aphrodite

 Aphrodite

Goddess of: beauty and love

Daughter of: Oranos  

Summary: she went to Olympus and had to be married to Hephaestus. Her son is cupid.

hepaestus

Hephaestus

 

God of: craft, smith-god

Son of: Zeus and Hera

Summary:

 

No one celebrated his birth. He was ugly so Hera threw him to Earth and poor him he broke his legs. He fell to the sea where Thetis kept him. Later Hera found out that he had made Thetis a necklace so she made a deal with him. He would marry Aphrodite.

hermes

Hermes

God of: medicine and travel.

Son of Zeus and Maia

Summary:

He took off on adventures as soon as he was born. He took Apollo’s cows and made a lyre. He his lyre for Apollo’s golden staff. Apollo took him to Olympus. Zeus made him messenger of the gods.

apollo

Apollo

 

God of the sun

Son of Zeus and Leto

 

He skinned the python. Though less excusable was the treatment of a satyr named marsyas. Apollo challenged him to play music.  But was unfair because marsyas played a flute and you cannot play that upside down. But Apollo played the lyre. So Apollo  won and flayed marsyas alive and nailed his skin to a tree.  A stream rushed from the tree’s roots and became a river. They called the river marsyas.

 

artemis

Artemis

 

Goddess of: Wilderness, hunting, fertility and chastity.

Daughter of: Zeus and Leto

 

 

Summary:

Artemis chooses her gifts from Zeus. She let no man approach her, except for Orion.

 

hades

Hades

God of: the underworld

Son of: Cronos and rhea

 

Summary:

He lived in the underworld that is where all the dead souls go. The good are taken to a nice place or have an extra life and the bad are punished. And those who disrespect the gods are given special punishments. He kidnapped Demeter’s daughter Persephone.

 

poseidon

Poseidon

 

God of: the sea, water

Son of: Cronos and Rhea:

Summary:

Poseidon wanted to claim Attica as his own but the people of the city did not want to be his so they prayed to Athene. She planted an olive tree by a spring angering Poseidon. He challenged her to combat. In the end the city went to Athene. He also made a horse for Demeter.

athena

Athene

Goddess of: war/battle strategy and wisdom

Daughter of: Zeus and Metis

Summary:

Zeus saw Metis in his garden.  Metis was pregnant and if she were to bear again her son was to depose Zeus. He swallowed her and had a huge headache. Then came Athene out of his head with armor and a spear. She later was challenged by a girl named Arachne. She won, of course, and turned Arachne into a spider.

hera

Hera

Goddess of: marriage

Daughter of: Cronos and Rhea.

Summary:

Zeus angered her with his infidelities, they were always quarreling. She persuaded the other gods against him. She drugged his drink; they surrounded him and tied him. The Hundred handed Briareus untied him. So Zeus, set free, hung Hera in the sky with golden chains. Zeus said if she promised to never rebel he’d set her free. 

zeus

Zeus

God of: the sky, and king of all the gods.

Son of: cronos and rhea

Summary:

His father cronos swallowed all his children, because he was told one of his kids would take over his throne, and this angered rhea. So rhea hid Zeus in a basket and took a rock and pretended that it was Zeus to trick cronos. Cronos swallowed the bundle. Clever rhea took Zeus down the mountain to a shepherd family to be raised. But she missed him so she brought him as the new cupbearer. They made cronos a drink that made him throw up all his children. This caused a battle. Cronos joined by titans, half-brothers, and creatures attacked the young gods. Zeus made a trap and scared away the titans. The young gods returned to Olympus and crowned Zeus their kind.