All the Greek Gods – The Primordials – The Titans and the Olympians

 

 

In Greek mythology, so said Hesiod, a Greek poet writing between 750-650 BC, in his poem “Theogony” (birth of the gods),

Chaos was the origin of everything.

Hesiod goes on to tell us that Chaos created the universe (the big bang, the gap which separates Heaven from Earth) and gave us the first Greek gods, the primordial deities; the first generation of Greek gods and goddesses; Gaia, Mother Earth and Uranus (Heaven).

Gaia and Uranus went on to produce the second generation of Greek gods, The Titans, who in turn gave birth to the third and fourth generation of Greek gods; the Olympians.

The Olympians eventually overthrew the Titans during in the battle of the Titans known as “The Titanomachy”.

 

The Primordial Deities

Gaia (Mother Earth) and Uranus (Heaven)

 

 

  The Primordials, the first generation of gods and goddesses, created from Chaos, were Gaia (Mother Earth) and Uranus (Heaven) who lived on Mount Othrys, a mountain range of central Greece in the northeastern part of Phthiotis and southern part of Magnesia.

 They produced three sets of children:

The Titan gods, the Cyclopes, who were giant one-eyed creatures and the Hecatoncheires, also giants, three in number, each with fifty heads and one hundred arms.

 

The Titans

The Original Greek Gods

 

 

In Greek mythology the Titans, giant immortal gods, are the children of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth).

 

Oceanus

 God of Oceanos  – The River Encircling the Earth

 

 

Oceanus, the oldest of the Titans, was god of the River Oceanos which encircled the entire world.

Oceanus was married to his sister, Tethys, Titan goddess of bodies of water, with whom he had numerous children, called Oceanids.

Celestial and all water nymphs of ancient Greece, regardless of whether they were sea or freshwater nymphs, according to Greek mythology, are descendents of Oceanus.

In ancient Greek art, Oceanus was depicted having bull horns and the tail of a serpentine fish instead of legs.

 He was later considered as a simple sea god or the personification of the sea.

As Oceanus and Tethys were not involved in the Titanomachy against Zeus, they continued to rule over their kingdom.

 

Tethys

 Goddess of all Freshwater Springs

 

 

Tethys, goddess of bodies of water, was married to her brother, Oceanus and gave birth to the river gods and water goddesses, called Oceanids.

During the War of the Titans, Tethys was taken by her fellow Titan, Rhea, to Hera, goddess of marriage and childbirth, who raised Tethys as her stepchild.

 

Hyperion

 God of Heavenly Light

 

 

Hyperion, meaning “he who goes before”, with his sister, the Titaness Theia, fathered Helios (Sun), Selene (Moon) and Eos (Dawn).

Hyperion, as was his son, Helios, was the personification of the sun, represented light, wisdom and watchfulness.

Hyperion, father of the sun, the moon, and the dawn, represented light, wisdom and watchfulness.

He is said to have been the Eastern pillar, one of the four that hold the heavens and the earth apart.

The other three pillars were his brothers Coeus (pillar of the north), Crius (pillar of the south) and Iapetus (pillar of the west).

These four Titans were also the ones who restrained their father Uranus, as Cronus castrated him with a sickle.

 

Theia

 Goddess of Eyesight and Things that Shine

 

 

Also known as Theia and Euryphaessa, Theia, meaning divine or goddess and Euryphaessa, meaning  wide and bright, she was honoured  as the goddess of light who bestowed brightness upon gold, silver and gems, making them glitter and shine.

Thea, who was married to her brother Hyperion, produced three of the most important celestial gods in Greek mythology; Helios, the Sun, Selene, the Moon and Eos the Dawn.

Thea was also associated with a shrine in Phtiotis, Thessaly, where she was believed to receive visions and divine insights.

 

Coeus

God of Reason and Curiosity

 

 

As his name means questioning, it’s thought that Coeus may have been the Titan god of inquisitive minds and intellect.

He was also one of the four pillars that held the heavens and earth apart; the north pillar, while his brothers Hyperion, Iapetus, and Crius represented the other three pillars.

