Greek Gods List

If you're looking for all the greek gods then you've find the complete list here. All the info you need to comprehend the beautiful mithology of Greece. All the gods, demigods, creatures and characters with descriptions.

As you travel around Greece, you’ll notice that many of the monuments you see were dedicated to one or another of the Greekgods. For the ancient Greeks, the world was full of divine forces, most of which were thought to be immortal. Death, sleep, love,fate, memory, laughter, panic, rage, day,night, justice, victory—all of the timeless, elusive forces confronted by humans—were named and numbered among the gods and goddesses with whom the Greeks shared their universe.

The most powerful of the gods lived with Zeus on Mount Olympus and were known as the Olympians. To make these forces more familiar and approachable, the Greeks (like every other ancient people) imagined their gods to be somehow like themselves. They were male and female, young and old, beautiful and deformed, gracious and withholding, lustful and virginal, sweet and fierce.

As told by the ancient poets, the lives of the Olympians had elements of an eternal soap opera. Sometimes generous, courageous,insightful, the gods are also notoriously petty, quarrelsome, spiteful, vain,frivolous, and insensitive. And how could it be otherwise with the Olympians? Not made to pay the ultimate price of death,they need not know the ultimate cost of life. Fed on ambrosia (“not mortal”) and nektar (“overcoming death”), they cannot go hungry, much less perish. When life is endless, everything is reversible.

But what were the most eminent of the Greek gods, called? Chaotic (or Chaos) was the god of beginning and the origin of the entire universe, Eros was the god of love, his name in Greek means “love” . GAEA (Gaia) was the goddess of the earth and the earth itself,Aether was the personification of pure air in the upper and middle eternal light, in which the gods live. Uranus is the god of heaven and the very personification of heaven andHemer is the goddess of daytime.
Seas and oceans of the world belonged to the god Poseidon and other deities, including Pontus (the personification of the sea), Nerdus (also called “Old Man of the Sea”, who was friendly with people).

Legend says that on top of Mount Olympus, lived Zeus, the supreme god of the ancient Greeks, and Hera, his consort. Zeus ruled the universe and the world, while Hera was the goddess which protects marriage, marital fidelity and the married women. Zeus had brothers and sisters: Hades (god of shadows, of the underworld), Poseidon (sea god),Demeter (goddess of fertility and agriculture ) and Hestia (the goddess of the home, the holy fire).

Some are children of Zeus : Athens, the goddess of wisdom and victory in war, protector of the brave, law, justice and art. Apollo is the god of the sun and light, of medicine, music, poetry, art, the leader of the Muses and oracles. Artemis, Apollo’s sister, is the goddess of the moon, hunting, forests, and protector of wildlife and nature.Hephaistos is the god of fire and blacksmiths, who build the weapons of the gods and protect its craftsmen, the god of war Ares, Aphrodite – goddess of beauty and love, and Hermes – messenger of the gods, the god of trade and protector not only of merchants, travelers, rhetoric , athletes and inventors, but the scam and thieves.

Among the most powerful gods of the Greek pantheon are, along with Zeus and Poseidon (representing the force of water) and Hades (who reigned in the world of the dead and riches subpământene). In Greek mythology also includes many other gods and demigods, including Acheloos, Aioli, Anemoi, apathy or Boreu, Dionysos and Euros etc.

The Greek gods. The mere mention of them immediately conjures images of Zeus hurling thunderbolts, Hermes speeding through the lands on winged boots, Aphrodite entrancing men with her beauty,and even Hades ruling the souls in the Underworld.They are the essence of immortality. The conquests, epic struggles, loves, losses, and lore that surround them fill volume after volume of tome and are passed down among each generation of the mortal races that worship the gods.Greek mythology is rich in history and tales of gods, heroes, women, and monsters. Sages have recorded their exploits while bards have sung of their deeds and tragedies, the two greatest being Homer and Hesiod. These tales have captured audiences for ages.

