Monday, April 21, 2014

Zeus


   Roman Name: Jupiter
 Parents: Cronus and Rhea
Siblings: Hestia, Poseidon, Hades, Hera (Wife), Demeter
 Relationships: Hera which was his sister was also his wife, but he had many lovers before and after her. She was his last wife. He first married Metis and later Themis. He also went after his sister Demeter but she wanted nothing to do with him in a romantic way. Mnemosyne was Zeus' third wife and right before he got married to Hera he had an affair with Leto.
Children: Zeus had many children, way too many to name them all but some of the well known would be Aphrodite, Apollo who he had with his wife Hera, Artemis who he had with Leto, Hermes, Alexandros, Helen the queen of Sparta who was the cause, including Paris, of the Trojan war.
God of: Zeus was the god of the sky. He was also known as the King of Olympus which is where most or all of the gods live. Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece and is believed to be built by cyclopes. 
  Symbol: Oak and thunderbolts are Zeus known symbols. I am very aware or familiar with the thunderbolts but not so much with the oak. He would throw around thunderbolts and create bad weather when he was angry or unhappy.
 Greatest accomplishment: Zeus' greatest achievement was when he overthrew his father. His father was an evil ruler who was always aware of the fact that one of his children would one day kill him so every time a child of his was born he would swallow it. His wife was very distraught and tired of it so when she gave birth to Zeus she hid him from his father Kronos.
Worst accomplishment: His worst side of him is that he was very unfaithful and slept around with everyone. He also had many children from all of them. 

Hera


Roman Name: Juno
Parents: Cronus and Rhea
Siblings: Hestia, Poseidon, Hades, Zeus (husband), Demeter
Relationships: The only lover Hera had was her husband/brother Zeus. She has never cheated on him because she loved him dearly and she is also known as the goddess of marriage so it would be contradicting if she cheated on him.
Children: Ares, Hebe, Eris, Enyo, Eileithyia, Hephaestus
God of: The goddess of marriage and the Queen of heaven.
Symbol: Cow and the peacock.
Greatest accomplishment: It is said that Hera created the Milky way by the milk from her breast. I would also say that putting up with Zeus and all his lovers was an accomplishment. Hera also helped the Greeks in the Trojan war, even though she only did it despite Paris. She did it to anger him because he chose Aphrodite as the most beautiful or fairest women in the world instead of her. 
Worst accomplishment: One of Heras weakness or rough patches is her jealousy and anger towards the many women Zeus has cheated on her with and of course the children that Zeus had with the other women. She would make births for these women very difficult and she would then harass or make life very difficult for the child, Heracles for example. She also planned a way to kill Zeus at one point, but he caught her and hung her with gold chains from the sky. She begged and pleaded for him to release her. Before he released her he made her promise that she would never turn against him again.

Hestia

Roman Name: Vesta
Parents: Cronus and Rhea
Siblings: Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter
Relationships: Hestia was never in a relationship with anyone. She had men who wanted her, like Poseidon and Apollo but she gave an oath to Zeus that she would never marry and remain a virgin. 
Children: She had no children because she was never married and always remained a virgin. 
God of: One of the three virgin goddess
Symbol: Hearth or fireplace and fire are the symbols that Hestia is known for. 
Greatest Accomplishment: Hestia was a very respected and loved goddess. She solved domestic disputes and was very compassionate. 
Worst Deed: There were no bad deeds done by Hestia. She never perticipated in and myths or human  arguments. She was also never a part of any wars.  

Posidon

Roman Name: Neptune
Parents: Cronus and Rhea
Siblings: Zeus, Hades, Hestia, Hera, Demeter
Relationships: He was married to Amphitrite but according to research this was not his only marriage. 
Children: Triton and the nymphs Rhode and Benthesicyme.
God of: He was the god of the seas. When angry he would create earthquakes drown ships or do anything that had to do with the seas.
Symbol: The trident and horse were symbols that he was known for.
Greatest Accomplishment: One of the great achievments people see him for is having part in producing his son Pegasus.
Worst Deed: He was a very short tempered god. When he would become angry or jealous he would make earthquakes or storms on the seas. He would drown ships and have people get lost in the sea.  