Along with his brothers he also helped hold their father Uranus in place whilst he was castrated by their brother Cronus.

Coeus was married to his sister Phoebe with whom he had two children, Leto and Asteria.

Leto was one of Zeus’ lovers and the mother of the twin Olympians Artemis and Apollo.

During the the war between the Titans and the Olympians, Coeus fought against Zeus and the other Olympians but was finally defeated and banished to the Underworld.

 He did try to escape but was prevented from doing so by Cerberus, the guardian of the underworld.

 

Phoebe

 Goddess of Intelligence and Foresight

 

 

Phoebe was associated with the moon and the Oracle of Delphi and was considered to be the goddess of prophecy.

She was married to her brother Coeus, with whom she had two children Asteria and Leto.

 The Olympians, Apollo and Artemis, twin siblings, were the children of Leto and so were often referred to as Phoebus and Phoebe respectively, taking their alternative names from their grandmother.

Phoebe did not take part in the War between the Titans and the Olympians, in which the Olympians were the victors and therefore was spared imprisonment in Tartarus, the Underworld.

 

Cronus

Leader of the Titans

 

 

Cronus, youngest son of Uranus and Gaea, was the leader of the Titans and for a short time ruler of all gods and men.

Cronus eventually married his sister Rhea with whom he fathered six children: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.

He successfully led a revolt against his father but as he quickly became as much a tyrant as his father before him, he would be imprisoned in Tartarus by his own son Zeus.

His name was often confused with the Greek word for time, Chronos and so Cronus was often depicted as Old Father Time, with whom he did happen to share few characteristics: mercilessness, a beard, and a scythe.

 

Rhea

 Goddess of Fertility and Motherhood

 

 

Rhea was the older sister of Cronus, who was also her husband with whom she had the five eldest Olympian gods; Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Poseidon, and Zeus and Hades, king of the underworld.

When word got back to Cronus that he was going to be overthrown by one of his children, like his father before, him, he swallowed all the children he had with Rhea as soon as they were born.

 

 

So when Rhea had her sixth child, Zeus, she hid him in Crete, giving Cronus a rock to swallow instead.

Zeus was saved and would go on to challenge his father’s rule and rescue the rest of his siblings.

 

Mnemosyne

 Goddess of Memory

 

 

Mnemosyne was a Titan goddess; one of the twelve children of the sky god Ouranus and Gaia, mother Earth, which made her the sister of six brothers; Cronus, Oceanus, Hyperion, Iapetus, Crius and Coeus, and five sisters, Rhea, Phoebe, Theia, Themis and Tethys.

Her name translates as “memory” and from Menmoysne came the ability to remember, to use the power of reason and to make use of language; eventually, owing to all these attributes, Menmoysne also became associated with speech.

Therefore, it was only to be expected that all ancient orators, kings and poets, bowed down to the memory goddess, in thanks for enabling them to utilize persuasive rhetoric; the art of using language to argue successfully for or against a set of beliefs, or course of action and to convince others to adopt a position, or act in a certain way.

Mnemosyne, for nine consecutive nights was said to have been seduced by Zeus, resulting in the birth, on nine consecutive days, nine daughters, who came to be known collectively as the Muses..

 

Themis

 Goddess of Justice and Truth

 

 

Themis, a Titan, the goddess of divine order and law, the ‘Lady of good council’ and mother of the star goddess, Astraea

She is portrayed carrying a pair of scales which is a symbol for justice and balance and is

often seen holding a sword with which she cuts the truth from the lies.

Themis was also a prophetic goddess who reigned over the ancient oracle at Delphi before eventually handing the job over to Apollo.

It was in her role at Delphi that Themis first taught mankind the primal laws of justice and morality and became known as a bringer of balance and righter of wrongs.

Those who worshipped her at the temple of Delphi prayed for justice to bring fairness to their lives.

Themis was the second wife of Zeus, king of all Greek gods; their children included the three Horai and the three Moirai.

