Olympian Gods

The 12 Olympian Gods are the main gods of the Greek mythology, who lived on Mount Olympus.

The Olympian gods gained their power from the Titans, after the Titan war. Greeks didn't worship only those 12 gods. There were some important gods and some not. For example Zeus, Poseidon and Hades were very important gods, whereas Dionysus wasn't. Some of them were worshiped locally.

Ares

Ares was the God of war. His parents were Zeus and Hera. He had one brother and three sisters. He had three wives and eleven children. He always wore an armour and he held a sword and a shield. He was very strong and violent.

Spyros Tselos       George Karvelis

Zeus

He was the leader of gods and humans.  He was the god of the sky,and he had thunders in his hand. When he was angry he sent them to earth. His wife was Hera but he loved many other women, too and had children with them. His children were: Athena,Ares, Hephaestus,Apollon, Artemis,Hermes and Persephone.

His parents were Cronus and Rhea. Cronus was afraid that his children would take his throne, so he ate them. Rhea hid Zeus on a mountain in Crete. Nymphs took care of him and he drank the milk from a goat called Amalthea. 

He lived in a palace on the top of the mountain Olympus with his children and the other gods. 

Con Katsavrias

Hera

In Greek mythology, Hera was Zeus' wife and Cronus' and Rheas' daughter. She was the goddess of women and marriage. She was jealous of Zeus and she always took revenge for his cheats.

The symbols of Hera were the promegranate, the sceptre, the peacock's feather and the waterlily.

She was the stepmother of Heracles. She tried to kill him many times but failed. But in the end Heracles became friend with Hera and he went to Mount Olympus and lived with the other gods.

Mary Kolonia Katerina Zisaki

Demeter

She was the goddess of harvest and agriculture. She helped the crops grow full and strong.Her emblem is the poppy, a bright red flower that grows among the barley.

Her daughter by Zeus was Persephone, queen of the underworld.

Konstandina Politou

Athena

The ancient Goddess Athena was the goddess of wisdom, handicraft and war strategics. 

She was the most beloved daughter of Zeus, the father of gods. Her mother was Mitis, his first wife. 

Zeus swallowed Mitis while she was pregnant to Athena, when he heard a prophecy that Mitis' child would take his power and throw him off his throne.

Later Zeus started suffering from headaches and called another god, Hephaestus to help him. So he hit him on the head with a big hammer and Athena sprang off in full armour, wearing a helmet and holding a shield. 

Mary Kiryopolou             Georgia Daskalopoulou

Hestia

She was the goddess of the earth, architecture, and the family. She was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea. 

She received the first offering  at every sacrifice in the household. Her own sacrificial animal was the domestic pig. 

Pamela  Kasaj

Aphrodite

She was the goddess of love, beauty and pleasure and she was Hephaestus' wife. She was born by the sea. The waves took her in a big hug and they brought her to Cythera. 

Eros followed Aphrodite everywhere. He had a bow with magic power. He marked people with his arrow and that person fell in love immediately. 

Cylia Kastana           Nefeli Bessa

Apollo

He was one of the Olympian gods and  Artemis's twin brother.

He was the god of music, poetry, art, oracles, archery, plague,medicine, sun, light and knowledge. He was also the patron of Delphi. 

Ilias Gousios                               Pete Antonopoulos

Artemis

She was the goddess of hunting. She was the daughter of Lito and Zeus and the twin sister of Apollo. She protected the animals and the nature. 

She was also the goddess of the moon. She never got married and she was worshiped by all the Greeks. Her symbols were the bow, the deer and the moon. She usually wore shorts or a long tunic. 

Georgia  Moschou    

 Vasilianna Gousiou

Hades

In Greek mythology Hades or otherwise Plouton was the son of Kronos and Rhea. He was the god of the under world and there lived the souls of the dead people.  It was guarded by a dog called Cerberus. Cerberus was a monster which had three heads and  a serpent as a tail.

He kiddnaped Persephone, Demeter's daughter and took her to the underworld.

George Kirodimos             

 Konstandinos Ntsiavos

Hephaestus

He was the God of fire, blacksmiths. carpenters, metallurgy and volcanoes. He was the son of Hera and Zeus. Because of his deformity his mother rejected him and threw him off the Mount Olympus. 

He was married to Aphrodite but she was unfaithful to him. He made all the weapons for the other Gods. 

Larry Tsonos  

 Bill Panagiotopoulos

Poseidon

Poseidon was one of the most important ancient gods.

He was the god of the sea, lakes, rivers and oceans. He had 3 sisters, Hestia, Demeter and Hera. He also had 3 brothers, Plouton, Zeus and Centaur Chiron. His wife was Amphitrite. 

His symbols were the trident, a fish, a dolphin, a horse and a bull.

Nick Kamaras                                         Nick Yfantis

Dionysus

He was the god of grape harvest, wine making ,  wine and theatre. He was usually accompanied by a troop of Satyrs. 

He was the son of Zeus and the mortal Semele and he was the only half god living with the other gods. 

His symbols were the bull, the serpent, the tiger, the ivy  and wine. 

John Kounanos                      Jim Mantzanas

Hermes

He was the son of Zeus and Pleiad Maia. He was the messenger of gods and he could move freely between the worlds of  the mortal and divine. He was also the conductor of souls into the afterlife. 

He was the protector of the roads and travelers. 

His symbols are the winged sandals, the winged cap and the  kerykeion.

Konstandinos Ntsiavos  Andrian Kodeli