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.

Hermes

Roman Name Mercury
ParentsZeus and the constellation Maia.
SiblingsBecause he is the child of Zeus it is really impossible to name all of his siblings. Zeus is known to sleep with many women so he had many children. 
RelationshipsHe was married to Peitho. He also, like his father, loved women. He spent time with Dryope, Aphrodite, Penelope, and Crocus.
  ChildrenPan, Hermaphrodites, Priapos, Lykos, Pherespondos, Pronomos, Eleusis, Autolycus Tyche.
 God OfHe is known for being a messenger for the gods but, he was also the god of thieves so you always had to be careful if you were around him. He was also the guide to the underworld. He would take souls back into the underworld. 
SymbolWinged shoes, winged hat, and magic wand. 
Greatest AccomplishmentsBy following Zeus orders to kill the 100 eyed giant, he disguised himself as a shepherd and went to the 100 eyed monster. He accomplished this by telling him many boring stories to make him fall asleep, which worked. When he was asleep Hermes killed him. 
Worst AccomplishmentsHe was known to have sticky fingers. He liked to take things that caught his eye. Even at a very young age, a couple hours after he was born, he stole Apollos cattle.

Hephaestus

Roman Name : Vulcan
Parents: Zeus and Hera
Siblings: Eileithayia, Hebe, Ares, Typhaon, The Kharites.
Relationships: Married to Aphrodite but because he is one of the worst looking gods she always cheated on him. But he is also known to have a child with Gala. He was known as the ugliest god from all. When he was born his mother Hera was angry that he was not good looking and through him out the window into the ocean. He was then raised by the nymphs for about nine years. 
Children: Erichthonius who he had with Gala. He was also the father of Pandora but not by sleeping with someone. He created Pandora himself.
God Of: God of forge and fire because he worked with these things to create the metal armor or anything else that was metal. Even though he made all this equipment for the gods to fight in wars he was a god who loved peace. 
Symbol: Anvil and forge are his symbols because he used these things everyday when he would make metal armor for the gods.
Greatest Accomplishments: All the beautiful metal armor he would create for the gods of Olympus. He also created a very nice chariot for Helios.
Worst Accomplishments: Hephaestus did not have any accomplishments that would be considered bad, greedy, or unfavorable. He was a quite and peaceful god who stayed to himself and did what he was best at, metal work.

Athena

Roman Name : Minerva
Parents: Zeus and Metis but there is a twist to this story. When Zeus found out that Metis was pregnant he swallowed Metis or Athena couldn't find out exact answer, but this sounds like something his father did. Nine monte later Zeus had the worst headache. When he went to Hephaestus to open his skull, without harming him, out came Athena as an adult. As soon as Zeus laid eyes on her she became his favorite child. 
Siblings: Being the child of Zeus it is impossible to name all the siblings that she has.
Relationships: Athena was a very wise goddess and believed that it was a waste of time, energy, and strength to be involved with anyone, so she never married and was never really interested in anyone. She was more into male things like wars and armor.
Children: Because she was never in a relationship with anyone she did not ave any children that she conceived. She did though have a child that she adopted. His name was Erichthonius. 
God Of: Athena was considered the goddess of wisdom and was very smart and witty. She was not like most goddess because she loved hunting and being involved in wars. She also did not like relationships or conceiving. 
Symbol: Owl, which was considered the animal of wisdom, and the olive tree.
Greatest Accomplishments: She had a city named after her because she gave them the first olive tree. There were many things that she invited but some of those things were the ship, flutes, pots, the plow, rake, etc. She was also the first teacher of science and numbers.
Worst Accomplishments: Im not aware of any actions of Athena that would be considered bad but there are some qualities about her that need improvement. For example she ruled too much with her mind or head and never used her heart, not even an ounce. She was not a very compassionate or feminine goddess. 

