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Apollo | Apollo | Poetry, prophecy, medicine |
Aphrodite | Venus | Love |
Artemis | Diana | Hunt; moon |
Athena | Minerva | Wisdom; crafts; war |
Cronos | Saturn | King of Titans/ Golden Age |
Demeter | Ceres | Grainfields |
Dionysus | Bacchus/ Liber | Wine; theater |
Eros | Cupid/ Amor | Love |
Ge/ Gaea | Tellus | Earth |
Hades | Pluto | Underworld |
Hephaestus | Vulcan | Metals/ fire |
Hera | Juno | Queen of the gods, wife of Zeus |
Hermes | Mercury | Communications/ trade |
Odysseus | Ulixes/ Ulysses | Pertinacious hero |
Persephone | Proserpina | Queen of the Underworld |
Poseidon | Neptune | Sea |
Prometheus | Prometheus | Titan - benefactor of mankind |
Psyche | Anima | Soul |
Rhea | Cybele | Mother of the Olympian gods |
Uranus | Uranus | Sky |
Zeus | Jupiter/ Jove | King of the Olympian gods |
OLYMPIAN DYNASTY: FAMILY AFFAIRS
Love-affairs of Zeus (to name a few):
with mortal women:
+ Io (> cow) = Epaphus, fore-father of nations
+ Europa (bull) = Minos, king of Crete
+ Leda (swan) = two eggs; each hatched twins:
Helen of Sparta (= Helen of Troy)
Clytemnestra
Castor
Pollux Dioscuri (=
Zeus' Boys)
+ Danae (golden shower) = Perseus
+ Alcmene (husband) = Heracles
+ Semele = Dionysus (ascension of Semele)
with goddesses:
+ Metis, Titaness (swallowed) = Athena
+ Leto = twins:
Apollo
Artemis
+ Demeter = Persephone
+ Maia, nymph = Hermes
Hera retaliates by giving parthenogenetic birth to Hephaestus - the
arch-craftsman of gods, lame. Married to Aphrodite & divorced.
Water gods: all know future. - Proteus; Ocean & Oceanids; Nereus
& Nereids.
Lesser gods: Pan; nymphs; satyrs.
Gods periodically scheme and rebel against Zeus. He keeps them under
control with the help of Hecatoncheirs and Cyclopes.
Actually, it is the Moirai (3 sisters: Clotho; Lachesis; Atropos) who
really are in charge of the universe. They are weavers: Clotho/ Spinner
weaves the thread of life; Lachesis/ Chance measures it; Atropos/ Inevitable
One cuts it. Even gods fear and obey them. They mind their own business,
however, and report to Ananke/ Necessity.
Basic rules:
1. No god must undo anything wrought by other god.
2. Any god who has sworn by the waters of the river of death, Styx,
must keep his word.
3. Gifts and favors of gods, as well as their love, usually bring disaster
to mortals.