The first gods are the ancient elemental gods that made up the very fabric of the universe

• Gaia (Earth),
• Pontos (Sea),
• Ouranos (the solid dome of the Sky),
• the Ourea (Mountains),
• Khaos (Air),
• Nyx (the dark mist of Night),
• Aether (the Bright Upper Air),
• Okeanos (the earth-encircling River Ocean),
• the Potamoi
• Okeanides

Gaia – also called Gaea or Ge – was the Greek goddess of the earth. In Hesiod, Gaia came into existence after Chaos and produced the sky, mountains and sea. With the sky Ouranus, Gaia was the mother of the Titans, Cyclops, and Hecatoncheires. With Pontus, Gaia was the mother of Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia. In Homer, Gaia is invoked for oaths. Tellus is the Roman equivalent of Gaia.

PONTOS (or Pontus) was the divinity of the sea, one of the Protogenoi or first born gods. He was the father of the most ancient of sea-gods by the earth-goddess by Gaia (Earth) including Nereus, Phorkys and Keto. By Thalassa, his female counterpart, Pontos sired the fish and other sea creatures.

In Roman mosaic he appears as a giant head rising from the sea adorned with a watery-gray beard and crab-claw horns.

OURANOS (or Uranus) was the primeval god (protogenos) of the sky. The Greeks imagined the sky as a solid dome of brass, decorated with stars, whose edges descended to rest upon the outermost limits of the flat earth. Ouranos was the literal sky, just as his consort Gaia was the earth.

Ouranos and Gaia fathered twelve sons and six daughters. The eldest of these–the giant Kyklopes and Hekatonkheires–he locked away inside the belly of Earth. Gaia suffered immense pain and persuaded her Titan sons to rebel. Four of these were set as sentinels at the four corners of the world, ready to grasp their father as he descended to lie upon the Earth. The fifth took his place in the centre, and armed with an adamantine sickle, castrated Ouranos while his brothers held him firm. The sky-god’s blood fell and drenched the earth, producing the avenging Erinyes and the Gigantes.

THE OUREA were the Protogenoi (primeval gods) or rustic Daimones (spirits) of the mountains. Each and every Mountain was said to have its own ancient bearded god. Mountains were occasionally depicted in classical art as bearded old men rising up from between their craggy peaks.

AITHER (or Aether) was the Protogenos (first-born elemental god) of the bright, glowing upper air of heaven – the substance of light. Above him lay the solid dome of the sky-god, Ouranos, and below, the transparent mists of earth-bound air. In the evening his mother Nyx drew her veil of darkness between the aither and the aer to bring night to man. In the morn his sister-wife Hemera dispersed these mists, revealing the shining blueaither of day. Night and day were regarded as quite independent of the sun in the ancient cosmogonies.

KHAOS (or Chaos) was the first of the Protogenoi (primeval gods) to emerge at the creation of the universe. She was followed in quick succession by Gaia (Earth), Tartaros (the Underworld) and Eros (Love the life-bringer).

Khaos was the lower atmosphere which surrounded the earth – invisible air and gloomy mist. Her name khaos literally means the gap, the space between heaven and earth.
OKEANOS (or Oceanus) was the Titan god or Protogenos(primeval deity) of the great earth-encircling river Okeanos, the font of all the earth’s fresh-water: including rivers, wells, springs and rain-clouds. Okeanos was also the god who regulated the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies which were believed to emerge and descend into his watery realm at the ends of the earth.

THE POTAMOI were the gods of the rivers and streams of the earth, sons of the great earth-encirling river Okeanos. Their sisters were the Okeanides, goddesses of streams, clouds and rain, and their daughters were the Naiades, nymphs of fresh-water springs.

THE OKEANIDES (or Oceanides) were three thousand goddess Nymphs who presided over the sources of earth’s fresh-water, ranging from rainclouds to subterranean springs and fountains. Their numbers included the Nephelai (Cloud-Nymphs), Aurai (Breeze-Nymphs),Naiades (Spring and Fountain Nymphs), Leimonides (Pasture Nymphs), and Anthousai (Flower Nymphs). They were all daughters of the great, earth-encircling, fresh-water stream Okeanos and his wife Tethys.

Zeus

The son of Cronus and Rhea, Zeus (like his father before him) deposed his aged father from the throne of eternity and rulership of the gods. As Cronus was about to slay his father Ouranos, he was warned that his own son would someday depose him. In fear,Cronus swallowed his children soon after each was born.

