, that's something.
It is said he drove the sun across the sky each day on his chariot drawn by 4 horses and was known for his oracle at Delphi. His tree was a laurel, the crow was his bird and the dolphin was his animal.
8. Greek god Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. He is the ancient Greek god of war and by all accounts was a horrid piece of work. He loved to be knee deep in death, blood and violence. His affair with Greek goddess Aphrodite was uncovered by Hephaestus who ridiculed him in public. His animal was a dog,(poor dog) and his bird was a vulture.
9. Hestia is the sister of Zeus and a virgin goddess and goddess of the hearth, the symbol of the house where the new born of the home is set before received into the family. Each city had a public place representative of the hearth where the flame was never allowed to diminish.
10. Hera is both wife and sister to Zeus, but was raised by the Titans Greek god Oceanus and Tethys.
Hera, Greek goddess
Hera is the protector of marriage and all things to do with married women. It is said that Zeus courted Hera unsuccessfully, until he turned himself into a dishevelled cuckoo. Feeling pity for the bird, she held it to her breast for warmth.
Zeus then resumed his normal state and raped her, by first surprising her. She then married him out of shame for her state.
Many tales tell of her part in the revolt of other gods, by drugging him so that the other gods tied him with many knots. As the other gods quarelled, and did not notice young Briareus slip away to where Zeus lay tied and set him free.
As he hung Hera on a gold chain from the sky, her tears touched him deeply and he set her free after she swore never to go against him again. She carried jealous revenge for all his infidelities and often outwitted him. Her animals are the cow and the peacock.
There is a lovely tale that says Zeus had to quickly change one of his conquests Io into a white cow, before Hera came upon them together. Hera suspected as much, and asked for the cow as a present.
How could he refuse such a request? Hera sent the cow away to Arges, who had lots of cows. Zeus sent Hermes, one of his sons, disguised as a shepherd to fetch the Io. Hermes tricked Arges and killed him taking Io back to his father Zeus. Hera took the eyes of Hermes and set them into a tail of her favoured bird, the peacock!
11. Hermes is the son of Zeus and Maia and is the Zeus messenger, and the fastest of all the ancient Greek gods. Hermes wore winged sandals, hat and carried a magic wand. Her is the god of thieves and commerce. He guides the death to the underworld. He invented the lyre, a sort of harp, pipes, the musical scale, astronomy and weights and measures. He also invented boxing, gymnastics and his tree was the olive tree.
12. Hephaestus is the son of Zeus and Hera, though it is often said that she alone produced him. He was very ugly and lame from, some said from Hera throwing him from the top of Mount Olympus. Others say Zeus flung him for siding with Hera in an argument she had with him. He is the husband of Aphrodite, although some say his wife was Aglaia(one of the three Graces, Splendor).
