What are the main Greek gods

The beliefs that the ancient Greeks had about the world and its possible origins are compiled in mythological stories, stories of oral tradition that have been able to reach our present day thanks to the work of authors such as Sophocles, Homer or Hesiod , among many others. They created literary works such as “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, which contained a strong mythological charge as they specialized in narrating the adventures and misadventures of the Olympian gods.

The development of this mythological literature took place, above all, from 700 BC, date where collections of myths made by some of these authors appeared: “Theogony” by Hesiod, “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” by Homer.

The Greek gods were different from the current deities and, for this reason, externally they have a countenance similar to the human being but, in addition, they also have human feelings and emotions; for this reason we can discover vengeful gods, others who feel anger, and so on. The essential difference from the religions founded today is that these gods of Greece do not offer spiritual teachings rather, their stories and legends are loaded with completely human morals that will teach people to have a better life.

Olympus is the mount on which the gods have chosen to live, a region found in the Thessaly region of Greece. In this mountain the gods lived as in a separate country creating a society that was organized according to the powers and ranks of each deity.

Zeus is the highest god of Olympus, is in charge of controlling order, justice and destiny within the Universe. He is the son of two titans, Cronos and Rea and, therefore, brothers of other Greek gods such as Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia and Demeter.

Let’s look back for a moment to understand why Zeus is the god of the skies. Before the Greek gods appeared, the world was controlled by Titans and, in fact, Zeus and his brothers are children of a pair of Titans.

Cronos, the father, feared that one of his children would take away his place and, therefore, every time he had a new descendant, he would eat him. Rea, the mother, could not bear this act and, therefore, was able to save Zeus from his father by hiding him in Crete but when the boy grew up, he gave his father a plant so that he would vomit all his brothers, full of desire to revenge.

Since then a great fight took place that pitted the titans against the gods and, in the end, it was the latter who managed to win, for this reason, the titans were sent to the abysses of Tartarus (in the underworld) and Zeus was erected as the supreme god. Together with his two brothers, Poseidon and Hades, he had to divide the three kingdoms of the world: the sky (Zeus), the sea (Poseidon) and the underworld (Hades).

The most representative element is the lightning bolt with which you can control both the rains and punish people.

Zeus’s wife is Hera and, for this reason, she is the goddess of Olympus within Greek mythology. She is the sister of her husband and, therefore, she is also the daughter of the Titans that we mentioned above. At first she did not want to marry her brother but, in the end, this god (who was a king in camouflages and disguises) managed to win her heart by becoming a helpless bird.

Due to her status as Zeus’s wife, Hera is the protector of marriage and of married women. She had to deal with many infidelities from Zeus and, for this reason, she is often depicted as a goddess with a jealous, violent and vengeful character. Despite this, she is the goddess related to everything that marriage entails, including female fertility.

His children are some of the main Greek gods: Ares, Hebe, Hephaestus and Ilithia.

Now let’s talk about one of the children of Zeus and Hera: Hephaestus. It is the only artisan god that is in Olympus and, therefore, is the god of metallurgy since he worked for the other gods creating objects that they needed to fulfill their functions. But, in addition to this, Hephaestus is also the god of fire but not of domestic fire but creative fire, which is capable of bending metals and, thus, being able to create tools with its power.

This god was in charge of making the rays of Zeus but also the arrows of other gods such as Artemis and Apollo, the breastplate of Heracles, the chains that Prometheus carried or the weapons that Achilles used.

In appearance he was different from the other gods because he was lame and lanky, and for this reason his mother cast him out of Olympus. But, at the time, he manages to return to the sacred mountain and even marry Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.

Apollo is the son of Zeus but not of Hera rather, it is the result of the relationship that the god had with other women, in this case, Leto who was also the daughter of a titan. He is considered the protector of medicine and music, especially of the lyre, an instrument with which he has always been represented.

It’s about a god of prophecies because he knew the will of Zeus and, therefore, could reveal future events to humans in different oracles spread across Greece (the most famous of them was that of Delphi).

But, in addition to this, also perfectly masters the use of the bow, weapon with the promotes that the gods punish mortals for their actions. In fact, he is considered a good athlete and was the first to win the Olympics.

Aphrodite is the wife of Hephaestus, the lame and deformed son of Zeus and Hera. Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty and her appearance in the world is one of the mythological stories best known to all since she appeared among the waves of the sea on a car made with sea shells. Everyone who witnessed this moment could not take their eyes off this precious goddess.

Although she is married to Hephaestus, she has other lovers such as the god of war Ares; even in other mythological compilations it is indicated that this was actually her husband. Of all the stories in which Aphrodite appears, that of the Trojan War is the best known because it is for her that Paris ends up choosing Helen.

Within the main Greek gods We cannot stop talking about the two brothers of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon, with whom the different kingdoms of the world were shared. Hades is in charge of controlling the underworld, that is to say, the world of the dead.

Here he lives with Persephone, a queen whom he has abducted from the world above and whom he has baptized as the queen of the underworld. He was represented as a fierce and ruthless god but, nevertheless, he had no evil because he was NOT the Christian devil, he was simply the god in charge of controlling that part of the world.

The underworld was also known by the name of Hades and was divided into two zones:

• Erebus: it is the area through which the dead enter when they have just died
• Tartarus: it is the deepest area and the place where the Titans are exiled after the war

The world of the earth and the underground was divided by rivers that, to cross them, you had to go in the boat of Charon, the one in charge of transferring the souls to the underworld.

The last of the three brothers is Poseidon, the god of the sea. Although he was married, he was also an unfaithful god and full of lovers, especially with the nymphs of the springs. From these extramarital relationships came some children who are known in Greek mythology for their savagery, such as the giant Orion or the horse Pegasus.

He is a god that appears in a large number of Greek legends and myths. He is represented standing on the sea or in a cart that is a giant golden snail and is driven by sea horses. In his sculptures he was always accompanied by marine animals such as fish, dolphins, etc.

The most representative weapon of this Greek god was the trident with which he was able to shake the waters and even wreck ships.

From the marriage between Zeus and Hera was born Ares, the god of war. It is usually represented with typical elements of the warlike world such as helmets, shields, swords and a cuirass. He was always labeled as an aggressive and bloodthirsty god, due to this he was very unpopular with both gods and mortals …