Rhea tricked Cronus when the sixth child,Zeus, was born, as she substituted a stone for the infant and Cronus swallowed it down, unaware his father’s prophecy was coming to fruition. Zeuswas raised in secret until he was old enough to fulfill his destiny. One day Zeus ambushed his father, and he kicked Cronus in the stomach so hard the titan vomited up the stone and the five divine, undigested siblings (Demeter, Hades, Hestia, Hera and Poseidon).

After the Titans were banished or destroyed, Cronus’s children, in gratitude and bowing to destiny, unanimously declared Zeus leader of the immortals. Zeus is also god of rain, thunder and storm. He is the most powerful of gods, because he wields the thunderbolts.The eagle is sacred to him and the oaktrees are his sacred trees. Zeus has had three wives, Metis, Themis, and Hera, but he also conducts numerous affairs and liaisons with other goddesses, nymphs and mortal women. His godly children are Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Aphrodite,Persephone, and Dionysus, while other children also include the heroes Heracles, Perseus, and Helen of Troy.

Poseidon

God of the Rivers and Seas

Son of Cronus and Rhea and brother of Zeus, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera, Poseidon is one of the six original Olympians.  He is the father of the sea god Triton, and two daughters – Rhodes and Benthesicyme. Like his brother Zeus, Poseidon has had numerous affairs with nymphs and mortals and many children by them.  His kingdom is the vast sea, which he has populated with creatures of his own creation.

Poseidon rides the waves in a chariot drawn by dolphins but, curiously enough, his most honored creation is the horse.  At one point in time, hedesired Demeter. Demeter asked him to make the most beautiful animal in the world, so Poseidon created the first horse.  He is always depicted as a powerfully muscular and bearded-man carrying a mighty trident. A single blow from thattrident can split open rock.Second only to Zeus in power amongst the gods, he has adifficult and quarrelsome personality. He tends to be greedy and is known for disputes with other gods when he tried to take over their cities.  With Apollo’s help, Poseidon built thewalls of Troy for King Laomedon. When Laomedon not only refused to make payment and dismissed the gods with threats and insults, Poseidon punished him by sending a sea monster to Troy who would have eaten the king’s beautifuldaughter Hesione, if Heracles had nothappened by in time to save her.

Hermes

Messenger of the Gods; God of Thieves; God of Commerce; Guide to the Dead; Patron of Travelers;

Hermes lost no time in beginning his career of thievery and general mischief. Born early in the morning, the precocious infant climbed out of his crib, took a long walk, and invented the lyre from the shell of a tortoise that he killed after it had  crossed his path. In the evening, before it got too dark, he stole fifty of Apollo’s oxen and hid them in a cave. Hermes slaughtered two of the beasts,cooked and ate part of the flesh, burned the rest, and nailed their skins to a rock. When he arrived home, he lay down quietly in his crib and was found there the next morning with his eyes closed, when Apollo came to make a complaint to the child’s mother,Maia. Upon realization that justice was not to be received from a doting mother, Apollo appealed to Zeus, who compelled his young son to return the cattle. However, when Apollo heard Hermes play the lyre, he was so delighted that he told the child that he could keep the cattle, and they became good friends.  Eventually, Hermes gave Apollo the lyre he had built and Apollo gave him the Caduceus in exchange.  Hermes is also said to have stolen Hephaestus’ tools, Zeus’s scepter, Poseidon’s trident, Ares’ sword and, a truly Herculean task,Aphrodite’s girdle.

One of Hermes’ most important duties is to ferry the shades or the ghosts of the dead from the lands of the living to the Underworld.  As a friendly guider of the living as well as the dead, Hermes spends much of his time among shepherds, to whom he is the patron god. He also visits with nymphs and shepherdesses, by whom he has been the father of countless children, including Pan and Daphnis, the inventor of pastoral poetry.  He is the father of Autolycus, the prince of thieves, by Chione.

