MenuThe Ancient Greeks believed in Gods and Heroes, who's existance attempted to explain the origins of the world. These myths and legends were past down through the ages in literature (hymns, poems, and plays) and through designs on pottery. They tell the tales of the beginnings of the universe
Out of Chaos (nothingness) emerged Gaia (the Earth,) Eros (Love,) the Abyss (the Tartarus,) and the Erebus. Gaia gave birth to Uranus, who fathered the Twelve Titans (six males: Coeus, Crius, Cronus, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Oceanus; and six females: Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Rhea, Theia, Themis, and Tethys,) followed by the one-eyed Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires. Cronus and Rhea then bore Zeus, along with other siblings whom Cronus had been hiding in his stomach.
The Major Greek Gods and Goddesses, which are also the best known in today's world, are:
- Zeus (Ζεύς): King of the Gods. God of the sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and justice.
- Hera (Ἥρα): Queen of the Gods. Goddess of marriage, women, childbirth, heirs, kings, and empires.
- Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη): Goddess of beauty, love, desire, and pleasure.
- Apollo (Ἀπόλλων): God of music, arts, knowledge, healing, plague, prophecy, poetry, manly beauty, and archery.
- Ares (Ἄρης): God of war, bloodshed, and violence.
- Artemis (Ἄρτεμις): Virgin goddess of the hunt, wilderness, animals, young girls, childbirth, and plague.
- Athena (Ἀθηνᾶ): Goddess of reason, wisdom, intelligence, skill, peace, warfare, battle strategy, and handicrafts.
- Demeter (Δημήτηρ): Goddess of grain, agriculture, harvest, growth, and nourishment.
- Dionysus (Διόνυσος)/Bacchus (Βάκχος, Bákkhos): God of wine, fruitfulness, parties, festivals, madness, chaos, drunkenness, vegetation, and ecstasy.
- Hades (ᾍδης): King of the underworld and the dead.
- Hephaestus (Ἥφαιστοςs): God of fire, metalworking, and crafts.
- Hermes (Ἑρμῆς): God of boundaries, travel, communication, trade, language, and writing.
- Hestia (Ἑστία): Virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and chastity.
- Poseidon (Ποσειδῶν): God of the sea, rivers, floods, droughts, and earthquakes.