Hades

Roman Name: Pluto
Parents: Cronus and Rhea
Siblings: Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, Demeter
Relationships: Persephone was the wife of Hades. He kidnapped her from his sister Demeter. 
Children: Makaria
God of: The underworld was his home and he was the ruler. He was a very gloomy scary looking god. Some did not believe that he should be considered as an Olympus God, but he is one even though he lives in hell. 
Symbol: Hades symbols were his helmet and his three headed dog named Cerberus. The helmet was his tool that he used when he wanted to be invisible. This helmet was given to Hades by the Cyclopes. 
Greatest Accomplishment: Hades lived in the underworld so he did not achieve many great accomplishments but one of the things he did participate in is helping his brothers and sisters fight against the Titans. He also helped wound his father Cronus. 
Worst Deed: He became an enemy of Demeter because he kidnapped her daughter Persephone who he made his wife. Even though this is something I would consider as a bad deed most considered  it a great accomplishment because of the fact that he was successful in kidnapping her.  

Demeter

Roman Name: Ceres
Parents: Cronus and Rhea
Siblings: Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia
Relationships: She had relations with Zeus, who is the father of Persephone, Poseidon, who is the father of Despoena and Arion, and Iasion who is the father of Plutus, Philomenus, and Corybas.
Children: Persephone, who is the goddess of the underworld because Hades kidnapped her and made her his wife, Despoena, Arion, Plutus, Philomenus, Corybas.
God of: She was considered to be goddess of the earth and all growth and life. She was the one that introduced wheat to the humans. She also taught people how to farm and she provided all the nutrition on earth. 
Symbol: The ear of wheat and grain were her symbols because of the fact that she introduced wheat to the humans. 
Greatest Accomplishment: She introduced wheat to the humans and taught them how to farm so they would no longer be nomadic. She also helped families with fertility problems. 
Worst Deed: When her daughter was kidnapped by her brother Hades, who is the god of the underworld, she prevented anything from growing every winter which is when Presephone, her daughter, went to live with her husband in the underworld.

Dionysus

Roman Name : Bacchus
Parents: Zeus and Semele (she is a mortal)
Siblings: He had no brothers or sisters because his mother who is mortal died because she saw Zeus in person. She asked Zeus to grant her one wish and made him promise that he would grant it. Swearing that he would Zeus was ready to hear her request. Semele's one wish was to see Zeus in his true form. She asked for this because when Zeus came to her at night to lay with her he came in an invisible state. Semele did not know which god she was a lover of but she was just happy to be one. When she asked for Zeus to show his true form he had to because he promised, once he showed himself Semele turned to ashes and died. 
Relationships: He was married to Ariadne but he slept around with many many women and had children with all of them. Some of those women are Aphrodite, Aura, Beroe, Kronois, Nikaia, Althaia, Erigone, Pallene, Physkoa, Ampelos, Polymnos.
Children: Oenopion, Staphylos, Thoas, Peparethus, Phanus, Eurymedon, Euanthes, Latramys, Tauropolis, Ceramus, Maron, Iacchus, Priapus, Hymen, The Graces (Pasithea, Euphrosyne, thalia), Phthonus, Deianira, Comus.
 God Of: He invented wine which is the reason why he is the god of it. 
Symbol: The Ivey, Snake, and Grape are the symbols of Dionysus. 
Greatest Accomplishments: He was worried about his mother, who was in the underworld, so he went under and brought her to Mount Olympus. 
Worst Accomplishments: Because he was the father of wine he was always drunk and if he got angry he would torture people and sometimes without even being angry he would just go into this rage of madness and be brutal towards others.