Theogony
The classical Greek pantheon consisted of 12 Olympian deities. However, the inhabitants of Olympus were not the first inhabitants of the earth and the creators of the world. According to the poet Hesiod's Theogony, the Olympians were only the third generation of gods. At the very beginning there was only Chaos, from which eventually emerged:
- Nyukta (Night),
- Gaia (Earth),
- Uranus (Sky),
- Tartarus (Abyss),
- Skothos (Darkness),
- Erebus (Darkness).
These forces should be considered the first generation of Greek gods. The children of Chaos married each other, giving birth to gods, seas, mountains, monsters and various amazing creatures - hecatoncheires and titans. The grandchildren of Chaos are considered to be the second generation of gods.
Uranus became the ruler of the whole world, and his wife was Gaia, the mother of all things. Uranus feared and hated his many titan children, so immediately after their birth he hid the babies back into the womb of Gaia. Gaia suffered greatly from the fact that she could not give birth, but the youngest of her children, the titan Kronos, came to her aid. He overthrew and castrated his father.
The children of Uranus and Gaia were finally able to emerge from their mother's womb. Kronos married one of his sisters, the Titanide Rhea, and became the supreme deity. His reign became a real “golden age”. However, Kronos feared for his power. Uranus predicted to him that one of Kronos' children would do to him the same way as Kronos himself did to his father. Therefore, all the children born to Rhea - Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter - were swallowed by the titan. Rhea managed to hide her last son, Zeus. Zeus grew up, freed his brothers and sisters, and then began to fight his father. So the titans and the third generation of gods - the future Olympians - clashed in battle. Hesiod calls these events the “Titanomachy” (literally “Battle of the Titans”). The struggle ended with the victory of the Olympians and the fall of the titans into the abyss of Tartarus.
Modern researchers are inclined to believe that the Titanomachy was not an empty fantasy based on nothing. In fact, this episode reflected important social changes in the life of Ancient Greece. The archaic chthonic deities - the titans, who were worshiped by the ancient Greek tribes, gave way to new deities who personified order, law and statehood. The tribal system and matriarchy are becoming a thing of the past; they are being replaced by the polis system and the patriarchal cult of epic heroes.
Artemis
Not all Greek goddesses can boast such a harmonious interweaving of fragility and grace with a decisive and tough character as Artemis. She was born on the island of Delos from the marriage of the powerful Zeus and the goddess Leto. Artemis' twin brother was the radiant Apollo. The girl became famous as the goddess of hunting and the patroness of everything that grows in forests and fields. The brave girl did not part with a bow and arrows, as well as a sharp spear. She had no equal in the hunt: neither a fast deer, nor a timid doe, nor an angry boar could hide from the dexterous goddess. When the hunt was going on, the forest was filled with laughter and cheerful cries of Artemis’s eternal companions - the river nymphs.
Tired, the goddess headed to the sacred Delphi to visit her brother and, to the magnificent sounds of his harp, danced with the muses, and then rested in cool grottoes overgrown with greenery. Artemis was a virgin and religiously guarded her chastity. But she nevertheless, like many Greek goddesses, blessed marriage and childbirth. Symbols: doe, cypress, bear. In Roman mythology, Artemis corresponded to Diana.
Poseidon, god of the seas and oceans
Little is said about Poseidon: the brother of the formidable Zeus occupies a place in the shadow of the supreme god.
It is believed that Poseidon was not distinguished by cruelty; the punishments that the god of the seas sent to people were always deserved. The most eloquent of the legends associated with the lord of water is the legend of Andromeda.
Poseidon sent storms, but at the same time fishermen and sailors more often prayed to him than to the father of the gods. Before traveling by sea, not a single warrior would risk leaving the harbor without praying in the temple. The altars were usually smoked for several days in honor of the lord of the seas. According to legends, Poseidon could be seen in the foam of the raging ocean, in a golden chariot drawn by horses of a special color. The gloomy Hades gave these horses to his brother; they were indomitable.
His symbol was the trident, which gives unlimited power to Poseidon in the vastness of the oceans and seas. But it is noted that God had a non-conflict character and tried to avoid quarrels and squabbles. He was always devoted to Zeus, did not strive for power, which cannot be said about the third brother - Hades.