The Horai, or hours, goddesses of the seasons and time were three sisters named Dike, Eirene, and Eunomia, who later, as they were associated with the division of time, became goddesses of order and justice.

Dike, was the goddess of moral justice, Eunomia, the goddess of law and legislation and Eirene, goddess of peace and wealth.

The Moirai are referred to as the Fates, and like the Horai, were three sisters, Atropos, Clotho and Lachesis.

The Moirai were in charge of the life path of all mortals, even the gods were controlled by them.

 

Crius

 God of the Constellations

 

 

 Crius, was married to Eurybia, daughter of Pontus and Gaea and they had three children, Astraios, Pallas and Perses.

The marriage of Astraios, personification of dusk or twilight and Eos, the personification of Dawn, produced The Four Anemoi – The Four winds :

Boreas, god of the North wind and winter, Zephyrus, god of the West wind and spring, Notus, god of the South wind and summer and Erus, god of the East wind and autumn.

The children of Crius and Eurybia, also produced The Five Astra Planeta, sometimes referred to as “the Astra”, a group of five gods known in Greek mythology as the “Wandering Stars”.

The Astra Planeta lived amongst the stars; however, they were also thought to have a second home, the mystical, great River Oceanus (Okeanos), which encircled the whole world, a place they went to when they disappeared below the horizon.

From the marriage of Pallas, god of warcraft with Styx, goddess of the river with the same name, came Zelus, glory, Nike, victory, Kratos, power, Via, force, Fontes, fountains and Lacus,lakes.

From the marriage of Perses, god of destruction, with Asteria, the starry one, came Hecate, goddess of wilderness, childbirth and magic.

Crius was the pillar of the south, one of the four pillars that hold the heavens and the earth apart.

The other three pillars were personified by his brothers Iapetus, Coeus and Hyperion.

 In the war between the Titans and the Olympians, Crius sided with the Titans but did not have a specific role.

When the Titans were defeated, Crius along with the rest of his siblings was thrown into Tartarus, the lower level of the Underworld.

 

Iapetus

 God of Violence and Mortality

 

 

Iapetus was the father of four sons, Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius.

His name derives from the Greek word meaning “to pierce with a spear”, therefore some considered Iapetus to be the god of craftsmanship, although others would have him as the god of mortality.

He was also considered the personification of one of the four pillars that hold the heavens and the earth apart, a role that he later bequeathed to his son, Atlas.

 He represented the pillar of the west, the other three being represented by his brothers Crius, Coeus and Hyperion.

Iapetus’ sons were said to have been the ancestors of humans with detrimental qualities which they passed them down to humans.

So, regardless that Prometheus was clever, he bestowed scheming upon mankind.

 Epimetheus, guileless as he was, passed down stupidity, Atlas, although powerful and patient imparted excessive daring and Menoetius, who had an arrogant personality, endowed the human race with violence.

 

The Titanomachy

The Clash of the Titans

 

 

 The Titanomachy was a series of battles that lasted for ten years, fought between the Titans and the Olympians, in order to decide which generation of gods would rule over the Universe.

What started the battle was when Uranus’s hatred for the children he had produced with Gaia, caused him to imprison six of their children; the three Hecatonchires (giants with 50 heads and 100 arms) and the three Cyclopes (also giants, each with a single eye in the middle of its forehead) in Tartarus, a place deep within the earth where souls are judged after death and the wicked receive divine punishment.

Hesiod states in his poem “Theogony”, that Tartarus was also one of the primordial deities; he arose from Chaos, as did Gaia and Uranus.

After his birth he resided deep in the bowels of the Earth, his symbols are darkness, death and his namesake, the underworld.

 

 

In retaliation Gaia created a great sickle, made from adamantine and then tried to persuade the rest of her children to help her castrate their father, Uranus.

Only Cronus agreed to help his mother, so the next time she knew Uranus was coming to visit, she gave her son the sickle and told him to hide along the mountain path, where his father was sure to pass and then ambush him.

Being an obedient son, Cronus heeded his mother and when the time came and Uranus obliviously passed his hiding place, Cronus jumped out and with the sickle castrated his father and flung his genitals into the Mediterranean Sea.

