Poseidon Poseidon is the Greek God of the sea, storms and earthquake. Poseidon is always pictured along-with a three-pronged trident which resembles a spear, and is his most important weapon. Poseidon has a unique look- curly hair and a luscious beard. The sacred animals of Poseidon are the dolphin and the horse. Many Greeks credit him with the creation of the horse. Poseidon is the Greek word for ‘husband of earth’. He was worshipped by sailors and fishermen as he could sink ships, create storms or build clear skies. It is said that Poseidon was in love with Demeter and decided to make the world’s most beautiful animal in order to impress her. Eventually, he made the horse, but it took him so long to make it that by the time he finished making it, he wasn’t in love with Demeter anymore. There is another myth which says that the horse was created by Poseidon to gift it to Goddess Athena as a part of their pact. The legend goes as such that both Poseidon and Athena wanted to be the ruler of Athens and hence designed a contest so that the winner would be the Patron God of Athens or the ancient Acropolis. As a part of this contest,  Athena created the olive tree and Poseidon created the horse. Eventually Athena won the contest. Poseidon is believed to be ill-tempered and moody. He is Zeus’ and Hades’ brother. The three brothers fought a war with the Titans and won the war. After that they took control, where Zeus got in charge of the sky, Poseidon took control of the seas and oceans and Hades got to rule the underworld. Poseidon’s marriage to Amphritite who is the grand-daughter of Pontos (sea) was done so that Poseidon would have power over the sea and thus become stronger. Poseidon spent most of his time at Mount Olympus even though he had his own palace in the sea, made of coral and gems. Poseidon’s transportation was a chariot pulled by horses with fishtails called hippocampuses.  Greek Mythology Zeus Greek Mythology Hera Greek Mythology Aphrodite Greek Mythology Ares Greek Mythology Hephaestus Greek Mythology Poseidon Greek Mythology Hermes Greek Mythology Apollo Greek Mythology Artemis Greek Mythology Athena Greek Mythology Hades Greek Mythology Demeter Previous Next

Hermes Hermes is the God of shepherds, travel, and literature. Hermes led the dead to the Underworld which is why he was able to move very quickly between the human realm and that of the Gods and of the dead. Hermes is a very powerful God, and is said to use his cunning and mischievous persona and nature to outwit others, more often than his strength. Hermes is normally portrayed as a young man, with a flying hat known as the ‘petasus’ and winged sandals adorning his feet. He is also shown to have wings attached to his shoulders and hat. He also held a winged staff with snakes wrapped around it. This staff helped Hermes to charm the Gods or wake up people under the spell of the God of sleep. Symbols of Hermes include the caduceus (his staff), the purse (or leather pouch), the winged sandals, the ram and the petasus (his hat). He is also believed to be the messenger and is said to deliver the news to the Gods. According to Greek mythology, when Hermes was one day old, he ran away to explore the world. In his enthusiasm, he killed a tortoise by mistake and then took it’s shell and made it into an instrument. When he was an infant, he went to steal cattle from his half-brother Apollo. When he found the herd, he re-attached all the hooves in reverse order. He did the same to his sandals and tied twigs to his feet to avoid his footprints from being detected, so that it looked like the herd was walking backwards. After some time, Hermes hid the cattle in a cave. As Apollo was the God of prophecies, he predicted that Hermes stole his cattle and caught Hermes who was acting innocent. The mischievous Hermes refused to acknowledge that he had stolen the cattle and hence the matter reached their father Zeus for the final verdict. While the verdict was being made, Hermes started playing a beautiful tune on his instrument- lyre which awed Apollo and he begged his brother to give him the musical instrument. Hermes was waiting for this opportunity and he tricked Apollo into trading the cattle for the instrument and also got himself the position of the divine herdsman. Zeus signed off on this deal and thus Hermes intelligently got what he wanted. Greek Mythology Zeus Greek Mythology Hera Greek Mythology Aphrodite Greek Mythology Ares Greek Mythology Hephaestus Greek Mythology Poseidon Greek Mythology Hermes Greek Mythology Apollo Greek Mythology Artemis Greek Mythology Athena Greek Mythology Hades Greek Mythology Demeter Previous Next

