The Greek and Roman Gods

1
The Greek and Roman Gods

• The Origins of the Gods
• The top 12 of Olympus

2
Introduction to Mythology

• Before the Greeks, mankind was afraid of the
  unknown and used sacrifice as a way to appease
  angry spirits or predators.
• The Greek miracle the Greeks eventually evolve
  past the idea of human sacrifice to a more
  enlightened people gods were used to explain the
  unknown
• Myth was used not only as entertainment but also
  early science.
• Gods were made in mans image to show how humans
  became the center of the universe.
• Because they looked like humans, gods showed the
  perfection of the human form and emphasized the
  ideal of beauty, strength, wisdom, etc.
• This also gave the gods flaws, making them more
  relatable.

3
Creation of the World

• From nothing, there came Chaos
• Night and Erebus were born of Chaos
• Love was born of Erebus
• Light and Day were born of Love

4
The Birth of the First Creatures

• Ouranos (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth)
• parent the first creatures
• 1. Three monsters with 100 hands, 50 heads
• 2. Three Cyclopes (one-eyed giants)
• 3. Titans (as powerful as brothers, but not
  purely destructive
• Gaia geo (prefix meaning earth)
• titanic enormous, strong, powerful

5
The Titans

• Cronus (Saturn) most powerful, father of Zeus
• Ocean river encircling the earth
• Hyperion father of sun, moon, and dawn
• Mnemosyne memory
• Themis justice
• Atlas
• Prometheus Brothers, who together
• Epimetheus caused the fall of man
• mnemonic intended to assist the
  memory

6
Daddy Issues

• Ouranos was a terrible father hating his
  100-handed sons, he locked them in the earth
• Gaia begged her son Cronus to help
• Cronus overthrew Ouranos and wounded him
• From his blood, Giants Furies are born
• Cronus is lord of the universe for untold ages
• He never actually frees his brothers (you know,
  the reason he was supposed to fight dad in the
  first place)

7
War Gods v TitansAnd More Daddy Issues

• Cronus sister-queen Rhea have 6 children
• Hades, Demeter, Hera, Poseidon, Hestia, Zeus
• Prophecy one of Cronuss children will
  overthrow him
• Cronus swallows all his babies whole
• Rhea is not pleased
• Secretly sends 6th baby (Zeus)
• to Crete
• Gives hubby a rock wrapped
• in a blanket, which he swallows
• Zeus grows up, makes
• dad throw up his siblings, and war is on

8
Taking Sides

• Titans, obviously, side with Cronus and fight
  Zeus and his siblings
• War almost wrecks the universe
• Titans lose for 2 reasons
• Zeus frees the 100-handed
• monsters, who naturally
• fight on his side
• Titan Prometheus
• fights for Zeus

9
Crime and Punishment

• Zeus punishes the Titans in a big way
• Most are bound in chains under the earth
• Atlas is forced to carry the earth on his
  back/shoulders
• atlas a book of maps

10
Zeus (Jupiter)

• Lord of the sky, rain god, cloud gatherer
• Grand but flawed
• Deceivable
• Has a serious weakness for females
• Fate is stronger than he is
• Breastplate Aegis
• Weapon thunderbolt
• Bird eagle
• Oracle Dodona
• (priests interpret his
• will through the rustling
• of oak leaves)

11
Hera (Juno)

• Wife and sister of Zeus
• Protector of marriage
• ONLY in the tale of the Golden Fleece, she
  protects and inspires heroes
• Venerated in every home
• Daughter Ilithyia helps women in childbirth
• Jealous, spiteful, vindictive
• Constantly tortures her husbands lovers
• Animals cow, peacock
• City Argos

12
Poseidon (Neptune)

• Ruler of the sea
• Second only to Zeus
• Wife is Amphitrite, a Nereid, granddaughter of
  Ocean
• Undersea palace is splendid,
• but he hangs out on Olympus
• most of the time
• Storm and calm are
• under his control
• Drives golden car
• over waters
• Gave man the first horse
• Called Earth-shaker
• Carries a trident

13
Hades (Pluto)

• Ruler of the underworld and
  the dead
• He is NOT death Death is Thanatos
• God of wealth precious metals
  under the earth
• Has a helmet that makes
  the wearer invisible
• Not popular on Olympus
• Unpitying, inexorable, but just
• Wife is Persephone, daughter
  of his sister Demeter