Hermes helps and guides humans in their activities, and is credited with introducing weights and measures, as well as dice to the mortals.  He is the giver of good luck and has a hand in all secret dealings and subterfuges. He gave a “Sickle of Admanate” to Perseus, which the hero used to sever Medusa’s head, and he also gave Odysseus a plant known as moly, which made the hero immune to the magic of Circe.  Hermes has even had to rescue Zeus and restore his health, when Zeus encountered the monster Typhon. Similarly, he has rescued Ares, who was confined in a bronze storage jar for thirteen months, after being captured by Otus and Ephialtes.

Hera

Goddess of Marriage; Queen of the Gods; Queen of Olympus

Hera, wife of Zeus, is also a sister to him, Poseidon, Hades, and Hestia.  Her father
was the titan Cronus and her mother the titan Rhea. Hera is the most beautiful of the immortals, even more beautiful than Aphrodite. She renews her beauty each spring by magically washing away the trials and tribulations of her immortal lifestyle in an enchanted natural spring.  She is the protector of marriage, and married women are her peculiar care. Her name appears in many stories and legends though she is often regarded as petty and unforgiving.
Hera’s sole marriage to Zeus began and continues with constant strife. He courted her unsuccessfully and then turned to trickery, changing himself into a disheveled cuckoo.  Hera felt sorry for the bird and held it to her breast to warm it.  Zeus, taking advantage of the surprise he gained, resumed his immortal form and forced himself upon her.  She then married him in order to cover her shame. Once when Zeus was being particularly overbearing to the other gods, Hera convinced them to join in a revolt. Her part in the revolt was to drug Zeus.  The other gods then bound the sleeping Zeus to a couch taking care to tie many knots.  When this was done they began to quarrel over the next step. Briareus overheard the arguments and still full of gratitude to Zeus, slipped in and was able to quickly untie the many knots. Zeus sprang from the couch and grabbed up a thunderbolt. The gods fell to their knees begging and pleading for mercy. He seized Hera and hung her from the sky with gold chains. She wept in pain all night but none of the others dared to interfere. Her weeping kept Zeus up and the next morning he agreed to release her if she would swear never to rebel again. She had little choice but, to agree.

While she has never again rebelled, she often plots against Zeus’s plans and quite often is able to outwit him.  Two of her favorite techniques for  punishing Zeus are the banishment of his children conceived with other women and the transformation of his lovers into beasts.  Hera has cultured a class of worshippers known as Hunters of Hera who seek out the half-god children of Zeus and the other Olympians so they may be destroyed if she so desires.

Hephaestus

God of Fire and the Forge; God of Crafts;Patron of Smiths and Weavers

Hephaestus, the son of Zeus and Hera, is the god of fire and the chief workman of the gods. He is lame and ugly, and has been twice thrown from the heavens of Olympus (once by his mother in shame and anger at his deformity, and once by his father because of a quarrel in which he sided with Hera).In spite of his physical unattractiveness, Hephaestus has had three beautiful wives: Charis, Aglaia and Aphrodite. Charis was the personification of grace and beauty. Aglaia, representing brilliance, was the youngest of the Graces or Charities. Aphrodite is unfaithful to him, preferring the company of other gods, especially Ares. With Apollo’s help, Hephaestus discovered the meeting place of his wife and her lover, threw an invisible net around them, and brought them before the assembled gods. The hearty laughter of the gods at the embarrassment of the guilty pair marked one of the rare occasions when the majestic dwellers on Mount Olympus were moved to laughter.

During his exile from Olympus, Hephaestus made a beautiful golden throne, which he sent to Hera as a gift. The remarkable feature of this seat was that it held fast by invisible chains the person sitting in it, and Hephaestus was the only one who could set the person free. With the queen of the heavens fastened to the chair and unable to rise, it was of course, necessary to recall Hephaestus to the region where he had been so unceremoniously ejected. Ares was sent to fetch him, but even the god of war was frightened of the fire torch that his brother held in his hand, and it took the art of Dionysus to bring Hephaestus back to Olympus by making him drunk.

The crafting abilities of Hephaestus soon were in great demand by the gods. He made the armor forAchilles, built the homes of all the Olympians and fitted them with clever locks that the other immortals cannot undo, and built tri-pods that move of their own accord to and from the feasts on Mount Olympus. He also fashioned his own mechanical helpers to assist him in his work. They are golden and in the form of living strong, vocal and intelligent young women. With the help of his cyclops, he hammers out lightning bolts for Zeus and all manner of subtle and gentle devices for a select few mortals.