Iris
Greek goddess of the rainbow, already mentioned. According to the ideas of the ancients, the rainbow was nothing more than a bridge connecting the earth with the sky. Iris was traditionally depicted as a golden-winged girl, and in her hands she held a bowl of rainwater. The main duty of this goddess was to spread the news. She did this with lightning speed. According to legend, she was the wife of the wind god Zephyr. The iris flower is named after the Iris, striking in its play of color shades. Also from her name comes the name of the chemical element iridium, the compounds of which also differ in a variety of color tones.
Hestia
She was also the daughter of Kronos and Rhea. Hestia, the goddess of the family hearth and sacrificial fire, was not vain. By right of birth, she occupied one of the twelve main places on Olympus, but she was supplanted by the god of wine Dionysus. Hestia did not defend her rights, but quietly stepped aside. She did not like wars, hunting, or love affairs. The most beautiful gods Apollo and Poseidon sought her hand, but she chose to remain unmarried. People honored this goddess and made sacrifices to her before the start of each sacred ceremony. In Rome she was called Vesta.
Themis
Goddess of law and justice. She was born to Uranus and Gaia, was the second wife of Zeus and conveyed his commands to the gods and people. Themis is depicted blindfolded, with a sword and scales in her hands, personifying an impartial fair trial and retribution for crimes. It symbolizes legal organizations and norms to this day. In Rome, Themis was called Justice. Like other Greek goddesses, she had the gift of bringing order to the world of things and nature.
Gaia
The goddess Gaia is the progenitor of all living things. According to legends, she was born from Chaos and ordered all the elements. That is why she patronizes the earth, the sky, and the seas, and is considered the mother of the titans. It was Gaia who persuaded her sons to rebel against Uranus, the progenitor of heaven. And then, when they were defeated, she “pitted” her new giant sons against the Olympian gods. Gaia is the mother of the terrible hundred-headed monster Typhon. She asked him to take revenge on the gods for the death of the giants. Gaia was the heroine of Greek hymns and songs. She is the first soothsayer at Delphi. In Rome she corresponds to the goddess Tellus.
Hebe
She was the daughter of Hera and Zeus, the sister of the bloodthirsty god of war Ares. By tradition, she is considered the goddess of youth. In Rome they call her Juventa. The adjective “juvenile” is often used today to define everything related to youth and adolescence. On Olympus, Hebe was the main cupbearer until the son of the Trojan king Ganymede took her place. In sculptural and pictorial images, the girl is often depicted with a golden cup filled with nectar. The goddess Hebe personifies the youthful prosperity of countries and states. According to myths, she was given in marriage to Hercules. They became the parents of Alexiaris and Aniket, considered patrons of youth and sports. The sacred tree of Hebe is the cypress. If a slave entered the temple of this goddess, he was immediately granted freedom.
Thunderer Zeus, father of the gods
But Rhea knew: Zeus’s power is not endless and he, like his father, is also destined to die at the hands of his son. She also knew that the titans, imprisoned by Zeus in gloomy Tartarus, would soon be freed and it was they who would take part in the overthrow of Zeus, the father of the Olympian gods. Only one survivor of the Titans could help Zeus maintain power and not become like Kronos: Prometheus. The Titan had the gift of seeing the future, but he did not hate Zeus for his cruelty towards people.
In Greece, it is believed that before Prometheus, people lived in permanent frost and were like wild creatures without reason or intelligence. Not only the Greeks know that according to legend, Prometheus brought fire to earth, stealing it from the temple of Olympus. As a result, the Thunderer chained the titan and doomed him to eternal torment. Prometheus had the only way out: an agreement with Zeus - the secret of maintaining power for the Thunderer was revealed. Zeus avoided marriage with the one who could bear him a son capable of becoming the leader of the Titans. Power was forever assigned to Zeus; no one and nothing dared to encroach on the throne.
A little later, Zeus took a liking to the gentle Hera, the goddess of marriage and guardian of the family. The goddess was unapproachable and the supreme god had to marry her. But after three hundred years, as the chronicles say, this is the period of the gods’ honeymoon, Zeus became bored. From that moment on, his adventures are described quite interestingly: the Thunderer penetrated mortal girls in a variety of forms. For example, to Danae in the form of a dazzling rain of gold, to Europe, the most beautiful of all, in the form of a thoroughbred bull with golden horns.