Artemis Artemis is Apollo’s twin sister and is known as the Moon Goddess and the Goddess of the hunt. She was born to Zeus and Leto and just like her brother is very protective of her mother.  Artemis is mostly depicted as a woman with brown braided hair, pale skin and silvery eyes. She is also usually draped in a chiton and hunting boots. She arms herself with a bow and a quiver of arrows made by Hephaestus and the Cyclops. The symbols of Artemis include hunting knives, a bow and arrow, and a quiver. She was known as the ‘Master Hunter Artemis’ because of her extra-ordinary skills and precision. She is also known as the virgin Goddess, though she drew the attention and interest of many gods and men. However, it was only her hunting companion, Orion, that won her heart and had her affection. But this love story, had a tragedy where it is believed that Orion was accidentally killed either by Artemis herself or by Gaia, the primordial Goddess of the earth. It is also believed that Apollo feared that Artemis would break her vow of celibacy if she decided to marry Orion and hence tricked her into killing Orion. In many Greek texts and stories, Artemis is described as a fierce Goddess who hunted animals as well as protected them and thus had a dual role of being a nurturer as well as an avenger. Artemis is worshipped by women. Before marriage, girls would give some off their old toys to Artemis and this tradition symbolised the journey from being a child to a woman. The temple of Artemis at Ephesus is her most famous temple of worship. Artemis also represents woman empowerment and independence. There is another interesting story where once when Artemis was taking bath, she was spotted by a mortal whose name was Sipiotes. This angered her and she turned him into a girl. According to Greek mythology, when Artemis was 3 years old, she asked Zeus for 6 wishes and he granted them to her.  The wishes were that: to remain unmarried forever to be recognised with more names than her brother Apollo to have a bow and arrows made by the Cyclopes and a knee-length hunting tunic to wear to bring light to the world to have sixty nymphs as friends to have all mountains under her control Greek Mythology Apollo Greek Mythology Zeus Greek Mythology Hera Greek Mythology Aphrodite Greek Mythology Ares Greek Mythology Hephaestus Greek Mythology Poseidon Greek Mythology Hermes Greek Mythology Artemis Greek Mythology Athena Greek Mythology Hades Greek Mythology Demeter Previous Next

Athena Athena is one of the most important ancient Greek Goddess. She represents many things and is worshipped as the Goddess of courage, wisdom, strength, inspiration, law and justice, mathematics, skill, strategic warfare, arts and crafts. Athena is often depicted as a warrior Goddess armed with a spear, a shield and a helmet. She is also depicted with a shield called the ‘Aegis’ which has the head of the monster Medusa. Symbols associated with Athena include owls, spears, helmets, armour, snakes and olive trees. While Athena has beauty and bravery, she is also known to be sharp and wise and is known to always weigh her decisions before taking a call, especially in matters of war or peace. She invented the ship, chariot, plough and rake.  When the great Zeus married the Oceanid Metis, a prophecy at that time predicted that Metis would bear a son who would pose as a serious threat to Zeus. Right after Metis revealed her pregnancy, Zeus swallowed the child in order to protect his kingdom.  Zeus started to feel a unbearable pain in his head and asked Hephaestus to put an end to it. Hephaestus obeyed and opened Zeus’s head with an axe without hurting him. All of a sudden, Athena sprang out of Zeus’ head wearing armour and uttering war-like cries. Her shield was extremely strong and it said that even Zeus’ lighting thunderbolt could not pierce it. But Athena was very loyal and once Zeus realised her love and devotion for him, she became Zeus’ favourite as she never rebelled against him.  Athena is also known as the patron of the city of Athens  and won the title after defeating her uncle Poseidon who also wanted to rule Athens. In an open and fair competition, Zeus asked both the contenders to gift a unique gift to the people of Athens. Poseidon gave them a spring with his trident, but while the feat was impressive, as the water was salty it was not useful. On the other hand, Athena gifted the people with an Olive tree and hence gave them food, olive oil, wood and shade and as all this was useful, she was declared as the contest winner. The Parthenon in Acropolis, Greece is dedicated to Athena. Athena played a significant role in the Trojan war where she supported and provided divine protection to the Greek heroes like Odysseus and Achilles, with her wisdom and strategic ideas. Greek Mythology Zeus Greek Mythology Hera Greek Mythology Aphrodite Greek Mythology Ares Greek Mythology Hephaestus Greek Mythology Poseidon Greek Mythology Hermes Greek Mythology Apollo Greek Mythology Artemis Greek Mythology Athena Greek Mythology Hades Greek Mythology Demeter Previous Next

