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The Immortals |
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The immortals of ancient Greece were not like most religious deities. They had most of the character traits of a bad soap opera's staring family.
All full gods had certain powers. Which they used and abused as they pleased. While they could not be killed and did not age, it was possible for them to be injured, at which point they bled ichor not blood. They were able to travel great distances at whim and also take on any form they wished. (An important 'plot device' to allow them to interact with mortals without the mortals being aware of who they were). Undisguised their beauty was too great for mortal eyes.
According to the Greek creation story the world was herself a goddess, Gaea (also known as Mother Earth, or Ge). Then came Uranus, (sometimes refered to as Gaea's son) the Sky which hung over the Earth and Pontus (or Ocean) the river which ran around the Earth.
Gaea and Uranus' children were -
- The Twelve Titans
- Oceanus - God of the seas, who was father of hundreds of sea nymphs.
- Hyperion - the Sun, who drove his chariot across the sky from dawn to sunset.
- Phoebe - the Moon, Queen of the Night.
- Rhea - more about her later...
- Themis - the wise goddess of Justice.
- Mnemosyne - Memory
- Cronos - again, more later.
- Also Tethys, Iapetus and three others.
- The Hecatoncheires (aka The Centimani) - The Hunderd Handed Giants (also rumoured to have 50 heads)
- Cottus
- Briareus (aka Ægæon)
- Gyes (aka Gyges)
- The Cyclopes - One eyed men who were slow witted but very strong.
Cronos rebelled against his father and 'unmanned' him. Blood from the wound fell on Gaea and she bore -
- The Erinnyes (aka Eumenides or Furies) - Who punished those who sinned against their families, betrayed friendships or broke the laws of hospitalities
Cronos married Rhea and they had six children -
- Zeus - The king of the Gods
- Poseidon - Ruler of the Oceans
- Hades - Lord of the Underworld
- Hestia - Protector of homes and family life
- Demeter - Corn goddess
- Hera - Queen of the Gods, Zeus' wife.
Hera and Zeus' children were -
- Hebe - Who served the Olympians
- Ares - God of War
- Hephaistus - The lame Blacksmith
- Eileithyia - Guardian of mothers and infants
Zeus's other children included -
- Athene - who sprang from Zeus' head, goddess of wisdom and war.
- The Nine Muses - mothered by Mnemosyne
- The Moirai (aka The Fates) - who held the threads of human life in their hands
- Clotho - spun the thread of destiny when a child was born
- Lachesis - measured the thread
- Atropos - cut the thread at the end of life
- Apollo - mothered by the Titan, Leto. God of music, light, prophecy and medicine.
- Artemis - Apollo's twin sister, goddess of hunting and the moon.
- Hermes- son of Maia, the Messanger god
- Persephone (aka Core)- daughter of Zeus and Demeter
- The Three Graces - Deities of good manners and correct behaviour
Other Gods, Goddesses and minor Deities include -
- Aphrodite - who rose from the sea, goddess of love and beauty, married Hephæstos.
- Eros - son of Aphrodite and Hephaestos, god of love.
- Iris - The rainbow, Hera's messenger and companion.
- Eos - The dawn
- Prometheus
- Hecate - who patrolled the waste's of the Underworld.
- Atlas
- Dionysus - god of frivolity, replaced Hestia as one of the twelve Olympians.
The tweleve Olympians were Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Athene, Demeter, Hades,Hephæstos, Hera, Hermes, Hestia, Poseidon and Zeus. Later, Hestia was replaced by Dionysus.
The Olympians lived on Mount Olympus between Macendonia and Thessaly.
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