Aphrodite

• Roman name is Venus

• The Goddess of Love and Beauty, who beguiled all gods and men alike

• The laughter-loving goddess, who laughed sweetly or mockingly at those her wiles had conqured

• The irresistable goddess who stole away even the wits of the wise

• She is the daughter of Zeus and Dione in the Iliad, but in later poems she is said to have sprung from the foam of the sea, and her name was explained as meaning “the foam-risen”

• Aphros is foam in Greek. This sea birth took place near Cythera, from where she was wafted to Cyrpus

• In later poems she is usually is shown as treacherous and malicious, exerting a deadly and destructive power over men

• In most of the stories, she is the wife of Hephaestus

• The myrtle was her tree

• The dove her bird, sometimes too, the sparrow and the swan

• Her favourite lover was Ares

• She had a magic girdle

Hermes

• Roman name is Mercury

• Zeus was his father

• Because of a very popular statue his appearance is more familiar to us than that of any other god

• He was graceful and swift of motion

• On his feet were winged sandals; wings were on his low crowned hat, too, and on his magic wand, the Caduceus

• He was Zeus’s messenger, who “flies as fleet as thought to do his bidding”

• Of all the gods he was the shrewdest and most cunning

• In fact he was the Master Thief, who started upon his career before he was a day old

• Zeus made him give them back, and he won Apollo’s forgiveness by presenting him with the lyre which had just invented, making it out of a tortoise’s shell

• He was God of Commerce and the Market, protector of traders

• He was also the solemn guide of the dead, the Divine Herald who led the souls down to their last home

• He appears oftener in the tales of mythology than any other god

Ares

• Roman name is Mars

• The God of War

• Son of Zeus and Hera, both of whom Homer says, detested him

• strangely a coward

• He had no cities where he was worshipped

• His bird was the vulture

• The dog was wronged by being chosen as his animal

Hephaestus

• Vulcan

• God of Fire

• Hera alone bore him in retaliation for Zeus’s having brought forth Athena

• Among the perfectly beautiful immortals he only was ugly

• He was lame as well

• He was the workman of the immortals, their armorer and smith

• In the later poets his forge is often said to be under this or that volcano, and to cause eruptions

• His wife was Aphrodite

• He was kindly, peace-loving god

• God of the Ceremony

Hestia

• Roman name is Vesta

• She was Zeus’s sister, and like Athena and Artemis a virgin goddess

• She has no distinct personality and she plays no part in the myths

• Goddess of the Hearth

• Every meal began and ended with an offering to her

• Each city too had a public hearth sacred to Hestia, where the fire was never allowed to go out

• In Rome her fire was cared for by six virgin priestesses called Vestals

Demeter

• Roman name is Ceres

• God of Harvest, Fertility, and Grain

• Daughter is Persephone

• People would turn to her in times of mourning, grief, and loss

• Her nature was usually kind but she could be cruel when she became angry or upset

Dionysus

• Roman name is Bacchus

• Son of Zeus and Semele

• Zeus seduced Semele wearing a disguise and she conceived a child

• Hera found out and disguises herself and appears to Semele when she was 6 months pregnant

• Hera convinces Semele that she must demand her lover reveal himself to her in his true form

• Zeus loves Semele and promised to grant whatever she desired

• When he heard what she wanted he tried to talk her out of it because it would kill her immediately

• No mortal could see the grandeur of a god but she would not budge

• Bound by his promise he revealed his true form and Semele died

• Zeus lost his lover but would not lose his son

• He had Hermes remove the baby from the womb and place it on Zeus’s thigh

• After 3 months the wound in the thigh opened and Dionysus was delivered

• This earned him the title The Twice Born God

• Baby Dionysus was taken to Semele’s sister dressed as a girl to keep him safe from Hera

• Hera figured out what was done and put madness upon Semele’s sister and husband

• In the state of madness, Semele’s sister boiled her children in a pot and leaped into the sea

• Zeus quickly stepped in and saved Dionysus by changing him into a young goat

• Hidden away in a cave, Dionysus grew up as a goat child

• Eventually, Dionysus was returned to his human form and he went out into the world

• Hera never gave up the search for Dionysus

• She eventually caught up with him and drove him mad

• Dionysus wandered aimlessly throughout Egypt and Syria before he encountered an old woman who helped purify him and cure him of his madness

• God of the Vine

• God of Wine

• He could be kind or drive men to frightful deeds

• His celebrations could become wild, frenzied events

• Hestia gave up her throne on Olympus for him since she preferred to be near the hearth