14
Pallas Athena (Minerva)

• Daughter of Zeus alone sprang from his head in
  full armor
• Zeuss favorite child trusted to carry his
  Aegis and thunderbolt
• Goddess of the city
• Protector of civilized life, handicrafts,
  agriculture
• Inventor of bridle
• Gave man the olive tree
• In the Iliad ONLY, she is a fierce battle
  goddess
• The leader of the 3 virgin goddesses
• In Greek poetry she embodies 3 virtues
• Wisdom
• Reason
• purity
• City Athens
• Bird Owl
• Tree olive

15
Phoebus Apollo

• Son of Zeus and Leto
• The most Greek of all the gods
• Beautiful
• Master musician
• Archer god
• Teaches men the art of healing
• God of Light
• God of Truth never speaks falsely
• His oracle at Delphi is the most important
  oracle
• Its center is the stone Cronus swallowed instead
  of Zeus
• Associated with the sun
• He is NOT the sun god the sun god is Helios
• Dual nature
• Sometimes beneficent, a peace-maker, communicator
  of divine will
• Sometimes cruel and pitiless
• Tree laurel
• Animals many, but especially the dolphin and
  crow

16
Artemis (Diana)

• Apollos twin, daughter of Zeus
  and Leto
• One of the 3 virgin goddesses
• Lady of the wild things, huntsman
  for the gods
• Protects the young
• Carries silver arrows
• Dual nature
• Protects young, helps women with
  swift, painless
  death
• Fierce and vindictive
• Associated with the moon
• She is NOT the mood goddess
  the moon goddess
  is Selene
• Tree cypress
• Animals all wild animals, but especially the
  deer

17
Aphrodite (Venus)

• Goddess of love and beauty
• Laughter-loving
• Beguiling steals the wits of the wise
• Laughs at those she conquers
• Parentage is questionable
• In the Iliad daughter of Zeus and Dione
• In later poems sprang from the foam of
  the sea,
  landed on Cyprus
• Dual nature
• Beautiful, brings light, joy, loveliness
• Treacherous and malicious
• Wife of Hephaestus, the only ugly god
• Tree myrtle
• Birds dove, sparrow, swan (drives a
  chariot pulled by swans)
• aphrodisiac something that arouses desire
• venereal pertaining to sexual desire

18
Hermes (Mercury)

• Son of Zeus and Maia (daughter of Atlas)
• Zeuss messenger
• Graceful and swift
• Wings on sandals, hat, wand (the Caduceus)
• Most cunning of gods master thief
• The day he was born, he stole Apollos herds
• Won Apollos forgiveness by giving him his
  invention the lyre
• God of commerce and the market
• Guide of the dead
• Appears more often in myths than any other god
• mercurial quick-witted, lively, changeable
• hermaphrodite has reproductive organs of
  both sexes (comes from a myth about Hermess
  child with Aphrodite)

19
Ares (Mars)

• Son of Zeus Hera they cant stand him
• God of war
• Hateful and ruthless
• Homer calls him murderous and bloodstained
• Innately a coward, runs away when wounded
• Attendants
• Eris goddess of discord
• Strife Eriss sister
• Enyo war goddess, who hangs with Terror,
• Trembling, and Panic
• Romans liked Mars better than Greeks did Ares
• Figures very little in myth
• Lover of Aphrodite
• No cities where he is worshipped
• Bird vulture
• Animal dog
• martial warlike (i.e. martial law or
  martial arts)

20
Hephaestus (Vulcan or Mulciber)

• Questionable parentage
• Sometimes son of Zeus and Hera
• Sometimes just Heras son (like Athena is just
  his)
• God of fire
• The only ugly god, and has a limp to boot
• Some myths say Hera saw he was ugly threw
• him off Olympus
• Others say he defended Hera against Zeus, so
• Zeus threw him
• Workman of the immortals
• Makes their dwellings, armor, furnishings,
  weapons
• Has handmaidens he made out of gold
• His workshop can be found under this or that
  volcano
• Wife
• Iliad one of the three Graces
• Odyssey Aphrodite
• Kindly, peace-loving, popular with mortals
• Patron of handicrafts, as is Athena
• volcano

21
Hestia (Vesta)

• Sister of Zeus
• One of the 3 virgin goddesses
• Goddess of the hearth and home
• Mortal meals begin end w/ offering to her
• Each city had a public hearth in her honor
• Newborns must be carried around hearth to be
  received into the family
• In Rome, her priestesses are virgins, called
  Vestals
• No distinct personality, plays
• no part in myths
• vestal virginal