The image of the father of the gods has always been unchanged: surrounded by a strong thunderstorm, in the mighty hands of lightning.
He was revered and constant sacrifices were made. When describing the character of the Thunderer, special mention is always made of his steadfastness and severity.
Demeter
The goddess of good fertility, who experienced personal tragedy when the underground god Hades fell in love and kidnapped Demeter's daughter Persephone. While the mother was looking for her daughter, life stood still, the leaves withered and flew away, the grass and flowers dried up, the fields and vineyards died and became empty. Seeing all this, Zeus ordered Hades to release Persephone to earth. He could not disobey his powerful brother, but asked to spend at least a third of the year with his wife in the underworld. Demeter rejoiced at the return of her daughter - gardens began to bloom everywhere and the fields began to sprout. But every time Persephone left the earth, the goddess again fell into sadness - and a fierce winter began. In Roman mythology, Demeter corresponds to the goddess Ceres.
Hera
A companion of Zeus, famous for her jealousy and spending a lot of time on eliminating and neutralizing her rivals. Daughter of the titans Rhea and Kronos, swallowed by her father and rescued from his womb thanks to Zeus defeating Kronos. Hera occupies a special place on Olympus, where the Greek goddesses shine in glory, whose names are associated with the duties of patronizing all spheres of human life. Hera is the patron of marriage. Like her royal husband, she could command thunder and lightning. At her word, a downpour could fall on the earth or the sun could shine. Hera's first assistant was the Greek goddess of the rainbow - Iris.
Hades, ruler of the kingdom of the dead
Gloomy Hades is an unusual god and character.
He was feared and revered almost more than the ruler of existence, Zeus himself. The Thunderer himself experienced a feeling of strange fear, as soon as he saw his brother’s sparkling chariot, drawn by horses with demonic fire in his eyes. No one dared to step into the depths of the kingdom of Hades until there was such a will from the ruler of the underworld. The Greeks were afraid to pronounce his name, especially if there was a sick person nearby. Some records kept in the library of Alexandria say that before death people always hear the terrible, piercing howl of the keeper of the gates of hell. The two-headed, or according to some notes three-headed, dog Cerberus was an inexorable guardian of the gates of hell and the favorite of the formidable Hades.
It is believed that when Zeus shared power, he offended Hades by giving him the kingdom of the dead. Time passed, the gloomy Hades did not lay claim to the throne of Olympus, but legends often describe that the ruler of the dead was constantly looking for ways to ruin the life of the father of the gods. Hades is portrayed by character as a vindictive and cruel person. It was precisely man, even in the chronicles of that era, that Hades was endowed with human traits more than others.
Zeus did not have complete power over his brother's kingdom; he could not bring out or free a single soul without the permission of Hades. Even at the moment when Hades kidnapped the beautiful Persephone, essentially his niece, the father of the gods chose to refuse the saddened Demeter rather than demand that his brother return his daughter to her mother. And only the right move of Demeter herself, the goddess of fertility, forced Zeus to descend into the kingdom of the dead and convince Hades to conclude an agreement.
Aphrodite
She was the daughter of the god Uranus, patron of heaven. It is well known that Aphrodite was born from snow-white sea foam near the island of Cythera, and the wind carried her to an island called Cyprus. There the young girl was surrounded by the goddesses of the seasons (oras), crowned her with a wreath of wild flowers, and covered her with gold-woven robes. This gentle and sensual beauty is the Greek goddess of beauty. Where her light foot stepped, flowers instantly blossomed.
The Ori brought the goddess to Olympus, where she evoked quiet sighs of admiration. The jealous wife of Zeus, Hera, hastened to arrange the marriage of Aphrodite with the ugliest god of Olympus - Hephaestus. The goddesses of fate (Moiras) gave the beauty only one divine ability - to create love around herself. While her lame husband was diligently forging iron, she delighted in inspiring love in people and gods, fell in love herself and patronized all lovers. Therefore, Aphrodite, according to tradition, is also the Greek goddess of love.
An indispensable attribute of Aphrodite was her belt, which endowed the owner with the power to inspire love, seduce and attract. Eros is the son of Aphrodite, to whom she gave her instructions. Symbols of Aphrodite are dolphins, doves, roses. In Rome she was called Venus.