Artemis

Roman Name : Diana
Parents: Zeus and Leto
Siblings: Again being the child of Zeus it is nearly impossible to name all the siblings and half siblings of any of his children. But from her mothers side she does have a twin brother, which is Apollo. She was born before him so she helped her mother Leto deliver Apollo.
Relationships: She was not in any relationships with anyone. She requested to be a virgin so her father Zeus granted that request. She was one of the three virgin goddess of Greece. 
Children: Because she was a virgin for life she did not have any children, but she was very protective of all children and the women barring children. She was always very loved by all humans but she also had a bad temper especially if you were to bring any harm to children. 
God Of: She was the goddess of many different things such as hunting, female fertility, wild animals, and the moon. 
Symbol: She was always seen with her bow and silver arrows. Her arrows were always dipped in poison. Her animal symbol was the deer and sometimes snake and bear. She was always loved by the animals as well. 
Greatest Accomplishments: When being born se came out before Apollo and then helping her mother bring Apollo into the world. That is why many women ask for her help when they are in labor. 
Worst Accomplishments: When she caught someone spying on her while she was bathing she transformed them into stag, which is an adult male deer, and watching him get torn by his own hounds. She also stopped the winds that was helping the Greeks boats get to troy as punishment for Agamemnons boasting the she could do better than him. 

Ares

Roman Name : Mars
Parents: Zeus and Hera but they did not like him. He was mean and a coward. 
Siblings: Eilithyia, Hebe, Hephaestus and many other siblings from his dads side.  
Relationships: Harmonia his wife. He was the secret but not so secret lover of Aphrodite. This always made her husband mad. 
ChildrenEros, Hippolyta, Anteros, Phobos, Deimos, Nike, Himeros, Pothos, Armonia, Alcippe.
God Of: He loved wars and would always start something. He was always making trouble on the battlefield and if not there then in other peoples lives. He liked to always start something in peoples love lives. That is one of the reasons why he enjoyed being with Aphrodite that much more, he knew it made Hephaestus angry.
Symbol: Vulture and the dog because he was a coward and cruel
Greatest Accomplishments: He helped arrest Sisyphos for kidnapping the god of death. Other than that not much more can go in here. 
Worst Accomplishments: Being the type of god that he is there are a lot of things that would fall under this category. One of them being that he slaughtered Adonis for the love of Aphrodite. He transformed his wife into a serpent. 

Apollo

Roman Name : Apollo, one of the gods who had the same name as his Greek name.
Parents: Zeus and Leto who gave birth to him in Delos, a Greek island. This is because Hera, Zeus wife, was angry, jealous, and who knows what else and made her flea. 
SiblingsThere  are many siblings from fathers side, because he is Zeus, but from mothers side Artemis is his twin sister who came out before him and helped his mother deliver him. 
Relationships: He has been in a relationship with the nymphs Cyrene and Daphne, and a mortal named Coronis.
Children: Phaeton, Aristaeus, Ascieplus, Troilus, Linus, Orpheus. 
God Of: Loved music and could also tell the future. 
Symbol: Lyre was his symbol, which he played all the time. This musical instrument was given to him by Hermes the messenger of the gods. 
Greatest Accomplishments: Invented the Luke, a musical instrument. He killed the python and tamed nine muses. 
Worst Accomplishments: Like most gods and goddess he was also an arrogant and cocky god. When he heard that Marsyas was becoming a better musician than him he wanted a challenge. They had the nine muses vote on who was better. The first round Apollo lost so he asked for another round. The second round he would have lost again but one of the muses was in love with him so changed the vote to him. At the end Apollo tied Marsyas to a pine and burned him alive.

Aphrodite

Roman Name : Venus
Parents: Father is Ouranos and mother is the ocean. When her father was murdered his genitals were thrown into the ocean and that is how she was created. 
Siblings: None
Relationships: Married to Hephaestus but is sleeping with most of the world. Secret lover is Ares but her husband knows. Also was in a relationship with Adonis who was killed by Ares so he could have her. 
Children: Eros, Pothos, Anteros, Himeros, Harmonia, Aeneas, Rhode, Deimos.
 God Of: The most beautiful goddess anyone has ever known or seen, she is considered the goddess of beauty, love, and procreation. She also had eternal youth. 
Symbol: The girdle was what she used to compel love. The dove was her animal. Mirror is also one of her symbols. 
Greatest Accomplishments: She won the worlds first beauty contest by bribing Paris. 
Worst Accomplishments: The Trojan war began because Aphrodite wanted the golden apple, which was meant for the most beautiful woman in the world. Hera promised Paris, the one who chose who is the most beautiful, the love of his life, which is Helen. Helen was the wife and Queen of Agamemnon. She then helped paris steal Helen from the Greeks. When Agamemnon found out he declared war on the Trojans. She is very untrustworthy, Selfish, and vain.  She was also jealous and unfaithful to her husband Hephaestus.