22
Two Great Gods of Earth

• Demeter and Dionysus

23
Demeter (Ceres)

• Goddess of the harvest
• Mother of Persephone
• Lost her daughter
• Persephone wandered too far, enticed by a flower
• Hades dragged her through a chasm to the
  underworld
• Demeter left Olympus to search for Persephone
• Neglected the earth, harvests suffered
• Zeus is alerted by suffering humanity, sends
  Hermes for Persephone
• Persephone ate pomegranate seeds in the
  underworld if you eat anything down there, you
  cant leave
• Compromise
• Persephone must live with Hades in underworld for
  4 months per year
• When Persephone is gone, Demeter mourns, fields
  are barren winter
• On Persephones return, life returns spring
• Persephone is the goddess of the spring
• cereal

24
Dionysus (Bacchus)

• Son of Zeus and Semele
• Hera, jealous, tricks Semele make Zeus promise
  (by the Styx) to show himself in all his glory
• Semele is killed by the burning light of his
  glory
• Zeus snatches the child, near birth, to store in
  his thigh
• God of the vine born of fire, nursed by rain
• He is a new god, arriving much later than all the
  other gods, established by Zeus, his father, as a
  god to be worshipped
• wanders the earth, teaching the culture of the
  vine
• Worshipped everywhere but his country
• He is the god of resurrection, dying, like the
  vine, each year, to be resurrected later

25
Dionysus (contd)

• Followers are Maenads, or Bacchantes
• Women frenzied with wine rush across fields
  woods in ecstasy, tear wild creatures devour
• Dionysus feeds them and helps them sleep it off
• Their beauty is counteracted by their bloody
  feasts
• Some refuse to believe
• Lycurgus, king of Thrace, is struck blind by Zeus
• Pentheus, king of Thebes Dionysuss cousin, is
  ripped to pieces by Maenads that include his own
  mother
• Dual nature
• Beneficent and kind
• Cruel, driving men to terrible deeds
• bacchanal an occasion of drunken revelry

26
Lesser Gods of Olympus
27
Eros (Cupid)

• God of love, his home is in mens hearts
• Represented blindfolded
• Said to be Aphrodites son
• Dual nature
• Cannot do or allow wrong force cant come near
  him
• In later myths, mischievous or even evil
• Attendants
• Anteros avenges slighted love
• Himeros longing
• Hymen god of wedding feast
• erotic arousing desire
• cupidity greed

28
Hebe and Iris

• Hebe

• Iris

• Goddess of youth
• Daughter of Zeus and Hera
• Cupbearer to the gods
• Marries Hercules

• Goddess of the rainbow
• Messenger of the gods

29
The Graces

• Daughters of Zeus and Eurynome (daughter of
  Ocean)
• Not separate personalities, except in one myth,
  in which Aglaia marries Hephaestus
• Triple incarnation of grace and beauty
• Aglaia splendor
• Euphrosyne mirth
• Thalia good cheer
• Dance to music of
• Apollos lyre
• No party is complete
• without them

30
The Muses

• Clio history
• Urania astronomy
• Melpomene tragedy
• Thalia comedy
• Terpsichore dance
• Calliope epic poetry
• Erato love poetry
• Polyhymnia songs to gods
• Euterpe lyric poetry
• hymn song to god

• Daughters of Zeus Mnemosyne
• Take away mens unhappy thoughts
• Companions of Apollo
• Can make lies sound true
• Inspirers of men
• There are 9

31
Zeuss Cabinet on Olympus

• Themis divine justice
• Dike human justice
• Nemesis righteous anger
• Aidos reverence (the shame that keeps men in
  line
• nemesis an opponent or rival that
  cannot be overcome an agent or act of
  retribution

32
Gods of the Waters

• Poseidon
• Ocean
• Pontus deep sea
• Nereus son of Pontus
• old man of the sea, has 50 daughters called
  Nereids
• Triton trumpeter of the sea (uses conch shell)
• Proteus shapeshifter, sees the future
• Naiads water nymphs (freshwater)
• Nereids water nymphs (saltwater)

33
Lesser Gods of Earth

• Pan
• Son of Hermes
• God of goat herders, home is in wild places
• Frolics with nymphs
• Sounds heard at night are credited to him panic
• Silenus
• Worships Dionysus
• Always drunk, rides an ass because he cant stand
  up
• Castor and Pollux
• Twins, one is mortal, the other is immortal
• Couldnt bear to be parted by death, so Pollux
  shares his immortality w/ Castor
• Satyrs half man, half goat
• Centaurs half man, half horse
• Oreads mountain nymphs
• Dryads tree nymphs