Dyonisus

God of wine and ecstasy, Dionysus is the son of Zeus and the mortal Semele. While Semele was still pregnant, she was killed when Zeus was forced to reveal his divine presence to her, blasting her to ashes. However, Zeus was able to save the unborn infant by sewing him into his thigh until the baby was ready to be born. After the birth of Dionysus,Zeus hid him from Hera, who wanted the youth dead.

When Dionysus grew into a young man, Hera recognized him, and immediately inflicted him with madness. Dionysus wandered the world, going as far as India. When he came upon the river Tigris, Zeus sent a tiger, upon whose back he crossed the river. As he traveled, he taught people how to cultivate the vine and to make wine. Satyrs and nymphs often accompanied and reveled with him in his journeys.Dionysus often punishes those who resist his worship by causing a madness in which those afflicted fall into some sort of drunken revelry and orgy for several days.

As always, some bards tell other tales that differ from the norm. When pirates captured Dionysus, they wanted to sell him into slavery. Only the helmsman recognized Dionysus as a god when the pirates could not bind him with ropes. They ridiculed the helmsman when he tried to warn them about offending a god. The pirates witnessed his divine powers as vines appeared out of nowhere and grew all over the ship, the deck awash with streams of wine.

Dionysus inflicted madness upon the pirates, making them hallucinate and see wild beasts surrounding them. All the pirates save the spared helmsman jumped over board to escape from the phantom creatures,and Dionysus changed them into dolphins.

Demeter

Demeter is the fair-haired earth goddess who blesses all phases of the harvest. She walks the furrowed fields dressed in green and displays her moods with seasons of plenty or famine. She is a daughter of the titan Cronus and sister to Hades, Hera, Hestia,Poseidon, and Zeus.Her daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades,and a mourning Demeter let famine and starvation strike the earth.Only when Hermes spoke to Hades on Zeus’ behalf was Persephone allowed to rejoin her mother, but only for 6 months of the year.

This is the reason why there are the two distinctly different seasons of summer and winter. When Persephone is with Hades, the earth is wracked by the sorrow of her mother. But when Persephone returns from the Underworld to walk the earth again, Demeter pours forth the blessings of spring to welcome her beloved daughter home. In addition to her unpleasan tfeelings towards Hades, she has an ongoing feud with her brother Poseidon, which is why much of the sea lies barren.

Athena

Athena is the daughter of Zeus. Legend has it , she sprang from his head fully grown and wearing armor. She is fierce and brave, but only fights to protect the sovereignty of Olympus. She is the goddess of the city of Athens, handicrafts, and agriculture. She invented the bridle (permitting man to tame horses),the trumpet, the flute, the pot, the rake, the plow, the yoke, the ship, and the chariot. She is the embodiment of wisdom, reason, and purity. She is the favorite child of Zeus and is allowed to use his weapons including his thunderbolts and the Javelin of the Tempest.As the goddess of war, she always acts to restore order, and therefore she is also the goddess of peace.

Athena represents the nobler aspect of war—courage and self-control. As the goddess of war, she also became patron goddess of many heroes,providing guidance while acting more like an ideal elder sister. She aided Bellerophon in taming the winged horse, Pegasus.

She also frequently aided Heracles and Perseus in their adventures. She gavePeresus the information he needed to slay the Medusa, including lending him her shield, Aegis. In the war against the giants, she killed the giant Pallasby crushing him under a huge boulder.

Artemis

Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin brother of Apollo. Like her brother, she carries a magical bow and arrows capable of provoking sudden death. Artemis is a goddess of extremes.

When the mortal hunter Actaeon observed her bathing nude, she turned him into a stag. Not recognizing him, his hunting dogs then attacked and killed him. In another incident, the king of Calydon failed to make a sacrifice to her. As punishment, she sent a giant wild boar to ravish the countryside.Despite her apparent severity, Artemis reveres nature and is often in the presence of nymphs who care for her pack of hunting dogs.For a period, Poseidon’s son Orion lived with Artemis (although she still maintained her virgin status). Apollo disapproved of the match and challenged Artemis to an archery contest. The target was a black object floating out to sea in the far distance. Artemis took aim and hit it squarely.Apollo had tricked her, of course, for the object inthe sea was Orion swimming. Her arrow had struck him in the head, killing him instantly. Sickened with grief, she took Orion and placed him in thestars.