 

 

From Uranus’ blood that fell upon the earth, three sets of children were born; the Gigantes, the Erinyes, and the Meliae, whilst from the blood that fell into the sea, the goddess Aphrodite was born.

Cronus then freed his siblings from Tartarus.

Cronus’s reward was that he took his father’s place as the Ruler of the Titans.

However, Uranus had made a prophecy that his son would also be overthrown by his own sons, and fearing he would lose his authority, Cronus became the image of his tyrant father.

H e threw his brothers back into Tartarus and then ate the children he had fathered with his wife Rhea (also his sister), in the hope of preventing the prophesy becoming a reality.

Little did he know that Rhea had managed to save their youngest son, Zeus and had hidden him in a cave in Crete where he was raised by the she-goat, Amalthea.

 

 

Zeus grew up without ever revealing to his father, Cronus, who he really was.

With the help of Metis, the Titan goddess (later to be Zeus’ first wife), he gave Cronus a potion which caused him to vomit up the children he had swallowed.

Zeus then persuaded his freed siblings to join him in revolt against their father.

He then released the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes from Tartarus and requested their help against their brother.

They all agreed and the Hecatonchires began throwing rocks at the Titans, whilst the Cyclopes got busy creating the famous thunderbolts for Zeus.

After ten long years of war with the Titans, the Olympians came out winning.

All Titans except Themis and Prometheus (the only Titans that fought on the side of Zeus), were condemned to Tartarus where they were guarded by the Hecatonchires.

 Zeus and his brothers Poseidon and Hades divided the universe between them.

Zeus was to become the king of the sky and ruler of mortals and gods.

Poseidon became master of the seas and Hades, ruler of the Underworld.

 

The Olympians

 

 

According to legend, the Olympian gods are so-called as their home was Mount Olympus, where they resided on, Mytikas, the highest peak of the mountain, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia.

Led by Zeus, their King, the Olympian gods won their supremacy, in a ten-year-long war of gods; “The Titanomachy”, over the previous generation of ruling gods, the Titans, the offspring of the primordial deities Gaia and Uranus.

There’s a bit of confusion when it comes to who were the twelve Olympian gods.

Both ancient myths and ancient Greek historians did not always agree on which gods were included in the list of twelve and which gods were not and some lists consist of thirteen gods.

Occasionally Hades and Persephone were included in the list of Olympians, even though they lived in the underworld and not on Mount Olympus.

The main consensus seems to be the following:

 

Zeus

King of the Gods and Ruler of Mount Olympus

 

 

Zeus was youngest child of the Titans Cronus and Rhea and brother and husband of Hera, goddess of marriage, women, childbirth and family and brother of Poseidon, god of the sea, Hades, god of the Underworld,  Demeter, goddess of the harvest and Hestia, goddess of hearth and home.

He is King of the gods and ruler of Mount Olympus, god of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order and justice.

His symbols include the thunderbolt, eagle, oak tree, bull, scepter, and scales.

 

Hera

Goddess of Marriage, Women, Childbirth and Family

 

 

Hera – Queen of the gods and the goddess of marriage, women, childbirth and family.

Hera was the third daughter of Cronus (Saturn), leader of the first generation of Titans, and Rhea (Ops), mother of the gods.

One of the twelve Olympians, Hera was married to Zeus (Jupiter), who also happened to be her brother, king of the gods of Mount Olympus.

Hera is often depicted holding a pomegranate, a symbol of fertility , accompanied by her sacred animals.

As well as her most known symbol, the peacock, Hera is often shown with the cow, the lion and with her best-loved flower; the lily.

 https://greekerthanthegreeks.com/hera-juno-greek-goddess-of-the-month-of-june-goddess-of-women-marriage-childbirth-children-and-family/

 

Athena

Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare

 

 

Athena is the daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid nymph, Metis.

 She was born from her father’s head fully grown and in full battle armor.