Hades Hades is the Greek God of the death and the Underworld. While the underworld is associated with hell and evil, Greeks looked at the underworld as a place of darkness and Hades was regarded as the tab keeper of the deadly world laws.  He is looked upon as the jailor of the dead souls and is responsible to keep the gates of the underworld locked so that no dead soul can escape from his kingdom. Hades is depicted as a grown man with a beard and a crown holding a two-pronged staff, often with his three headed dog, Cerberus. Symbols associated with Hades include a sceptre, Cerberus, drinking horn and the cypress tree. One of Hades’ special powers is invisibility. Mortals are generally scared of him and thus he does not have many worshippers or temples. Hades wears a helmet called the Helm of Darkness that allowed him to become invisible. He once loaned his helmet out to the hero Perseus to help him defeat the monster Medusa.  The famous legend of Hades is about his relation with his wife Persephone. Persephone was Hades’ sister and Demeter’s daughter. It is said that when Persephone and her friends were plucking flowers, suddenly she saw a unique flower appear on the ground. Out of curiosity, she went to pluck the flower and suddenly the earth opened up. Hades came out of the ground in his horse-chariot and kidnapped Persephone. Demeter started searching for her daughter. Even after 9 days, she would not find Persephone and that is when she met Hekate who is the Goddess of ghosts and Helios who is the Sun God. As both Hekate and Helios had witnessed the kidnapping, they told Demeter the entire truth. To get back her daughter, Demeter disguised herself as an old woman for almost a year. As she is the Goddess of fertility, the world got famine struck and the earth and land lost it’s fertility. Zeus wanted Demeter to return to Mount Olympus and so he sent Iris with lovely gifts to tempt Demeter to come back. But Demeter was adamant that she would return only after she found her daughter. That is when Zeus intervened and sent Hermes to convince Hades to release Persephone. While Hades agreed, he tricked Persephone and gave her pomegranate seeds to eat which ensured that she was tied to the underworld for infinity. Later Zeus asked Demeter and Hades to compromise and arrive at one mutually beneficial solution. It was thus decided that Persephone would stay with Hades for 1/3rd of the year as his wife and with her mother and other Gods for 2/3rd of the year. It is because of this unique arrangement that Persephone is called a dual nature Goddess- for one part she is the queen of the underworld and for the other part she is the goddess of fertility. Greek Mythology Zeus Greek Mythology Hera Greek Mythology Aphrodite Greek Mythology Ares Greek Mythology Hephaestus Greek Mythology Poseidon Greek Mythology Hermes Greek Mythology Apollo Greek Mythology Artemis Greek Mythology Athena Greek Mythology Hades Greek Mythology Demeter Previous Next

Demeter Demeter is the Goddess of agriculture. She is the daughter of Kronos and Rhea and sister and wife of Zeus. Poseidon was in love with Demeter but she never reciprocated back. Demeter is not among the top Goddess in Greek mythology. She was one of the many children who was swallowed by her father basis the prophecy which said that one of Kronos’ children would be the reason for his debacle. Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. Hades took help from Mother Earth- Gaia and kidnapped Persephone. Later Persephone was rescued by Demeter. Demeter is often pictured as a mature woman sitting on a throne. She wears a crown and carries a torch or sheaves of wheat. She is believed to be the creator of the first grain in Sicily and then she ensured that the knowledge of harvesting is spread across the world. Whenever Demeter travels, she rides a golden chariot which is pulled by dragons. Demeter’s symbols include wheat, a cornucopia, a torch and swine. She had control over the harvest and the growing of grains. She can cause plants to grow, or not grow, and has control over the seasons and weather too. Demeter is known to be short-tempered and can get angry very quickly. There are many stories of her punishing the guilty. It is believed that Demeter transformed Ascalabus into a gecko when he mocked at her for drinking water too fast. She also is said to have turned King Lyncus into a lynx after he tried to kill one of her favourite mortals. She also rewarded the ones with whom she was happy. One mortal called Phytalus welcomed the disguised Demeter to his house and was rewarded with a fig tree. Two other mortals were rewarded with fresh crops due to their good hospitality. Hence some of the lesser known myths also link her as the Goddess of Law and Order. Greek Mythology Zeus Greek Mythology Hera Greek Mythology Aphrodite Greek Mythology Ares Greek Mythology Hephaestus Greek Mythology Poseidon Greek Mythology Hermes Greek Mythology Apollo Greek Mythology Artemis Greek Mythology Athena Greek Mythology Hades Greek Mythology Demeter Previous Next