by C.M Porter

Created on: June 11, 2008

In ancient Greek mythology, the gods were separated into two groups: the Olympians and the non-Olympians. The Twelve Olympians (actually thirteen) were the primary deities of the Greek people.

Zeus was the king of the gods. He ruled over the sky and wields thunderbolts as his symbol and weapon. It was Zeus who overthrew the previous order of gods, the Titans. He then drew lots with his two older brothers, and he drew the sky, making him the king of gods. Zeus was an incredible womanizer; he is the father of six other Olympians (the six who are not his siblings), roughly half of the lesser deities, and virtually all of the ancient Greek heroes.

Hera was Zeus's sister and wife. She was the goddess of motherhood, childbirth, and filial piety. She also had a rather bad case of jealousy. She was quite well known for chasing down Zeus's human and Titan lovers in order to punish them. Many of the heroic Greek myths trace their beginnings to this habit of hers, such as Heracles' Twelve Labors.

Poseidon was the second son of Cronus, and Zeus's older brother. When the three brothers drew lots, Poseidon drew the oceans. Thus, he lived in an underwater castle with his wife, Amphitrite. With her, he fathered Triton and many of the aquatic nymphs and other entities. Like Zeus, he had many affairs and parented other deities and rulers, but Amphitrite was not jealous like Hera.

Hades was the eldest of the three brothers. His lot was the underworld. Hades never left the underworld where he ruled; he never visited Olympus. Hades was responsible for judging the dead and deciding where they would go in the afterlife. He was forcibly married to Persephone, daughter of Demeter. Hades, despite common belief, was not god of the dead, but of the underworld; the death domain was the purview of another god entirely.

Hestia was the goddess of the home and hearth. She was the eldest of Cronus's daughters. Hestia was one of the three primary virgin goddesses, along with her nieces Artemis and Athena. She surrendered her godly throne to Dionysus when he ascended to Olympus; because of this, and the few myths that she figures in, she is sometimes absent from lists of Olympians (either her or Dionysus).

Demeter was the goddess of nature and agriculture, she was also one of Zeus's sisters. She taught the Greeks agriculture and how to grow grains. She also had a daughter, Persephone, by Zeus. Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and taken to the underworld. Zeus eventually forced Hades to give her back,

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