Athena’s epithet Pallas, is derived either from πάλλω, (pallon) meaning “to brandish” (like a weapon], or, more likely, from παλλακίς (pallakis) meaning youth or young woman.

Athena is the Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare and handicraft and was looked upon as the patron and protectress of various cities across Greece, especially the city of Athens, which is named after her.

The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens is also dedicated to her.

In art, she is generally depicted wearing a helmet and holding a spear.

Her major symbols are the owl and the olive tree.

 

Apollo

God of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry and more!

 

 

Apollo, who was looked upon as the most beautiful Greek god, was the son of Zeus and Leto and the twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the hunt.

He was God of Sun, light, prophecy, philosophy, archery, truth, inspiration, poetry, music, arts, manly beauty, medicine, healing, and plague.

In Ancient Greece Apollo was the prophet or the oracular god connected with “healing”.

In Classical Greece he was the god of light and of music and was also known to keep away evil.

As the cult of Apollo spread, many temples were dedicated to Apollo in Greece and the Greek colonies.

Cult centers and temples of Apollo, such as Delphi (primarily dedicated to Artemis, Apollo’s twin sister) and Delos date from the 8th century B.C.

His symbols include bow and arrow, lyre, raven, swan and wolf.

 

Poseidon

God of the Sea

 

 

Poseidon became lord of the seafollowing the defeat of his father, Cronus, when the world was divided amongst his three sons; Zeus was given the sky, Hades the Underworld and Poseidon the sea, with the Earth and Mount Olympus belonging to all three.

Poseidon is God of the seas, water, storms, hurricanes, earthquakes and horses,

His symbols include the trident, horse, bull, and dolphin.

 

Ares

God of War

 

 

Described as cruel, troublemaker, Ares (Mars), the god of war and champion of the gods, a strong warrior, never without his weapons, was not a much loved god.

 In Homer’s epic the Iliad, Zeus tells Ares, ‘You are to me the most hateful of the gods, for dear to you always are strife and wars and battles’.

Ares was the son of Zeus, king of Greek gods and Hera, mother of Greek gods.

Aries was famous for his torrid love affair with Aphrodite (Venus), one of the saddest love stories in Greek mythology

Children: Eros, (Cupid) god of love, Himerus, Anteros, Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia, and Adrestia.

His symbols include the boar, serpent, dog, vulture, spear, and shield

 

Artemis

Goddess of the Hunt

 

 

Artemis (Diana) is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo.

She is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children and chastity and also a patron of healing and disease, especially among women and children.

Her symbols include the Moon, horse, deer, hound, she-bear, snake, cypress tree and bow and arrow.

 

Demeter

Goddess of the Harvest

 

 

Demeter, Goddess of harvest and agriculture, daughter of Cronus and Rhea.

In Greek mythology,  Persephone, daughter of Demeter, Goddess of harvest and agriculture, is kidnapped by Hades, God of the underworld, who fell in love with her at first sight and carried her off to his kingdom; the Underworld.

Demeter, mad with sorrow, hunted everywhere for Persephone, going as far as to disguise herself as an old lady with a lighted torch in her hands and roamed the Earth for ninety days looking for her daughter, until, finally, the sun God Helios, took pity on Demeter and told her that Hades had carried Persephone off to his underworld.

Demeter found Hades and they struck a bargain, Persephone would live four months on Earth, with the living and eight months in the underworld. (The number of months spent in each place differs, depending on which story is read).

Before being set free from the underworld, Persephone was persuaded to eat six  pomegranate seeds (In ancient mythology, to eat the  fruit of one’s captor meant that one would have to return to that captor), to make sure she returned to the underworld when her time on Earth was up.

Demeter’s symbols include the poppy, wheat, torch, cornucopia and pig.

 

Aphrodite

Goddess of Lust, Love and Beauty

 

 

Aphrodite (Roman goddess Venus), the ancient Greek goddess of love, lust, beauty, pleasure and passion, is said to have emerged from the sea-foam produced when Cronus, king of the Titans, after chopping off his father’s (Uranus, personification of the sky) genitals, threw them into the sea near Paphos, on the island of Cyprus.