Ares

Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera, both of whom dislike him intensely. Despite being a god of war, Ares personifies uncontrolled rage and murderous killing, engaging in war for the sheer love of combatonly. As a result, few worship him, preferring Athena as a goddess of war for her discipline and coolness during battle. Being a god of war does not make Ares a good fighter, as he frequently loses many battles and falls in combat easily. When he was barely wounded during the Trojan War, ten thousand men could hear his screams. The hero Heracles won over him twice, in combat on thebattlefield.

However, there is one other area in which Ares was interested, and that is indeed pleasure – with the goddess Aphrodite, that is. He engaged in an ongoing tryst with Aphrodite which is the stuff of legend (and myth), in defiance of that fact that the lovely goddess was already married (to the god Hephaistos). There is a wonderfully charming tale in the Odyssey of Homer about how this couple’s romantic rendezvous came to an abrupt, and comic, end.

Heracles

In Greek mythology, a mortal (but to some degree superhuman) son of Zeus, and the most famous of all human heroes and strongmen. He is better known today as Hercules, his Roman name. Greeks everywhere worshipped him or commemorate dhis deeds and adventures, which were described in dozens of major and minor myths. In one of the more famous of these stories, he accompanied Jason and the Argonauts in their search for the Golden Fleece.

In another, Heracles liberated the Titan Prometheus from the mountaintop where he had been chained at Zeus’s order.By far the most renowned of Heracles’feats, however, were his so-called Twelve Labors. He performed these as a penance for the crime of slaying his own wife and children in a fit of temporary insanity. In the first labor Heracles killed the Nemean Lion—a monster that was impervious to weapons—by strangling it; in the second,he destroyed another monster, the nineheaded Hydra, using sword and fire; in the third, he captured alive a fabulous stag with horns of gold; in the fourth, he snared a large and vicious boar that was terrorizing villagers and farmers; in the fifth, he cleaned the stables of Augeas, king of Elis, which were buried in the wastes of thousands of cattle; in the sixth labor,Heracles drove away a flock of huge birds that were terrorizing a Greek town; in the seventh, he traveled to Crete and captured a savage bull roaming that island; in the eighth, he corralled a herd of man-eating horses; in the ninth, he fetched the girdle of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons; in the tenth, he captured the cattle of a monster named Geryon (who had three bodies and three heads); in the eleventh,he collected a treasure trove of golden apples; and in the twelfth and final labor,he descended into the Underworld and captured Cerberus, the monstrous threeheaded dog that guarded its entrance.

In the years following his completion of the Twelve Labors, Heracles performed many other formidable deeds, but eventually,after he had been badly burned by the caustic blood of a centaur (a creature halfman and half horse), he opted to end his mortal life. His friends placed him on a large funeral pyre and set it ablaze, afterwhich the gods raised him into heaven in a column of smoke and granted him eternal life.

Achilles

In Greek legend, one of the leading Greek warriors who assailed Troy and the central figure in Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad.When he was an infant, his mother, the sea nymph Thetis, dipped him in the River Styx, which made his body invulnerable,except for the heel by which she held him.Later, to keep her son safe when the Greeks were assembling for the war against Troy,Thetis hid him on the Aegean island of Scyros. However, the hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, found Achilles and persuaded him to go to Troy. There, Achilles led many successful forays against the Trojans. But after he and the commander of the Greek forces, Agamemnon, quarreled over a woman, Achilles retired to his tent and refused to fight, which demoralized the Greeks. Later, however, Achilles’ close friend Patroclus was slain by the Trojan prince Hector. Enraged, Achilles reentered the fray and slew Hector. Later still, Achilles himself met death when Hector’s brother, Paris, fired an arrow into his vulnerable heel. Various ancient legends and writings mention Achilles’ ghost; the most famous is Homer’s Odyssey, in which, following Troy’s fall, Odysseus encounters that ghost in the Underworld.