34
Lesser Gods of Earth (cont.)

• Aeolus god of the winds, father of the 4 winds
• Boreas (Aquilo) north
• Zephyr (Favonius) west
• Notus (Auster) south
• Eurus east
• Gorgons
• 3 earth-dwellers
• Monsters dragon-like, snakes for hair, look
  turns a man to stone
• Graiae
• 3 gray sisters to the Gorgons
• Share one eye
• Sirens
• Their song lures sailors to death, but is
  irresistible
• No one knows what they look like
• Fates
• 3 females, stronger than the gods, who give men
  their inherent good or evil at birth
• Clotho spins thread of life
• Lachesis assigns destiny
• Atropos carries shears to cut the thread of
  life

35
The Creation of Man

• 2 Titans who sided with Zeus are responsible for
  creating man
• Epimetheus
• Name means afterthought
• Scatterbrained
• Gave best gifts to animals before making man,
  leaving man with nothing
• Prometheus
• Name means forethought
• Thought of a way to give man superiority
• Fashioned man into a nobler shape upright
• Lit a torch from the sun and gave man fire to
  protect him

36
The Fall of Man

• Only men exist at first
• Zeus becomes angry with Prometheus and with man
• Prometheus helps man trick Zeus
• 2 sacks from a slaughtered ox one has bones,
  covered with juicy fat, the other has the edible
  meat, covered with entrails
• Zeus chooses the pretty fat to be sacrificed to
  him and later learns he got the raw end of that
  deal
• Mans punishment is woman
• Zeus creates Pandora
• Gods gift her with every lovely quality (Pandora
  gift of all
• Zeus gives Pandora to Epimetheus as wife (he
  accepts, in spite of Prometheuss warning not to
  accept gifts from Zeus)

37
The Fall of Man (contd)

• Pandora is also given a box, with a warning never
  to open it
• Of course, she opens it, and plagues, sorrow,
  mischief fly out
• Only hope is left in the box
• Prometheuss punishment is more gruesome
• Chained to a mountaintop
• Each day, an eagle tears out his liver
• The liver always grows back overnight, so the
  process can repeat itself.
• Did you know? The liver is the only organ that
  regenerates itself.

38
The Deluge

• Men are so wicked, Zeus sends a flood to destroy
  them
• Only Mt. Parnassus is not quite covered.
• 9 days, 9 nights of rain
• 2 people are saved
• Deucalion (Prometheuss son) Pyrrha
  (Epimetheuss daughter)
• Prometheus advises them to hide in a wooden chest
• They are faithful to Zeus and allowed to live
• Repopulating the earth
• A voice tells Deucalion to throw the bones of his
  mother behind him
• Earth is mother, stones are her bones
• The stones take human shape.

39
Mythological Locales
40
The Underworld

• Rulers Hades and Persephone
• Location
• Beneath secret places of earth (Iliad)
• Over edge of world, across ocean (Odyssey)
• Various entrances in caverns deep lakes (later
  poetry)
• Rivers separating underworld from earth
• Acheron woe
• Phlegethon fire
• Cocytus lamentation
• Lethe forgetfulness
• Styx the unbreakable
• oath

41

• Divisions of the Underworld
• Tartarus
• Prison of sons of earth
• Deepest region
• Wrongdoers are punished here
• Erebus where the dead pass
• are judged when they die
• Elysian Fields place of blessedness,
• where the good go
• Important Figures
• Cerberus 3-headed dog guards entrance (you can
  come in, but you cant leave)
• Judges Minos, Aeacus, Rhadamanthus
• Erinyes (Furies)
• Greeks believed they pursued sinners on earth
• Romans placed them in underworld, punishing dead
  sinners
• Sleep and Death brothers, send dreams from
  underworld through 2 gates
• Horn true dreams
• Ivory false dreams

42
Some Suffering Sinners in the Underworld

• Ixion insulted Hera, so was bound to a spinning,
  flaming wheel for eternity
• Sisyphus betrayed a secret of Zeus, so now he
  spends eternity pushing a boulder up a hill, only
  to have it roll down before he can get to the
  very top
• The Danaids 49 sisters who murdered their grooms
  and now have to fill barrels that are full of
  holes (spoiler it always drains out)
• Tantalus hes the worst! He served his own
  children to gods for dinner. His punishment? He
  stands waist-deep in a pool of clear, fresh
  water, under a tree full of juicy ripe fruit. He
  is super thirsty and super hungry, but when he
  reaches for fruit, the branches pull back, and
  when he tries to drink, the water recedes. So
  hes surrounded by food and water and can have
  none.
• tantalize to dangle the bait, always just
  out of reach!