Aphrodite, invariably depicted as a young, extremely desirable woman, is almost always shown in the company of her son, Eros (Cupid), the god of lust and desire, as well as her flock of winged gods, the Erotes, who identified with love and amorous goings on, who, depending on which side of bed they had tumbled out of that morning, could either help or hinder the true course of love.

Surely, it can be no coincidence, that Eros and the Erotes, were the offspring of Ares, Greek god of war and Aphrodite and Aphrodite, goddess of love!

Although married to Hephaestus, the Greek god of blacksmiths, Aphrodite was famous for her torrid love affair with Ares (Mars).

 

 

She was married to Hephaestus, although she had many steamy affairs, maybe this is why her name gave us the word aphrodisiac!

Her symbols include the dove, bird, apple, bee, swan, myrtle, mirror and rose.

Aphrodite was also the first naked female Greek Statue and it was the most copied in the World!

 

Dionysus

God of Wine and the Grape Harvest

 

 

Dionysus is the youngest Olympian god, as well as the only one to have a mortal parent.

He is the son of Zeus and the mortal Theban princess Semele and is married to the Cretan princess Ariadne.

His symbols include the grapevine, ivy, cup, tiger, panther, leopard, dolphin, goat and pinecone.

Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of the grape harvest, winemaking, fertility, orchards and fruit, vegetation, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity and theatre; as you can see, he had a lot on his plate!

He was known by the Romans as Bacchus and the frenzy induced by him is bakkheia.

Dionysus also went by the name Eleutherios, Greek for liberator (Liber by the Romans), this was owing to the sense of freedom experienced by his followers which was brought about by his wine, music and ecstatic dance.

Followed by his entourage of nymphs, Maenads” (from the Greek maenades, meaning mad or demented) and satyrs, Dionysus is  drawn in a chariot by exotic beasts such as lions, tigers, or panthers, sometimes attended by bearded, drunken satyr named Silenus and he is usually seen wearing a panther or leopard skin and carrying his thyrsus; a pinecone-topped magic wand.

Dionysus was a god of resurrection, strongly linked to the bull and is frequently portrayed with bull horns.

 

 Hermes

Messenger to the Gods

 

 

Hermes was the second youngest Olympian, after Dionysus, the son of Zeus and the nymph Maia.

He was messenger of the gods; god of travel, commerce, communication, borders, eloquence, diplomacy, thieves, and games.

He was also the guide of dead souls, after death, Hermes accompanied you to the first stop on your journey to the Underworld; the riverbank, where a boat was awaiting to carry you to across the River Styx.

Hermes is not generally connected with the Underworld in Greek mythology, he did not live there he only led the souls of the dead to their destination, in this sense, he was known as Hermes Psychopompos; Herdsman of souls.

His symbols include the caduceus (staff entwined with two snakes), winged sandals and cap, stork, and tortoise (whose shell he used to invent the lyre).

 

Hephaestus

God of Blacksmiths

 

 

Hephaestus called Vulcan in Roman mythology, which gave us the name volcano.

In Greek mythology he was god of blacksmiths and craftsman of the gods; god of the forge fire and volcanoes.

The son of Hera and married to Aphrodite, Hephaestus, had been cast out at birth, by their mother the goddess Hera, for being born with a deformity, some versions state a withered, or club foot, others, that he was a hunchback.

Hephaestus was also the brother of Ares, god of war who ended up madly in love with Aphrodite and there ensued a long-lived, torrid love affair between the two.

The lovers would secretly meet while Hephaestus spent every night in his workshop but Ares was always careful to make an exit before dawn, when Helios, the Sun god who saw everything, appeared on the horizon.

Hephaestus’ symbols include fire, anvil, axe, donkey, hammer, tongs, and quail.

 

Where Have All the Greek Gods Gone?

 

“What happened to all these Greek gods?” I hear you ask

Well, the answer is rather simple; with the birth of Christianity, the Greek gods became pagan entities and sometimes, in the early days of this new religion, it was downright dangerous to be known to worship anything pagan!